What I Set Up

I needed a simple FTP server on Ubuntu for file transfers. ProFTPD did the job. This is my setup — on Arch you’d install with sudo pacman -S proftpd and edit the same config path.

Plain FTP is not encrypted. For anything serious, use SFTP over SSH instead.

Installing ProFTPD

Getting ProFTPD set up is pretty simple. Just run:

sudo apt-get install proftpd

Configuring ProFTPD

Once it’s installed, you’ll need to tweak the config file. Open it up with:

sudo nano /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf

Update the ServerName field to match your hostname:

ServerName "test.com"

Also, uncomment this line to make sure users are restricted to their home directories:

# Use this to jail all users in their homes
DefaultRoot /home/ayyzenn/

Once you’re done, save the file and restart ProFTPD so the changes take effect:

sudo service proftpd restart

Accessing the FTP Server

Now that everything is set up, you can connect to your FTP server from the command line:

ftp test.com

To exit, just type:

exit

Adding a User

If you want another user to access the FTP server, you’ll need to add them first. Run:

sudo adduser <username>

Follow the prompts—it’s fine to leave the details blank if you want.

Then, make sure they have the right permissions by adding them to the sudo group:

sudo usermod -aG sudo username

Installing FileZilla

If you prefer a GUI, you can use FileZilla. Install it with:

sudo apt install filezilla

Connecting to Your FTP Server with FileZilla

  1. Open FileZilla.
  2. Enter your:
    • Hostname or IP address
    • Username
    • Password
    • Port number (default: 21)
  3. Click Quickconnect.
  4. Accept any prompts and you’re good to go!

Wrapping Up

That’s it! You now have a working ProFTPD server. Whether you’re using the command line or FileZilla, you can easily manage file transfers between your systems. Enjoy!