FTP access is used to upload files to the server and download them from it. The panel works with two FTP servers, ProFTPd and Pure-FTPd, and both support virtual FTP users: you can give someone FTP access without creating a system account for them, and restrict them to a single directory.
Adding an FTP user
- Go to FTP-users and click Add an FTP user.
- Enter the Name used to log in.
- Set and confirm the Password. Use a long password with mixed case, digits and special characters — FTP accounts are a standard target for automated guessing.
- Enter the Home directory, relative to the owner's home directory. If the owner's directory is
/var/www/user/dataand you enter/ftp, the user gets access to/var/www/user/data/ftpand nothing above it. - Click Create.
Create a separate account for each person or purpose rather than sharing one. An account restricted to the directory it needs limits the damage if its password is compromised, and it can be removed when the work is finished without affecting anyone else.
Connecting
Use the server host name — in the form vm00000.sayob.com, where vm00000 is the identifier of your server — with the user name and password you set.
The panel does not configure TLS when the FTP server is installed. This matters: over plain FTP the user name, the password and the files themselves travel in clear text and can be intercepted.
Where possible, use SFTP instead — it runs over SSH on port 22, is encrypted by default and needs no additional configuration. If FTP itself is required, open a ticket and we will set up FTPS so that the connection is encrypted.
Changing the FTP server
The FTP server is installed and changed through the panel's software configuration, which requires administrator access. Do not install or configure these packages by hand: the panel manages their configuration files itself, and manual changes lead either to the panel misbehaving or to security problems.
If you need a different FTP server or a change to its configuration, open a ticket describing what you need.
If you cannot connect
Check the host name, the user name and the password first. Then check the directory: an FTP user sees only its home directory, so files placed elsewhere on the server will not be visible.
If the connection is refused rather than rejected, the port may be blocked on the network you are connecting from — try another network before assuming the problem is on the server.
If it still does not work, open a ticket from your client area with the user name you are using.
