Status: Deprecated
This article covers a version of Ubuntu that is no longer supported. If you are currently operate a server running Ubuntu 12.04, we highly recommend upgrading or migrating to a supported version of Ubuntu:
- Upgrade to Ubuntu 14.04.
- Upgrade from Ubuntu 14.04 to Ubuntu 16.04
- Migrate the server data to a supported version
Reason: Ubuntu 12.04 reached end of life (EOL) on April 28, 2017 and no longer receives security patches or updates. This guide is no longer maintained.
See Instead:
This guide might still be useful as a reference, but may not work on other Ubuntu releases. If available, we strongly recommend using a guide written for the version of Ubuntu you are using. You can use the search functionality at the top of the page to find a more recent version.
About ProFTP
ProFTPD is a popular ftp server. Because it was written as a powerful and configurable program, it is not necessarily the lightest ftp server available for virtual servers.
Warning: FTP is inherently insecure! Consider configuring ProFTPd to use SFTP, a secure alternative to FTP implemented under SSH.
Step One—Install ProFTP
You can quickly install ProFTP on your VPS in the command line:
sudo apt-get install proftpd
While the file is installing, you will be given the choice to run your VPS as an inetd or standalone server. Choose the standalone option.
Once the file finishes downloading, the ProFTPD server will be on your droplet. However, we still have to make a few changes to the configuration.
Step Two—Configure ProFTP
Once ProFTPD is installed, you can make the needed adjustments in the configuration. Unlike some other FTP configurations, ProFTPD disables anonymous login from the outset and we only need to make a couple of alterations in the config file.
Open up the file:
sudo nano /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf
Go ahead and make a few changes:
- Change the Server Name to your host name
ServerName "example.com"
# Use this to jail all users in their homes DefaultRoot ~
Once you have finished those adjustments, you can save and exit.
Restart after you have made all of your changes:
sudo service proftpd restart
Step Three—Access the FTP server
Once you have installed the FTP server and configured it to your liking, you can now access it.
You can reach an FTP server in the browser by typing the domain name into the address bar and logging in with the appropriate ID. Keep in mind, you will only be able to access the user's home directory when connecting to the virtual server.
ftp://example.com
Alternatively, you can reach the FTP server through the command line by typing:
ftp example.com
Then you can use the word, "exit," to get out of the FTP shell.
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What would the default username and password be for these?
ProFTPd will automatically use your existing users and any user that you add to the virtual server with a valid shell will also have FTP access.
Thanks
Will it help to transfer files from my other current server to digital ocean server.Is there any tool,which can let me transfer files as easily as I do from My PC to Server using Filezilla with just drag and drop graphical interface and can be used to transfer files from 1 Server to another server without downloading files to Home PC,everything with webinterface. Or some to be installed on home PC but can Transfer files between 2 servers easily. Please create some detailed tutorial on that. Thanks
Your instructions have an error up front:
Step One—Install ProFTP You can quickly install VSFTPD on your VPS in the command line:
ProFTP and VSFTPD are two completely separate programs.
Thanks, updated so its consistent for ProFTP =]
Look for an FTP client that does FXP - FXP allows you to do file transfers via FTP between two different servers using a graphical interface on your PC.
There were a few clients that I’ve used in the past that supported like CuteFTP but that was more than a few years ago.
After this tutorial setup, I was able to login via filezilla, but I cannot upload files on my var/www directory. When I restrict home access on proftpd config file I can only see my home directory but I need to upload on var/www, Then i just remove the restrict home access so that i can access ftp from root directory, But the problem is I cannot upload any file at var/www directory
Check the permissions of /var/www they are probably owned by a different user/group than the user you are logging in as.
You can get around this by adding the user to the same group that owns /var/www and then setting /var/www to group writeable.
chmod -R g+w /var/www
Thanks raiyu… now it is working! you are a genius and Thank you digital ocean for this awesome server for a very low cost but yet the best server I ever had for years!
Awesome, glad you got it working =]