File Transfer Protocol or FTP is a communication protocol to facilitate the process of sharing files between computers or servers. So, you want to have your own FTP server, but don’t know how to create an FTP server?
Don’t worry, you’re in the right article! This time, we invite you to learn how to create an FTP server on Windows, Linux, and FileZilla all at once.
You can’t wait to practice directly, right? Without further ado, here is the full tutorial!
How to Create an FTP Server on Windows 10 & 11
You can practice how to create an FTP server on Windows 10 and 11 OS in three easy steps:
1. Enable FTP Server in Windows
How to create an FTP server on your Windows OS, start by activating the built-in features for FTP. Well, the method is:
1. Click the Windows button in the lower left corner, then type Control Panel in the search field.
2. Open the Control Panel application, then click Programs > Turn Windows features on or off.
3. Open the Internet Information Services category, then open the FTP Server and Web Management Tools sub-category.
4. Check the FTP Server, FTP Extensibility, FTP Service, and IIS Management Console menus. If it’s all, click OK.
5. Windows will collect files to activate. Here’s how it looks after the FTP server is active.
2. Add New FTP Site
How to create an FTP server on Windows continues by adding a new FTP site as well as an FTP sharing folder. How to?
1. Buka Control Panel > System and Security, Lalu asks Administrative Tools (Windows 10) atau Windows Tools (Windows 11).
2. If so, select Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
3. In this feature, right-click on your computer’s username, then select Add FTP Site.
4. After that, fill in the FTP server name in the FTP site name column. Continue by writing the FTP sharing folder in the Physical path column. If so, click Next.
5. In the next screen, fill in the fields according to the following conditions:
- IP Address – All Unassigned
- Port – 21
- Start the FTP site automatically – check for this option, then select No SSL.
6. After clicking Next, fill in the next configuration like:
- Authentication – centang Anonymous dan Basic.
- Allow access to – pilih All users.
- Permissions – tick Read.
7. End by clicking Finish.
3. Akses FTP Server Windows
The final step in how to create an FTP server on Windows is to test access to a new FTP site. Follow the simple steps below!
1. Open your browser, then type ftp://ipcomputer as follows:
If you forget your computer’s IP address, visit the article on how to see the IP address.
2. You will see a list of files and folders that can be accessed via the FTP server.
Happy! You have successfully practiced how to create an FTP server on Windows.
Also read: 50+ CMD Commands and Their Functions You Must Know!
How to Create an FTP Server on Linux OS & VPS
You can practice how to create an FTP server next if you have a computer or VPS server with Linux OS. For example, we are using a Linux VPS with Ubuntu 18.04 64bit distro .
Well, the steps are:
1. Install FTP Server vsftpd
The first step to creating an FTP server on a Linux VPS is to log in to the VPS server by using SSH . Here’s how:
1. Open the SSH client application that you have. This time, we use the Windows PowerShell software .
2. If so, login to the VPS server with the following command:
ssh root@ipvpsanda-p22 |
Remember, replace your ipvps with your own VPS IP address. If you forget, visit the article on how to check VPS IP .
3. After logging in, it’s time to update the server so that the FTP server installation process runs smoothly. Run the command below:
sudo apt-get update |
4. Then, you can directly install vsftpd FTP server with the following command:
sudo apt-get install vsftpd |
5. If vsftpd is successfully installed, it looks like this:
6. Continue to verify if vsftpd is active. Well, the command:
sudo systemctl status vsftpd |
7. The resulting output looks like this:
2. Firewall Configuration (If Available)
The second step in how to create an FTP server is to configure the firewall if it is installed on the VPS server. How to find out?
1. Run the following command to verify the firewall:
sudo ufw status |
2. If the result is as below, it means that the firewall has not been installed. You can go directly to step number three.
3. But if the firewall is already installed, run some of the commands below sequentially to open all FTP ports.
sudo ufw allow 20/tcpsudo ufw allow 21/tcpsudo ufw allow 990/tcpsudo ufw allow 40000:50000/tcp |
3. Create FTP Accounts and Folders
How to create an FTP server on a Linux VPS, the next step is to create a new FTP account by:
1. Run the following command to create an FTP user. For example, with the name wise:
sudo adduser arif |
2. Next, you will be asked to enter a password and some additional information.
3. After that, create a folder called ftp using the command below:
sudo mkdir /home/arif/ftp |
4. Continue to set the ownership of the folder with the command:
sudo chown nobody:nogroup /home/arif/ftp |
5. Then, remove the write permission for the user using this one command:
sudo chmod a-w /home/arif/ftp |
6. Finally, verify all the permissions above with the command:
sudo ls-la/home/arif/ftp |
7. The resulting output looks like this:
4. Configure vsftpd
How to create an FTP server on a VPS continues by configuring a few things in the vsftpd.conf file. The steps are:
1. Run the command below to edit the file with the nano editor. Make sure the program is installed:
sudo nano /etc/vsftpd.conf |
2. Next, remove the # sign in the value below to activate the configuration:
write_enable=YESchroot_local_user=YES |
3. This is how it looks after activation:
4. If so, add the following values at the very bottom of the file:
user_sub_token=$USERlocal_root=/home/$USER/ftppasv_min_port=40000pasv_max_port=50000userlist_enable=YESuserlist_file=/etc/vsftpd.userlistuserlist_deny=NO |
5. The display is:
6. End by pressing Ctrl + X, then followed by Y and Enter to save changes and exit nano editor.
7. After that, add the user to the FTP access list with the command:
echo "arif"| sudo tee-a/etc/vsftpd.userlist |
8. Time to verify the changes with the following command:
cat /etc/vsftpd.userlist |
9. Well, the output is:
5. Check the FTP Connection
How to create an FTP server with Linux VPS has entered the last step. Here, you just need to check the connection by:
1. Restart the FTP server using the following command:
sudo systemctl restart vsftpd |
2. Next, access FTP via the command:
ftp ipvpsanda |
3. You will be asked to enter the FTP account name and password.
4. If the access to FTP is successful, it looks like this:
Happy! You have successfully created an FTP server on your Linux VPS. To start accessing FTP, you can use the best FTP client like FileZilla.
How to Create an FTP Server on FileZilla
An alternative way to create another FTP server is by using Filezilla. However, you need to know how to use FileZilla first.
This time, you will access FTP from the previous point using this software.
1. Login FTP Server
To login to the FTP Server, follow these steps:
1. Open the FileZilla application, then fill in the fields provided according to the following conditions:
- Host – IP VPS Anda
- Username – The name of your FTP account
- Password – Password FTP Anda
- Port – 21
2. If so, click Quickconnect.
2. Akses Folder FTP
You can access the FTP folder by:
1. Hover your cursor over the tab on the right. Here is the FTP folder and its contents that you can access:
2. You can download files shared in this folder by right clicking > Download.
At this point, you have created your FTP server using three different methods.
Interested in Trying How to Make Your Own FTP Server?
In this article, you’ve learned how to create an FTP server on Windows, Linux, and FileZilla. Those of you who are interested in trying can try one of the methods above as needed.
But among all of them, how to create an FTP server on a VPS is indeed the most common way to share files. The condition is that you must have a VPS server first.
