Adding Additional FTP Hosts
You can have multiple FTP hosts on a single system, with each host functioning as a separate FTP site. The first FTP host you add should use the primary hostname and IP address of the local host. Subsequent FTP hosts that you add can be "virtual hosts." There are two kinds of virtual FTP hosts:
- Virtual host with an IP address - We strongly recommend that each FTP host you create have its own IP address, which requires your computer to have multiple IP addresses available. Using separate IP addresses ensures that an FTP client (or a browser) can connect to the FTP host. 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 on the ISP's DNS.
- Virtual host without an IP address - If no other IP addresses are available on the host, you can create an FTP host and assign it a virtual IP address ($virtual). However, to log on to the host, FTP users must include the hostname in their userid; for example, userid@hostname or anonymous@hostname. This may present a problem for some FTP clients and for browsers.
To add a virtual FTP host:
- In the left panel, expand Local System. The Local System menu appears in the right pane.
- In the right pane, select Add a New Host. The first screen of the New Host wizard appears.
- Enter the desired hostname for the FTP host. This can be from 3 to 80 characters and must be in the form host.domain.top.
- Select the database to use for user authorization:
- WS_FTP Server. To create your own FTP user accounts (using the Server Manager or the Add User utility), select this option.
- If you want WS_FTP Server to automatically 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 will 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.
- 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. (You may also use WS_FTP Server Manager to create users in this database.)
- IMail Server. All users in the IMail Server user database on your local system will 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. To use this option, the IMail Server software must be installed on your computer. Also, note that:
- 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 IMail Server top directories, 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 specific user database.
- Click Next. The IP Address screen appears.
- If the virtual host has an IP address, select the IP Address. If the virtual host does not have an IP address, select $virtual.
| Note: If an IP address is marked with an *, it is already used by another FTP host; if you select it, the application will prevent you from continuing. |
- Click Next. The Directory screen appears.
- 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. If you later add other FTP hosts, you can have separate directories for each FTP host.
- 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 menu appears in the right panel - you can set additional host properties. See "Setting Options for the FTP Host".
