How to run Vsftpd FTP server in secure mode (Linux).

Vsftpd is a free robust and secure FTP server available for Linux and Mac OSX platforms. Vsftpd supports explicit FTPS mode only. We recommend to use Vsftpd for secure FTP transfers and file synchronization. By default it is working in plain FTP mode.

To run server in FTPS mode:

Step 1. In terminal window generate private key and certificate files:

  cd /home/daddy/ssl
  openssl genrsa 1024 > test.key
  openssl req -x509 -new -key test.key > test.pem

Ubuntu Linux distribution already has a private key and certificate files at place if vsftpd package installed. In this case just uncomment lines for ‘rsa_cert_file’ and ‘rsa_private_key’ parameters in configuration file later.

Step 2. Open '/etc/vsftpd.conf' configuration file in your favorite editor. You have to be a super user to edit this file.

Add lines to vsftpd.conf configuration file:

  allow_anon_ssl=NO
  force_local_data_ssl=YES
  force_local_logins_ssl=YES
  ssl_tlsv1=YES
  ssl_sslv2=YES
  ssl_sslv3=YES
  rsa_cert_file=/home/daddy/ssl/test.pem
  rsa_private_key_file=/home/daddy/ssl/test.key

Step 3. Restart vsftpd daemon.