ProFTPD is a great FTP server which makes transfer of files easy to a from a web server.

As part of our Server Support Services here at Ibmi Media, We regularly help customers install FTP clients on the server and fix common FTP related issues.

In this context, we shall show you how to install ProFTPD on Ubuntu.

Installing ProFTPD on Ubuntu

As a norm in Linux, before installing any software or package, it is recommended to update the system to the latest state to make it ready to accept any installation.
To update the system , simply run the following commands;

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

After the update process is completed, proceed with the installation of ProFTPD with the following command;

sudo apt-get install proftpd

After installation, you can locate ProFTPD configuration file at "/etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf" and the home directory at /etc/proftpd.

Setting up ProFTPD

It is important to set up ProFTPD which is made possible from its configuration file located at "/etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf".
Use the following command to edit this file;

sudo nano /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf

In this file are the following parameters which you can change the values as per your requirement;

i. ServerName: Here place your sever name.

ii. UseIPV6: Since this feature is not always used, you can turn it off by making it "Off".

iii. DefaultRoot: To add security to the user home folders, uncomment this like. This will restrict users with their own home folders.

iv. RequireValidShell: Do uncomment this line as well and make it "On" to enable users to log in even when they do not have shell in the shells file "/etc/shells" for Log in actions.

v. AuthOrder: You should uncomment this line to enable the use of local passwords.

vi. Port: Here the default port to be used for the FTP server connection. By default, it is 21.

vii. SystemLog: This is the path of the Log file.

After installation process, restart the service via the command below;

sudo systemctl restart proftpd

By default, a user called "ProFTPD" is created automatically. To create a password for it, use the command below;

sudo passwd proftpd

With this you can establish a connection with the ProFTPD ftp server.

Creating users in ProFTPD

To create a user in ProFTPD, lets say a user named "user1" , use the command below;

sudo useradd user1

Next assign a password to this user with the command below;

sudo passwd user1

You can change the user home Directory with the command below;

sudo usermod -m -d /var/www/ user1

To effect changes, restart the ProFTPD service with the command mentioned previously.

Sometimes, we might encounter some errors while installing ProFTPD. To fix such errors, you can look at the log file located at "/var/log/proftpd/proftpd.log" for more information on how to fix it.

Need support in installing ProFTPD on Ubuntu? We are here to help you.