4 Configure PureFTPd

Edit /etc/pure-ftpd/db/mysql.conf. It should look like this:

MYSQLSocket      /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
#MYSQLServer     localhost
#MYSQLPort       3306
MYSQLUser       pureftpd
MYSQLPassword   ftpdpass
MYSQLDatabase   pureftpd
#MYSQLCrypt md5, cleartext, crypt() or password() - md5 is VERY RECOMMENDABLE uppon cleartext
MYSQLCrypt      md5
MYSQLGetPW      SELECT Password FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L" AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MYSQLGetUID     SELECT Uid FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L" AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MYSQLGetGID     SELECT Gid FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MYSQLGetDir     SELECT Dir FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MySQLGetBandwidthUL SELECT ULBandwidth FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MySQLGetBandwidthDL SELECT DLBandwidth FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MySQLGetQTASZ   SELECT QuotaSize FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MySQLGetQTAFS   SELECT QuotaFiles FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")

Make sure that you replace the string ftpdpass with the real password for the MySQL user pureftpd in the line MYSQLPassword! Please note that we use md5 as MYSQLCrypt method, which means we will store the users' passwords as an MD5 string in the database which is far more secure than using plain text passwords!

Then create the file /etc/pure-ftpd/conf/ChrootEveryone which simply contains the string yes:

yes

This will make PureFTPd chroot every virtual user in his home directory so he will not be able to browse directories and files outside his home directory.

Also create the file /etc/pure-ftpd/conf/CreateHomeDir which again simply contains the string yes:

yes

This will make PureFTPd create a user's home directory when the user logs in and the home directory does not exist yet.

Finally, restart PureFTPd:

/etc/init.d/pure-ftpd-mysql restart

5 Populate The Database And Test

To populate the database you can use the MySQL shell:

mysql -u root -p
USE pureftpd;

Now we create the user exampleuser with the status 1 (which means his ftp account is active), the password secret (which will be stored encrypted using MySQL's MD5 function), the UID and GID 2001 (use the userid and groupid of the user/group you created at the end of step two!), the home directory /home/www.example.com, an upload and download bandwidth of 100 KB/sec. (kilobytes per second), and a quota of 50 MB:

INSERT INTO `ftpd` (`User`, `status`, `Password`, `Uid`, `Gid`, `Dir`, `ULBandwidth`, `DLBandwidth`, `comment`, `ipaccess`, `QuotaSize`, `QuotaFiles`) VALUES ('exampleuser', '1', MD5('secret'), '2001', '2001', '/home/www.example.com', '100', '100', '', '*', '50', '0');

Now open your FTP client program on your work station (something like WS_FTP or SmartFTP if you are on a Windows system) and try to connect. As hostname you use server1.example.com (or the IP address of the system), the username is exampleuser, and the password is secret.

If you are able to connect - congratulations! If not, something went wrong.

Now, if you run

ls -l /home

you should see that the directory /home/www.example.com (exampleuser's home directory) has been automatically created, and it belongs to ftpuser and ftpgroup (the user/group we created at the end of step two).

To leave the MySQL shell, type

quit;