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Home >> Articles >> Technology
How To Start Your Own FTP Server
April 20, 2002
Ever wanted to start your own FTP server? What is an FTP server anyways? It's just a piece of software that lets you share the contents of your hard drive with friends, co-workers, anyone you want.
Don't worry, they'll only have access to the directories you specify. And unless you give them clearance, they can't move, delete, or do anything to your files (besides download them).
Starting your own FTP server is pretty simple. The software will allow other users to connect to
your IP address, on a certain port, and access files on your hard drive.
You can specify exactly which directories you want them to be able to access, and whether or not they
can write to the directory, or simply download from it.
Sounds good, how do I get started?
First, you download BulletProof FTP Server 2.15
Now, install BulletProof FTP Server on your computer.
Now, open up BulletProof FTP Server.
Setup -> Main -> General
Server Name: Put whatever you want to call your server
Listen On Port Number: Should keep this as 21, unless you have a reason not to.
Max Number Of Users:: I would recommend a number between 2 - 4
Launch with Windows: Put a checkmark beside this
Activate FTP Server on startup: Put a checkmark beside this
Put into tray on startup: Put a checkmark beside this
Setup -> User Accounts
Right click on the user accounts window space on the right, and select add
An Account Name box will pop up, type in what you want users to log in with (I use mp3z)
Notice it generates a random password for you. Delete that box, and enter the password you want users to use. (Again, I use mp3z). Remember,
usernames and passwords are case sensitive.
Now, in the Access Rights section, right click and choose Add.
A select directory box will pop up. Select the directory you want to make your "home directory". This is the one
users will see when they first log in.
You should now see the directory in the box, it will be colored red. Highlight it, and notice the
access rights on the right. By default, users will be able to read the files (which means they can download them).
If you want users to be able to write to that directory, you need to put a checkmark beside write. You should
put a checkmark beside +Subdirs so users can access the subdirectories.
If you want users to be able to access other directories, perform the same process again, and choose another directory.
Each directory can have it's own access rights.
Links & Messages
Open up a text editor. You'll want to create a file called links.txt and put it in a directory nobody will have access to.
What's in the file? Links to the other directories. You can list all the directories in here, only the directories a user actually
has access to will be shown.
The format of the links.txt file should look like this: (Obviously this is just an example, yours
will be different):
MOST RECENT RIPS | H:rips
USER REQUESTS | H:requests
UPLOADS | H:upload
Note: in the above example, the backslashes are missing from the directory names. (A backslash goes right after the colon). This is due to the way my website processes things, so I can't include them. In your links.txt file, be sure to include them!
You don't need to include your home directory, just every other directory. Now, in BulletProof FTP server, put
a checkmark beside Links to add to directories. Then, select the option Treat as virtual directories.
Then, put a checkmark beside Add links from this file. Then point BulletProof to the links.txt file you
created above.
Now click on OK. Everything should be set up. Give a friend your login info, so they can test it out. They'll obviously need an FTP Client, such as CuteFTP or WS_FTP LE.
Login Info:
Server address: This is your IP. Can be found by looking at the main window of BulletProof or by
going to www.whatismyip.com.
Port: This is the port you specified in the beginning of this tutorial (usually 21)
Username: the username you specified in the users section (case sensitive)
Password: the password you specified in the users section (case sensitive)
If you have problems, step into the chatroom, and I'll try to help you out. (I can also help you
test your FTP server).
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