The Secure File Transfer Solution.
TOC PREV NEXT INDEX

Chapter 2: Getting Started

This chapter describes how to configure the WS_FTP server and how to set up your first host and user on the site. You need to create an FTP host for each FTP site that you will have.

Configuring the FTP Server

On installation, WS_FTP Server is ready to work. You can use the default configuration for FTP connections (port 21, no logging, no access restrictions) or you can set the options described in this section.

To view and set options for the WS_FTP Server configuration:

  1. In the left panel, select Local System. The Local System properties appear in the right panel.

  2. Set or change any of the properties described in the following sections. These properties apply to all FTP hosts that you add to the FTP server.

Setting WS_FTP Server Directories

The Local System properties display the main directories for the WS_FTP Server.

Binary directory. The directory in which the FTP service (iftpsvc.exe) is installed. This directory can only be changed by uninstalling WS_FTP Server and re-installing in a new directory.

FTP directory. The top directory under which directories for each FTP host will appear.

Log directory. If logging is enabled, log files are placed in this directory.

Setting the FTP Server Port

Any FTP hosts that you create on the WS_FTP Server will use the same FTP port number. The default port number is 21, which is the standard port for FTP service on an Internet host.

FTP clients assume that the FTP server uses port 21. You can change this to any unused port number, but you must notify users to set the port in their FTP client.

To change the server's port number:

  1. In the left panel, select Local System. The Local System properties appear in the right panel.
  2. In the Port box, enter a new port number.

Logging FTP Server Events

You can set WS_FTP Server to write FTP events (such as connect, change directory, get file, put file) to a log file. If you make a change to the logging options, you must restart the FTP server.

To set the logging options:

  1. In the left panel, select Local System. The Local System properties appear in the right panel.
  2. Select one of the following options:

    No log. Server events will not be logged.

    FSyyyymmnn.log. Server events for all FTP hosts are logged to a file named FSyyyymmnn.log where yyyy is the year, mm is the month, and nn is the day. This log is created daily in the Log directory. See "Reading the Log Files" for information on using the log files to manage your server.

    If this option is selected, you will be able to select the Debug Msgs option, which adds more detailed information to the log.

  3. Optionally, change the Log directory to which log files are written. By default, this is set to the WS_FTP Server top directory. You can enter any valid path on your computer.

Starting and Stopping the FTP Server

The FTP server starts automatically and runs continuously as a Windows service. If you need to stop the server:

  1. Start the WS_FTP Server Manager.
  2. In the left panel, select Local System.
  3. Click Stop Service in the right pane.

To restart the service, click Start Service.

You can also start and stop the service by using the Services applet in the Control Panel. In the Services applet, look for the Ipswitch FTP Service.

Adding the First FTP Host

At the end of the installation process, you will be asked if you want to create your first Host now. Click Yes to use the New Host wizard as described in the directions below, starting with number 4.

To manually add the first (or only) FTP host:

  1. Make sure your host has a valid Internet hostname and IP address and make sure the host has an entry on your Domain Name Server (DNS). If you use an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for connection to the Internet, your host must have an entry in the ISP's DNS.
  2. Start the WS_FTP Server Manager. In the left panel, select Local System. The directory, port, logging, and FTP service information for this server appears in the right panel.
  3. In the right panel, select New Host. The first screen of the New Host wizard appears.

  4. Enter the Internet hostname of the host you are installing on. This can be from 1 to 80 characters and must be in the form host.domain.top.
  5. Select the database to use for user authorization:

    WS_FTP Server. If you want to create your own FTP user accounts (through the Server Manager or the Add User utility), select this option.

    If you want WS_FTP Server to use user accounts from an existing user database, select one of these options:

    Windows NT. All users in the Windows NT user database on your computer have access (using their Windows NT username and password) to the FTP host. Each user appears in the users folder in the top directory of the FTP host.

    You may also use WS_FTP Server Manager to authenticate users on an NT domain, even if the computer WS_FTP Server is installed on is not the domain controller. For more information, see "Configuring an NT User Database".

    External User Database. All users in the correctly configured external ODBC database stored on your computer have access to the FTP host. Each user appears in the users folder in the top directory of the FTP host.

    For more information on configuring external user databases, refer to the directions that appear in "Configuring an External User Database".

    IMail Server. All users in the IMail Server user database on your local system have access (using their IMail Server username and password) to the FTP host. Each user appears in the users folder in the top directory of the FTP host.

    Important: To use this option, the IMail Server for Windows NT software must be installed on your computer. Also, note the following:

    • The hostname you enter for the FTP host must be the exact name of the official hostname used by the IMail Server.
    • You cannot use this option if the IMail Server is using the Windows NT user database for user authorization.
    • The FTP host does not use the IMail Server top directories by default, but you can set the top directories to be the same, thus allowing FTP users to access their mail folders.

      If you use the Windows NT or IMail Server user databases, you can display each user account and modify FTP settings for an account, but you cannot add or delete user accounts. You must add or delete user accounts through the user database. You can disable an account - see the section "Setting Options for the FTP Host"

  6. Click Next. The IP Address screen appears.

  7. Enter or select the actual IP Address for this host. (The $virtual IP address is for use with virtual hosts. Do not select it for the first FTP server that you add to a host.)

Note: The IP address must be bound to the NIC of the server.

  1. Click Next. The Directory screen appears.

  2. Enter the top directory for this FTP host. All user folders for this FTP host are created under this directory. We recommend that you create a directory just for this host (this is the default). If you later add other FTP hosts (using the virtual hosts feature), you can have separate directories for each FTP host.
  3. Click Next. The Summary screen appears and shows the Hostname, IP Address, and Directory for the FTP server. Click Finish to create the new FTP host. In the left panel, an entry for the host appears under Local System.

The host properties appear in the right panel - you can set additional host properties as described in "Setting Options for the FTP Host".

Adding the First User Account

At the end of the installation process, you will be asked if you want to create your first Host now. If you say yes, and complete the setup of the new host, you will be asked if you want to create your first user account. Click yes to use the New User wizard as described in the directions below, starting with number 3.

If you do not want to do it during installation, you can manually add the first user through the WS_FTP Server manager.

To add the first user to your FTP host:

  1. In the left panel, select the FTP host, and then select Users. The Users properties appear in the right panel.
  2. Click the New Users button. The first screen of the New User wizard appears.

  3. Enter a User ID for the user and click Next to continue. The User ID can be from 2 to 30 characters and must be from the character sets: A-Z, a-z, 0-9.
  4. Enter the user's full name and click Next to continue. The full name can be from 2 to 80 characters.

  5. Enter a password and click Next to continue. The password can be from 2 to 30 characters.

  6. Click Finish to create the new user.

The user account appears in the list of users for the FTP host.

To set additional properties for the user account, in the left panel, select the user. The user properties appear in the right panel.
See "Setting User Options".


Ipswitch, Inc.
http://www.ipswitch.com
TOC PREV NEXT INDEX
©Ipswitch 2002