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Help, configuration
and tips.
| | How
Groups Work
 An
advanced feature of Ability FTP Server comes from the ability
to assign an account to a particular group. This capability
allows much easier and quicker management of the accounts and
also helps ensure the FTP server remains secure. The relationship
between an account and it's group is that all associated accounts
inherit all settings and limits from the group. However, this
concept can often be a little confusing and so to ease understanding
this page clarifies a few important details.
The
Concept
The best way of understanding the relationship between
an account and a group is to understand the purpose of groups. Groups exist for
only two reasons...
To
allow sharing of similar settings amongst multiple accounts which will help speed
up administration. To
help protect against human error and keep the FTP server secure.
If
an account is part of a group, the account can then only behave within the limitations
set by the group. This idea ensures that if a group disallows a particular feature
(i.e. file writing), then all associated accounts will also disallow it. This
idea also extends to parameter type limits (e.g. maximum upload speed), which
ensures that a limit set by a group will also be placed on associated accounts.
This means that an account is always limited to the group settings, or if required,
can set further limitation but cannot remove / reduce the group limits. If an
account defines a reduced limit, then this is capped to the group limit. The list
below defines the behavior of each available setting for accounts... General
Access Rights - Accounts can only enable the rights which are also enabled
by the group. For an account to be allowed certain access rights, both the account
and group must enable the access right. Password
Changing - Both
the account, group and overall settings must have this enabled for it to be allowed.
Root
Folder - If a group
does not define a root folder, the account is allowed to define any folder of
its choice. If a group sets a root folder, then all associated accounts will share
this same root folder. It is also permitted to include the marco ####USER#### in the file path. This results in each user's folder being dynamically generated. If the ####USER#### macro is used and the generated folder path does not exist, the FTP server will attempt to create the folder when the user logs in.
Virtual
Folders - An account
can define any virtual folder of its choice. Any group defined virtual folder
is inherited into all associated accounts. Should the account and group define
the same named virtual folder, the group's virtual folder will hide the account's
virtual folder. It is also permitted to include the marco ####USER#### in the file path. This results in each user's folder being dynamically generated. If the ####USER#### macro is used and the generated folder path does not exist, the FTP server will attempt to create the folder when the user logs in.
Start
in Directory - This
behaves exactly the same as the 'root folder' setting. Limits
and Credits - If
a group does not define a limit, then the account setting is used. If a group
defines a limit, then all the associated accounts can either obey the limit or
set a lower limit. IP
Restrictions - If
a group does not define a set of safe IP's or blocked IP's, the account settings
are used. If a group defines a set of safe IP's, the account will either obey
the group (by not settings any IP's) or be allowed to select which IP's in the
group's range are allowed. If a group defines a set of blocked IP's, the account
must obey these limits but can also add to the blocked IP's. "A
group's purpose is to define any commonly shared settings and also define the
upper limits to which all associated accounts are allowed."
Nested
Groups
Another benefit of Ability FTP Server is that not only can
accounts be part of a group, groups can also be part of another group. This functionality
allows commonly shared settings amongst groups to be placed into a higher group
to further speed and help management. The relationship between two groups is exactly
the same as an account and a group (the parent group takes precedence).
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