How To : Install an FTP Server and Create Two Users

Now that we have our server setup and able to run web pages, as well as being able to manipulate our data; we need something to allow us to upload files (just in case you need to upload them from a different location ;)

So we are going to install and configure an FTP server to allow us to do just that.



So what is an FTP server anyways ? Well an FTP server is a server set up to allow a standard network protocol (File Transfer Protocol) to allow the uploading of files from one host to another.

So... lets do it!

We are going to use FileZilla's free FTP server, so lets download it!

Download FileZilla Server

Once again this will take you to a sourceforge.net page. This is fine, wait for your download to complete.

Once the download is complete lets run that file. Double click to start the installation.

Keep clicking Next . Leave everything as it is (if you want to change the install location feel free) and wait until the installation is complete and the program starts.

After the installation is done, you should see a popup that looks like this :

Check the Always connect to this server  check box and click OK.

That's the installation process for the FileZilla Server, now lets add two users so they can upload files to their websites (myfirstphp.tbd and mysecondphp.tbd).

 Click the Edit tab on the top menu bar, and click the users selection in the dropdown. You should see a screen that looks like this :

Click the Add button to add a new user. A new popup will appear asking you to enter the username and select the group. Enter the desired username and leave the groups alone.

After adding a user, the Enable Account and Password check boxes will be enabled. Make sure the Enable Account selection is checked and add a password for this user.

Next to the Shared folders item on the left side (under General), make sure your user is selected and click Add (the Add underneath the Shared folders section....picture below ;) )

Browse to the location of the users home directory (in this case it was G:/htdocs/myfirstphp.tbd ) and add it. Make sure the user has read, write and delete permissions (this is his directory after all) and click Set as home dir.

Click OK when done.

You have successfully set up a user. Now lets do it again, except for mysecondphp.tbd.

Now you should have two users setup that can access their individual folders on your web server.

To get your users to log in, install a client program (like filezilla client..... Download FileZilla Client), enter the IP or Hostname, the username that we created and the password.

** READ ME - If you installed this on a local machine and are running it at home, you may need to configure your windows firewall to let connections through to do this :

After installation, make sure FileZilla Server is registered as allowed programs to the built-in firewall's allowed programs. In the Control Panel, select System and Security. In Windows Firewall section, choose 'Allowed Programs' to open configuration window. Check both private and public network selection for "FileZilla Server" (Not "FileZilla Server Interface". If "FileZilla Server" is not listed, remember to add "C:\Program Files\FileZilla Server\FileZilla server.exe" or wherever it is installed). If private network is not selected, the incoming FTP connection would be blocked.

Congratulations, you now have an FTP server and have two users set up and able to connect.

Stay tuned for my next post on How To : Install IIS and Create Two Sites.

Thanks for reading !