Installing the secure FTP server

In this recipe, we will learn how to install the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server and configure it to use SSL encryption.

Getting ready

You will need access to a root account or an account with sudo privileges.

How to do it…

Follow these steps to install the secure FTP server:

1. Install vsftpd with the following command:

   $ sudo apt-get update
   $ sudo apt-get install vsftpd
   

2. After installation, we can configure vsftpd by editing /etc/vsftpd.conf.

3. First create the SSL certificate for the FTP server:

   sudo openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout /etc/ssl/private/vsftpd.pem -out /etc/ssl/private/vsftpd.pem
   

4. Next, configure Vsftpd. Add or edit the following lines in vsftpd.conf:

   anonymous_enable=no
   local_enable=yes
   write_enable=yes
   chroot_local_user=yes
   Add the SSL certificate created in the previous step:
   rsa_cert_file=/etc/ssl/private/vsftpd.pem
   rsa_private_key_file=/etc/ssl/private/vsftpd.pem
   ssl_enable=yes
   ssl_ciphers=high
   force_local_data_ssl=yes...