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i know there are already similar questions for this matter but the answers doesn't really make much sense to anyone who is not really technically comfortable in Linux. I've already tried articles like these for example: http://howto.gumph.org/content/setup-virtual-users-and-directories-in-vsftpd/ with the result of accidently breaking the whole system. The problem is that, while there are several technical possibilities to set up virtual users with a FTP server, it is not as easy as managing for instance a Filezilla server on Windows. I've seen some Web based GUI's but most of them seems to be out of date. The different flavours of Linux and the large amount of different popular FTP servers also seems to make the matter more complicated. I guess my question is, is there a way, to set up virtual FTP users on Linux without the hastle of having to manually edit PAM, MYSQL and config files?

kjertil
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    While we all sometimes need to work outside our comfort zones, it sounds like you are so far out of yours that I think you would be best off getting someone more experienced with Linux to help you set this up. – John Gardeniers Dec 15 '12 at 09:24
  • @John Gardeniers ell, i use Linux server quiet a lot and i do get around and my question was if anyone knew a handy script for example to ease the process of set up virtual users for a FTP. I was not asking if i was competent enough to use Linux. – kjertil Dec 15 '12 at 09:29
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    Huh? You have already indicated that you're not "technically comfortable in Linux". You've also said that after following what is really a pretty basic guide, you've ended up "with the result of accidently breaking the whole system". How can you say such things and then get offended when I suggest that you're not working anywhere near your comfort level? – John Gardeniers Dec 15 '12 at 09:35
  • @John Gardeniers Forgive me for sounding agressive but i was really asking for hints about the matter. I do feel frustrated because asking a question like "how do i install a LAMP stack in the easiest way" might generate answers like installing everything manually, including compiling everything from source when for example you can also use only one command. It feels like encouraging people using something like an install script is not considered "professional" or "secure"? – kjertil Dec 15 '12 at 11:25

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You could use pure-ftpd with its internal user database if you don't want to deal with creating a system user for every FTP user and don't want to use MySQL either.

Here is a basic manual for Debian and it's virtually the same for RedHat derivatives, except for the presence of the main configuration file (in Debian the default way of specifying options - except for passing them directly via the command line - is making a separate file in conf directory named just like the option you'd like to pass to the daemon with the arguments for the option being the file contents, e.g. file 'PassivePortRange' in directory '/etc/pure-ftpd/conf' with contents '50000 50120').

Adding, modifying or deleting users is simple:

# you need one system user for start, it seems
pure-pw useradd -u systemuser [options like bandwidth etc.] login
# modifying settings for a user
pure-pw usermod login [options]
# deleting a user
pure-pw userdel login [options]
# etc.

I guess though if you want a server with SSL and MySQL as a backend for passwords and other features like that, you will have to go for a more complex setup and I doubt there is a very simple solution to that.

moon.musick
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  • Thanks, that looks like a easy solution. How ever, i guess i'm still looking for a way to automate this process even further. Let's say i want to add another virtual user in 6 months. There is no way for me to remember the commands without going back to the original tutorial. If i was able to call a script, using phpmyadmin to manage a MYSQL db or simply using an existing GUI solution working over web or SSH i would be happy to try it. I guess i have to write my own solution? – kjertil Dec 15 '12 at 12:50
  • http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/pureftpweb.htm - apparently there are some GUI tools for pure-ftpd, but I have to admit I never used them - I never really needed anything like that. I am used to keeping useful manuals or making such myself for important apps I need to maintain occasionally, but that's another topic. – moon.musick Dec 15 '12 at 15:31