FTP 101 the basics

[koegies]

I have installed IISConfig 2.0.9 on Ubuntu 5 (debian)

I used the Perfect setup howto , and installed Webmail(UebiMiau)+phpmyadmin.

I tried setting up a demo website site with sucess , created e-mail users with success.
Proftp is running

But FTP is still a mystery :
If i create a new site www.foo.com ,
enable ftp access
and created email user johndoe@foo.com ( user web1_johndoe)
enabled administrator for the user
Q1 : What is the FTP username and pass which i need to give to my customer to ftp to www.foo.com ?
If i use the web1_johndoe then i get the listing for the user's web and maildir, but not the actual website's root.

I created another site , which has the same domain as the machine hostname ( our host company name) .
When I setup the same structure :
create site >>> enable ftp access >>> create mail user >>enable administrator.
and logged in(ftp client) with this user ( web2_webmaster ) , i got:
----cgibin, log, maildir, phptmp, ssl, user, web ---- folders .

Q2: Will my users always see extra folders when they need to ftp their websites to our machine ? EG. maildir & web

I am relativly new to linux , so parden me if this is misunderstood by me.
unfotunately the forum does not allow a search on keyword "ftp" , but i tried to understand the postings i could find related to ftp wihout avail.

cheers
thanks for a great howto install doc.
Anybody using Debain should read :
http://www.falkotimme.com/howtos/per...arge/index.php

sample as per Q1

C:\>ftp www.dxxxl.co.za
Connected to www.dxxxl.co.za.
220 FTP Server ready.
User (www.dxxxl.co.za:(none)): web1_danie
331 Password required for web1_danie.
Password:
230 User web1_danie logged in.
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list
web
Maildir
226 Transfer complete.
ftp: 14 bytes received in 0.02Seconds 0.88Kbytes/sec.
ftp> quit
221 Goodbye.

C:\>

sample with domain same as hostname

C:\>ftp www.vuxxxxxnet.com
Connected to www.vuxxxxxxnet.com.
220 FTP Server ready.
User (www.vuxxxxxet.com:(none)): web2_webmaster
331 Password required for web2_webmaster.
Password:
230 User web2_webmaster logged in.
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list
web
user
log
cgi-bin
ssl
phptmp
226 Transfer complete.
ftp: 38 bytes received in 0.01Seconds 2.53Kbytes/sec.
ftp> quit
221 Goodbye.

C:\>

[falko]

Originally Posted by koegies

Q1 : What is the FTP username and pass which i need to give to my customer to ftp to www.foo.com ?
If i use the web1_johndoe then i get the listing for the user's web and maildir, but not the actual website's root.

The username is web1_johndoe + his password, the servername can be anything that points to your server, even an IP address.

Only the admin can access a web site's docroot.

Originally Posted by koegies

Q2: Will my users always see extra folders when they need to ftp their websites to our machine ? EG. maildir & web

Yes.

[koegies]

thanks for the reply Falco

Are anyone else using this in a commercial environment.

If I had to give the FTP access to clients (normal users), and they see all the funny files , and start to delete them they will mess up their whole account.

Q1: Is there a way to give them FTP so that they will only see the web folder ?

like with IIS(windows) and webserver Linux where website is stored under /var/www/xxx and the user files under different location eg. /home/user.

Q2: Or do we have to train our users never to delete the other files , and teach them to always publish/upload/sync their website to the "web" directory .
Train then not to touch the "maildir,users, phptmp, log directories and the .xxx files"

I need to make this as fail save for laymen and resellers when the want to upload and edit their websites.

I also see that all the e-mail users also have FTP access , to their repective home directories though.

Q3 :Can one disable them ?

This server is stil in our testing zone , and we are evaluating ISPconfig as a panel for our users, most which will never use the actual interface but will use the webmail, ftp , hosting facility.

I hope my question is clear enough.
thanks

Luck is what happens when preperation meets oppertunity

[till]

1) Not without rewriting a bigger part of ISPConfig.

2) You are talking about the admin of the web. Normally a admin shall be able to delete files from users he is the admin for. Other files that are causing trouble when he deletes them have permissions that he can see them but not delete them.

3) If you want disable FTP for non admin users you will have to chnage the ISPConfig sources.

[falko]

Originally Posted by koegies

If I had to give the FTP access to clients (normal users), and they see all the funny files , and start to delete them they will mess up their whole account.

There is always a file called .no_delete in these folders. It belongs to root and can only be seen by him. It prevents those folders from being deleted.

[Geoinline]

I can log in using Web-FTP>Web Selection.
Username: web1_username
Password: password

However using IE I can't get it to work. I've tried 'ftp://web1_username@domain.com' then when asked I enter
Username: web1_username
Password: password

but it doesn't work. Am I using the correct format?

---------------------

I figuared it out! kinda..

If I use 'ftp://myip'

Then it works perfectly.. however I'd like to know how I can set it up so my clients can use ftp://domain.com or ftp://ftp.domain.com or anything other than the IP.

[falko]

Originally Posted by Geoinline

I figuared it out! kinda..

If I use 'ftp://myip'

Then it works perfectly.. however I'd like to know how I can set it up so my clients can use ftp://domain.com or ftp://ftp.domain.com or anything other than the IP.

You have to create proper DNS records for the domains, they should point to the right IP address.

[IntnsRed]

Originally Posted by koegies

Q1: Is there a way to give them FTP so that they will only see the web folder ?

like with IIS(windows) and webserver Linux where website is stored under /var/www/xxx and the user files under different location eg. /home/user.

Myself, I prefer all the user's data being kept under /home/user -- it's simpler to maintain, backup, allocate disk space for, etc. The FTP server's default directory when the user logs in is another issue, IMHO.

Originally Posted by koegies

Q2: Or do we have to train our users never to delete the other files , and teach them to always publish/upload/sync their website to the "web" directory .
Train then not to touch the "maildir,users, phptmp, log directories and the .xxx files"

Thinking of the way CPanel does this, it isn't that different. The users should be instructed not to delete things that they don't know what it is, that's a given. Giving them instructions to "publish" web pages by adding a subdir to their FTP URL is not really that unusual, IMHO. Granted, it isn't the most idiot-proof arrangement, but it's generally a one-time setup for the user's HTML editor.

Originally Posted by koegies

I need to make this as fail save for laymen and resellers when the want to upload and edit their websites.

This is always the key, isn't it. There are quite a few minor things in this area where ISPConfig could improve, and I've been happy with the dev team's attitude on this -- they must have to deal with users too. :-)