This document describes how to install a Pureftpd server that uses virtual users from a MySQL database instead of real system users. This is much more performant and allows to have thousands of ftp users on a single machine. In addition to that I will show the use of quota and upload/download bandwidth limits with this setup. Passwords will be stored encrypted as MD5 strings in the database.
For the administration of the MySQL database you can use web based tools like phpMyAdmin which will also be installed in this howto. phpMyAdmin is a comfortable graphical interface which means you do not have to mess around with the command line.
1. Install Mysql and phpmyadmin
a. how to install mysql server
b. how to install phpmyadmin
2. Install PureFTPd With MySQL Support
apt-get install pure-ftpd-mysql
Then we create an ftp group (ftpgroup) and user (ftpuser) that all our virtual users will be mapped to. Replace the group- and userid 2001 with a number that is free on your system:
groupadd -g 2001 ftpgroup
useradd -u 2001 -s /bin/false -d /bin/null -c "pureftpd user" -g ftpgroup ftpuser
3. Create The MySQL Database For PureFTPd
Now we create a database called pureftpd and a MySQL user named pureftpd which the PureFTPd daemon will use later on to connect to the pureftpd database. run the following in phpmyadmin:
CREATE DATABASE pureftpd;
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP ON pureftpd.* TO 'pureftpd'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'ftpdpass';
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP ON pureftpd.* TO 'pureftpd'@'localhost.localdomain' IDENTIFIED BY 'ftpdpass';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
CREATE TABLE ftpd (
User varchar(16) NOT NULL default '',
status enum('0','1') NOT NULL default '0',
Password varchar(64) NOT NULL default '',
Uid varchar(11) NOT NULL default '-1',
Gid varchar(11) NOT NULL default '-1',
Dir varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
ULBandwidth smallint(5) NOT NULL default '0',
DLBandwidth smallint(5) NOT NULL default '0',
comment tinytext NOT NULL,
ipaccess varchar(15) NOT NULL default '*',
QuotaSize smallint(5) NOT NULL default '0',
QuotaFiles int(11) NOT NULL default 0,
PRIMARY KEY (User),
UNIQUE KEY User (User)
) TYPE=InnoDB;
User varchar(16) NOT NULL default '',
status enum('0','1') NOT NULL default '0',
Password varchar(64) NOT NULL default '',
Uid varchar(11) NOT NULL default '-1',
Gid varchar(11) NOT NULL default '-1',
Dir varchar(128) NOT NULL default '',
ULBandwidth smallint(5) NOT NULL default '0',
DLBandwidth smallint(5) NOT NULL default '0',
comment tinytext NOT NULL,
ipaccess varchar(15) NOT NULL default '*',
QuotaSize smallint(5) NOT NULL default '0',
QuotaFiles int(11) NOT NULL default 0,
PRIMARY KEY (User),
UNIQUE KEY User (User)
) TYPE=InnoDB;
4. Configure PureFTPd
Edit /etc/pure-ftpd/db/mysql.conf
cp /etc/pure-ftpd/db/mysql.conf /etc/pure-ftpd/db/mysql.conf_orig
cat /dev/null > /etc/pure-ftpd/db/mysql.conf
sudo nano /etc/pure-ftpd/db/mysql.conf
It should look like this:
MYSQLSocket /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
#MYSQLServer localhost
#MYSQLPort 3306
MYSQLUser pureftpd
MYSQLPassword ftpdpass
MYSQLDatabase pureftpd
#MYSQLCrypt md5, cleartext, crypt() or password() - md5 is VERY RECOMMENDABLE uppon cleartext
MYSQLCrypt md5
MYSQLGetPW SELECT Password FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L" AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MYSQLGetUID SELECT Uid FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L" AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MYSQLGetGID SELECT Gid FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MYSQLGetDir SELECT Dir FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MySQLGetBandwidthUL SELECT ULBandwidth FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MySQLGetBandwidthDL SELECT DLBandwidth FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MySQLGetQTASZ SELECT QuotaSize FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
MySQLGetQTAFS SELECT QuotaFiles FROM ftpd WHERE User="\L"AND status="1" AND (ipaccess = "*" OR ipaccess LIKE "\R")
Make sure that you replace the string ftpdpass with the real password for the MySQL user pureftpd in the line MYSQLPassword! Please note that we use md5 as MYSQLCrypt method, which means we will store the users' passwords as an MD5 string in the database which is far more secure than using plain text passwords!
