How to configure FTP for Ubuntu

January 19, 2014 21.9k views
bessfernandez
By:
bessfernandez
Hi All, I am running Ubuntu 12.04 and trying to get FTP setup on my Droplet. I followed all the instructions here (including the SSL setup): https://www.digitalocean.com/community/articles/how-to-set-up-vsftpd-on-ubuntu-12-04 But when I try to connect I just get a timeout error. Has anyone had to configure anything specifically to get FTP working outside of these steps? I am also running Ghost on the Droplet if that might have anything to do with it... Thanks!
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5 Answers
kamaln7 MOD January 20, 2014
Is vsftpd running?
sudo service vsftpd restart
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bessfernandez January 20, 2014
Thanks for the reply! Yup, its running: 


vsftpd stop/waiting

vsftpd start/running, process 5840


Any other tips to help me figure out why I can't connect?
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kamaln7 MOD January 22, 2014
Hmm. Is it listening on port 21? 
sudo netstat -plutn | grep 21

Also, I highly recommend using SFTP instead of FTP.
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bessfernandez January 24, 2014
Turns out it was due to the IP tables rejecting connections.. had to set the tables to allow connection on port 21. Thanks for your help! And yeah I am using SFTP, just wanted to figure out why FTP wasn't working in general for my own sanity. :)
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  • server659247 June 13, 2014
    May I ask how you got SFTP running? I can't seem get it to work...
  • asb MOD June 13, 2014
    If you can SSH into your server, you should be able to use SFTP. The credentials will be the same. If you're still having problems, please open a new question describing what steps you've already tried.
niidanso May 16, 2014
I set up an ftp server on my droplet and expect to be able to log in using a client of my choice into the server to transfer files. but i cannot log in with my droplet's credentials.. any help?
Thanks
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