Tutorial: Setting Up the FTP Server

Help, configuration and tips.

Tutorial: Setting Up the FTP Server
This page explains how to configure the FTP server and how to take advantage of the many security options.

Running For the First Time
Once installed, Ability FTP Server is actually ready to use without further configuration. However, we highly recommend you examine all the settings and also read this manual to ensure you fully understand how to use the available features. All the options in Ability FTP Server are designed to be self explanatory and usually the manual is only needed to help explain the occasional option. If at anytime you are unsure of an option, pressing the F1 key will open the manual on the relevant page.

Running For the First Time and Creating an Account
When the software is first loaded after installation, you will be presented with a welcome message. After clicking the 'Next' button the server will intialise it is then able to accept FTP connections straight away. The next logical step is to create your first account which can be done by simply clicking on the 'Settings' button and then clicking 'Add' in the accounts section. Once you have created your account and clicked 'OK' on the Settings dialog, you will then be able to use any FTP client to access the account. For more information on how to create an account, you should read the Accounts and Groups section.

Preparing Your Security and Limits
The next step most users take is to then review the Security and Limits options. This will allow you to taylor the FTP server to your needs and also allow you to enable powerful security options. It is important that these features are examined as these will help protect your FTP server against abusive clients. For more information on the Security and Limits options, you should read the Security and Limits sections.

Using Accounts and Groups
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 its group is that all associated accounts inherit all settings and limits from the group. For more information on how accounts and groups are related please read the How Groups Work section.

Editing FTP Messages and Replies
Ability FTP Server allows you to edit multi-line responses to almost all of the replies and messages which are sent in response to commands sent by clients. The most popular message which users edit is the welcome message after a user logs in. Any message or reply could contain important notices, information on the status of the server, the status of the logged-in account and more. For more information on how to edit the messages please read the Messages section.

FTP Security
The security options available in Ability FTP Server are there purely to help protect your FTP server. Making good use of these features will not only help protect your files but also give you peace of mind.

SSL Protection
Usually user names, passwords and files sent through FTP connections are sent in clear text. This is fine in most circumstances but it is possible for this information to be intercepted by another party whilst crossing the Internet. Files containing sensitive or confidential material would not be safe unless some method of encryption was enabled on the connection. Ability FTP Server fully supports SSL and TLS, which allow 128 bit encryption to be used on any data sent between the client and the server. For more details how SSL can be used please read the Using SSL section.

IP Restrictions
A powerful feature of Ability FTP Server is the ability to restrict access based on the client's IP address. This means that you could limit access to important accounts from certain computers on the Internet or your network. This is useful for preventing unauthorized users from gaining access to an account by guessing the password. IP Restriction rules can be set for the entire FTP server, for certain groups or for individual accounts. For more information please read the IP Restrictions section.

Other Security Options
Other security options include anti-hammering, which allows you to automatically block an IP which gets the password wrong too many times. This prevents 'brute force' attacks which rely on trying hundreds of passwords to gain access. For more details on anti-hammering and the other options please read the Security section.

Remote Admin
A key feature of Ability FTP Server is the Remote Admin facility. Few FTP servers offer such a flexible and powerful Remote Admin system which can control every aspect of the server through any standard web browser on any operating system. The Remote Admin facility is also designed to be secure by allowing you to set a password and also restrict the power of Remote Admin to a certain area of the hard drive. Using Remote Admin is just as easy as using the usual Admin interface. Both interfaces are structured the same and behave in almost the exact same way. Therefore, once you learn and understand one of the interfaces, you can easily use either. For more information please read the Remote Admin section.