Positive Internet

If you have purchased the Virtual FTP (VFTP) account upgrade (£95 + VAT pa) you will be able to create new FTP users with password access to specific directories within your web space. These areas are "chrooted" meaning that a user connecting to their assigned directory will not have access to other areas on your site.

Your FTP server will be called ftp.yourdomain.com (replacing the yourdomain.com part with whatever domain you've decided to use).

The system is controlled via a web-based VFTP control panel. You can access this by pointing a web browser to the /vftp directory on your server, using your account login details. For example:

http://www.yourdomain.com/vftp/

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When you first enter your ftp admin area you will see a list of admin options down the left hand side of your web browser. These allow you to perform the basic administrative tasks:

1. Add FTP User
2. Change User Password
3. List/Delete Users
4. List/Delete Directories
5. Admin Configuration

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Selecting the "Add FTP User" option displays a form for creating a new ftp account. You must specify a 'username' and 'password' for the account. The password must be repeated to confirm it was typed correctly. The 'description' field is for your benefit only.

The 'ftp root' is the complete file path to the directory that you want to be the ftp user's home. The basepath specified outside the textbox can be altered in "Admin Configuration" (see later).

An email address can be optionally included. If it is, an email is sent to it, containing the full login details. The contents of this email can be customised in "Admin Configuration".

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This option allows the password of an existing ftp account to be replaced. As the admin, you do not need to know the previous password. This can be used if the account holder forgets their password, or if you want to prevent their ftp access, without deleting the account.

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This allows you to list all of your current users, and thir corresponding ftp roots. To remove a user, you may select it from the list. A confirm delete is shown in the browser before the user is removed.

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This option lists the directories (will full file paths) which have vFTP access. To help you monitor your disk space, the size of these directories are also shown. You can delete these directories (and their contents) from here. Again, a confirm delete is shown in the browser.

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These configuration options allow you to modify settings within your VFTP admin tools. A help page is available from here.
When the VFTP system is installed, these are set to default. We recommend that you change the 'Admin Name' and 'Admin Email Address'.
The variables which can be configured are as follows:

Organisation Name: Name of your company/organisation

Admin name: Name from which automated email comes, also appears on placeholder pages. e.g. Organisation Webmaster

Admin email address: Email address of Admin

Base URL: The URL to your base directory. e.g. if your base directory was simply home/username/public_html, the Base URL would be http://www.yourdomain.com. This appears in the email.

FTP server address: The server address - for infomation in the email only.

Base file path: The filepath to the ftp root. This directory is listed in directory list, and is also used to create ftp accounts. This MUST be set correctly for the Admin Tools to work.

Create Placeholder: On yes, when a new directory is created through the 'Add FTP User' option, an index.html placeholder will be created within the directory. If no, the directory will be left empty.

Filter FTP User List: On yes the FTP Users list returns only the users with access paths stemming from the Base File Path. On no, the list returns all of the vFTP users with access to your account.

Email content: The email sent to the new FTP user. It should contain certain markers, specified on the help page.

Alternatively, the system can be controlled via the command line using a telnet client. For more information on how to use a telnet client please refer to our telnet instructions on this support site.

FTP users can be set up by doing the following:

a) Create a directory for a user within your ftp_home directory, eg:

mkdir $HOME/ftp_home/john 

b) Use our ftpadd script to add a user to your vftp server like so:-

ftpadd john "John Smiths FTP account" $HOME/ftp_home/john 

(NOTE: description in quotes, and full path to users home)

c) Follow prompts to set the password for the user.

NOTE: you can have any number of usernames and passwords all sharing the same directory if you wish.

3) Users can be removed by doing the following:

a) Use our ftpdel script to remove a user like so:-

ftpdel john 

b) Manually delete a directory (and all contents) if you wish:

rm -r $HOME/ftp_home/john 

4) A list of your current users can be viewed using my handy ftplist
tool as follows:-

ftplist 

SPECIAL POINTS:

An FTP user can only have their directory within a previously agreed (with us) main directory. This main directory is usually something like:

/home/username/ftp_home 

If you have a special multi account with our system you may also have a directory called multi, any directory created with this will also be able to be used with your VFTP system.

Anonymous FTP is not a standard part of the vftp package. It can however be an optional costed extra. Please call for details.

The standard vFTP package will allow for up to 5 *simultaneous* connections to the server at any one time. A maximum of one connection may be made from any single IP address. Additional connections may be purchased.

A bandwidth restriction on the vFTP server applies. This is set normally to 20k/s per connection. Please call/e-mail if you would like this changed.

A transfer log for you vFTP server is located in

 /home/username/logs/ftp.log 

Format for this log is explained in the xferlog man page:-

man xferlog 

Rotation and analysis of this log is not currently provided.

A file named .message placed within a users home directory will be displayed on most FTP clients after the user has logged in to your FTP system.

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