Very Secure FTP daemon (VSFTPD) also known as a very secure FTP daemon is a secure way of sending and receiving files from one system to another in UNIX systems. The regular File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a widely used networking standard protocol. However,  FTP is not a secure protocol because it transmits data alongside other important details without encryption. In this guide, you will learn how to install VSFTPD  on Ubuntu 18.04 server.

Prerequisites

Before you get started, ensure that you have the following in check:

1. An instance of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. You can easily deploy a cloud server from Cloudcone starting at only  $3.71.
2. A regular non-root user with sudo privileges.
3. A static IP address (in this case 192.168.0.102) should be available

Step 1: Install VSFTPD

The default repository has the VSFTPD files available making installation a straight forward. To install vsftpd, execute the command:

# sudo apt-get install vsftpd –y

Sample Output

After the installation start VSFTPD service by enabling it to start on boot time

# sudo systemctl start vsftpd
# sudo systemctl enable vsftpd

Sample Output

Step 2: Creating the Directory Structure for FTP

With VSFTPD installed, we are now going to add a user account. We will create a new user called ‘vsftp’ for demonstration purposes. Therefore, the command will be:

# sudo adduser vsftp

Sample Output

Next, create an FTP directory and adjust the file  ownership as follows

# sudo mkdir /home/vsftp/ftp
# sudo chown nobody:nogroup /home/vsftp/ftp
# sudo chmod a-w /home/vsftp/ftp

Create a directory where the files will be uploaded and ownership given to the VSFTPD user

# sudo mkdir /home/vsftp/ftp/test
# sudo chown vsftp:vsftp /home/vsftp/ftp/test

Step 3: Configure VSFTPD

With the FTP user and directory in place, we need to configure VSFTPD service. before anything else, it’s always a good idea to create a backup of the original config file

# sudo cp /etc/vsftpd.conf /etc/vsftpd.conf.bak

Once the backup is in place, Open the vsftpd.conf file

# sudo vim  /etc/vsftpd.conf

Add the following lines to the open file

listen=NO
listen_ipv6=YES
anonymous_enable=NO
local_enable=YES
write_enable=YES
local_umask=022
dirmessage_enable=YES
use_localtime=YES
xferlog_enable=YES
connect_from_port_20=YES
chroot_local_user=YES
secure_chroot_dir=/var/run/vsftpd/empty
pam_service_name=vsftpd
pasv_enable=Yes
pasv_min_port=10000
pasv_max_port=11000
user_sub_token=$USER
local_root=/home/$USER/ftp
userlist_enable=YES
userlist_file=/etc/vsftpd.userlist
userlist_deny=NO

Save and close the file. Do not forget to edit the above file to suit your needs.

Add the vsftpd user to the  /etc/vsftpd.userlist file to give FTP access using the command.

# sudo nano /etc/vsftpd.userlist

Next, Add the following line.

vsftp

Save and close the file, then restart the VSFTPD services

# sudo systemctl restart vsftpd

Open the web browser and on the URL enter ftp://192.168.0.102 and key in the name and password to access the FTP page. Enter the vsftpd username and password then click OK button.

Step 4: Secure VSFTPD using SSL/TLS

Now we need to enable SSL/TLS to encrypt all data transferred via FTP. For this to happen, you need to create a certificate using the OpenSSL as shown

# sudo mkdir /etc/cert
# sudo openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout /etc/cert/vsftpd.pem -out /etc/cert/vsftpd.pem

Sample Output

Then modify the vsftpd.conf file and make some changes

# sudo nano /etc/vsftpd.conf

Edit the file by adding the following lines

rsa_cert_file=/etc/cert/vsftpd.pem
rsa_private_key_file=/etc/cert/vsftpd.pem
ssl_enable=YES
allow_anon_ssl=NO
force_local_data_ssl=YES
force_local_logins_ssl=YES
ssl_tlsv1=YES
ssl_sslv2=NO
ssl_sslv3=NO
require_ssl_reuse=NO
ssl_ciphers=HIGH

Save the file and restart the vsftpd using the following command

# sudo systemctl restart vsftpd

Step 5: Access FTP over SSL / TLS

It is not possible to access FTP server over a browser, so you need an FTP application such as FileZilla to access the FTP server. Use the following command to install

# sudo apt-get install filezilla -y

Click on Files > Sites Manager

Add the New site and give it a new host or site name, IP address. Select ‘FTP‘ as the protocol and define Encryption as ‘Require explicit FTP over TLS‘

Click on the Connect button and a screen with a certificate that needs to be verified for use during the SSL/TLS

connection. Click OK .

FileZilla will authenticate and lead the contents of the home directory of the VSTPD user

Awesome! We have successfully installed and configured VSFTPD on Ubuntu 18.04 server. In this guide, you have learned how to install VSFTPD on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Your feedback is much welcome.