Adding FTP Users For VSFTP

1. You will need to log into your Linux server using SSH / Shell. If you are on a Windows workstation you will need to download Putty or if you are using a MacOSX based workstation you can use the built in Telnet application. If you have not used an SSH interface before you can review our support article on how to access your server using SSH by going to http://www.hosting.com/support/vps/linux/ssh.


2. Before you can add any users to VSFTP, the user must already exist on the server. If the user does not exist you will need to add the user. You can refer to our article on how to create linux users (Link)


3. Next you will need to locate the VSFTP configuration file. This is referred to by the server as "vsftp.conf" and is normally located at "/etc/vsftp.conf".


4. To create the new FTP user you must fire edit the "/etc/vsftp.conf" file and make the following change:

chroot_list_enable=NO

Change this to:

chroot_list_enable=YES


5. If it is already set to "chroot_list_enable=YES" you can skip step 4. If it was set to "chroot_list_enable=No" you will need to change as stated. Once you have made the change, save the file.


6. Next you will need to create the user file which will be called "vsftpd.chroot_list". This will contain the users for the VSFTP server and will lock them down to their specific directly, which is done by name. Be sure to create this file in "/etc".

touch /etc/vsftp.chroot_list

7. Now that you created the user list, you will be able to add users to it directly. To add a user simply enter in the user that you already have on the server, one per line. An example of this would be as such.

Example: User1 User2 User3

1. Lastly restart the VSFTP service by typing the following:
service vsftp restart

2. The users will be locked into their own directory sin