Choose and Configure your FTP server in WHM
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is an application protocol in TCP/IP protocol stack. It follows client-server program where FTP client is on one side and FTP server is on another side. In this scenario the client is going to open the connection with the server. The interaction between FTP client and FTP server is based on the TCP/IP protocol of transport layer protocol to make it reliable.
An FTP server provides your clients with the means to upload files to their accounts. FTP is generally a more reliable and faster way to transfer files than cPanels’ file manager, especially when dealing with large files.
WHM allows you to choose from 2 FTP servers, both of which have options you can configure.
Step 1 – Go to the ‘Service Configuration’ section.
Step 2 – Click ‘FTP Server Selection’. Following interface will appear. Here you can see 2 options to choose the FTP server from.
- ProFTPD
- Pure-FTPD
Let’s learn about their advantages and disadvantages.
- Advantages of ProFTPD: –
- Allows use of ”.ftpaccess” files for per-directory access controls.
- Supports TCPwrappers based access controls.
- Highly configurable.
- Disadvantages of ProFTPD: –
- Uses more memory.
- Login notifications are not available.
- Brute force protection is not available.
- Advantages of Pure-FTPD: –
- Faster login time.
- Uses less memory.
- Better security model.
- Allows virtual user quotas.
- Better compatibility with software RAID systems.
- Support for brute force protection.
Here you can see that there are only advantages and no disadvantages of using ProFTPD vs. Pure-FTPD. The default in most cases you will want to stick with is PureFTP.
Step 3 – You can also disable your server’s FTP capabilities completely. Click ‘Save’ when finished here. You will receive a confirmation message.
Step 4 – Now let’s move on to the ‘FTP server Configuration’ page.
Step 5 – Each FTP server has its own configuration options, but they should be fairly similar.
The first settings here relate to encrypted connections and probably should be left as the defaults. You can disable ‘Anonymous logins’ and ‘Uploads ‘here. This is recommended to increase server security. But you can leave both ‘ON’ if you wish. We will disable both.
- Allow Anonymous Logins: – Allows anonymous FTP logins in generally considered to weaken security of the server. It is recommended to set it to ‘No’.
- Allow Anonymous Uploads: – Allows anonymous FTP uploads in generally considered to weaken the security of the server, so it is recommended to set it to ‘No’.
Step 6 – Scroll down. You can also adjust the ‘Maximum Idle Time (in minutes) connections’ that haven’t done anything for this amount of time will be disconnected by the server. Adjust Maximum connections and Maximum connections per IP settings if you wish, you probably shouldn’t set either of these too high. By default you can log in to any account using the root password.
- Maximum Idle Time: – It is a Maximum amount of time in minutes that an FTP connection may spend idle before it is disconnected by the server
- Maximum Connections: – Maximum number of FTP connections to accept.
- Maximum Connections Per IP Address: – Maximum number of FTP connections to accept from a single IP address.
- Allow logins with the Root Password: – Allow FTP logins to all accounts using the root password. I have disabled this option.
Step 7 – ‘Save’ when ready. A confirmation message will appear.
That’s it! You now know how to choose and configure your FTP server in WHM.
Let’s see now how to transfer files via FTP
A common method for transferring files to and from local and remote computers is using File Transfer Protocol. It is being used for many years. It has a ability to transfer large batches of files, queue the files, support paused, resume transfers, limit transfer rates and more. Due to this it is a popular choice.
The FTP transfers are supported in many web browsers. One popular choice is ‘FileZilla’. FileZilla is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
Let’s assume that you already have downloaded and installed the client application for your required Operating System.
Let’s find your FTP access credentials
Before you will be able to access the server, it is prerequisite to configure your FTP client with secured username and password.
Log in to your Hostripples client area and select cPanel option under My Services, and click the FTP Accounts icon.
Scroll down the page to the FTP Accounts section.
You will notice more than one FTP accounts have been configured for you at the time when your account was commissioned. These accounts can be used for accessing your server or scroll up the page for creating a new FTP account.
Once created, click Configure FTP Client to display your FTP account credentials.
Now log in to your server using Filezilla: –
Open FileZilla >> Select File >> Site Manager >> for opening the a panel in which you can enter your FTP account credentials.
Hostname/ServerName – This is your domain name with an ftp prefix.
- Hostname/Server Name – this is your domain name, with an ftp prefix (for example, mydomain.com).
- Port – the port number used for FTP connections to the server. Typically, port 21 is used.
- Logon Type – if requested, set this to Normal, rather than Anonymous.
- User – enter your FTP user account name.
- Password – enter your FTP account password.
Upload Files using Filezilla: –
- You will notice two panes on screen once logged in to FTP. The left pane displays the files and folders stored on your local computer, while the right pane displays the contents of the remote computer
Access and select the files and folders you wish to upload to the server from the left pane. Most FTP clients allow you to simply drag and drop files from one pane to the other to initiate an upload or you can highlight the files, right click and select ‘Upload’.
Now your files will be queued for uploading to the server.
You will receive a confirmation message as follows
For downloading files from your remote server to your local computer works in the similar way. Only difference is that select the file or folder you wish to download in the right pane. Also you can highlight the file or folder, right click and select ‘Download’.
A confirmation message will appear as follows:
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