Then create the file /etc/pure-ftpd/conf/ChrootEveryone which simply contains the string yes:
echo "yes" > /etc/pure-ftpd/conf/ChrootEveryone
This will make PureFTPd chroot every virtual user in his home directory so he will not be able to browse directories and files outside his home directory.
Also create the file /etc/pure-ftpd/conf/CreateHomeDir which again simply contains the string yes:
echo "yes" > /etc/pure-ftpd/conf/CreateHomeDir
This will make PureFTPd create a user's home directory when the user logs in and the home directory does not exist yet.
Afterwards, we restart PureFTPd:
sudo /etc/init.d/pure-ftpd-mysql restart
5. Populate The Database And Test
By using phpMyadmin, we create the user exampleuser with the status 1 (which means his ftp account is active), the password secret (which will be stored encrypted using MySQL's MD5 function), the UID and GID 2001 (use the userid and groupid of the user/group you created at the end of step two!), the home directory /home/www.example.com, an upload and download bandwidth of 100 KB/sec. (kilobytes per second), and a quota of 50 MB:
INSERT INTO `ftpd` (`User`, `status`, `Password`, `Uid`, `Gid`, `Dir`, `ULBandwidth`, `DLBandwidth`, `comment`, `ipaccess`, `QuotaSize`, `QuotaFiles`) VALUES ('exampleuser', '1', MD5('secret'), '2001', '2001', '/home/www.example.com', '100', '100', '', '*', '50', '0');
Now open your FTP client program on your work station and try to connect. You shuld be able to connect.
Now, if you run:
ls -l /home
you should see that the directory /home/www.example.com (exampleuser's home directory) has been automatically created, and it is owned by ftpuser and ftpgroup (the user/group we created at the end of step two):
user@ubuntu:~# ls -l /home
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 administrator administrator 4096 2010-10-18 11:35 administrator
drwxr-xr-x 2 ftpuser ftpgroup 4096 2010-10-29 14:29 www.example.com
Insert users with phpMyadmin:
For most people it is easier if they have a graphical front-end to MySQL; therefore you can also use phpMyAdmin to administrate the pureftpd database.
Whenever you want to create a new user, you have to create an entry in the table ftpd so I will explain the columns of this table here:
a. User: The name of the virtual PureFTPd user (e.g. exampleuser).
b. status: 0 or 1. 0 means the account is disabled, the user cannot login.
c. Password: The password of the virtual user. Make sure you use MySQL's MD5 function to save the password encrypted as an MD5 string:
d. UID: The userid of the ftp user you created at the end of step two (e.g. 2001).
e. GID: The groupid of the ftp group you created at the end of step two (e.g. 2001).
f. Dir: The home directory of the virtual PureFTPd user (e.g. /home/www.example.com). If it does not exist, it will be created when the new user logs in the first time via FTP. The virtual user will be jailed into this home directory, i.e., he cannot access other directories outside his home directory.
g. ULBandwidth: Upload bandwidth of the virtual user in KB/sec. (kilobytes per second). 0 means unlimited.
h. DLBandwidth: Download bandwidth of the virtual user in KB/sec. (kilobytes per second). 0 means unlimited.
i. comment: You can enter any comment here (e.g. for your internal administration) here. Normally you leave this field empty.
j. ipaccess: Enter IP addresses here that are allowed to connect to this FTP account. * means any IP address is allowed to connect.
k. QuotaSize: Storage space in MB (not KB, as in ULBandwidth and DLBandwidth!) the virtual user is allowed to use on the FTP server. 0 means unlimited.
l. QuotaFiles: amount of files the virtual user is allowed to save on the FTP server. 0 means unlimited.
Resources: howtoforge, pureftpd readme
