How to set up an SFTP server on Linux

最新推荐文章于 2023-10-16 18:59:49 发布

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最新推荐文章于 2023-10-16 18:59:49 发布

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原文链接：https://my.oschina.net/lvhuizhenblog/blog/1820137

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What is SFTP?

FTP, or "File Transfer Protocol" is a popular method of transferring files between two remote systems.

SFTP, which stands for SSH File Transfer Protocol, or Secure File Transfer Protocol, is separate Protocol packaged with SSH that works in a similar way over a secure connection. The advantage is the ability to leverage a secure connection to transfers files and traverse the filesystem on both the local and remote system.

In almost all cases, SFTP is preferable to FTP because of its underlying security features and ability to piggy-back on an SSH connection. FTP is an insecure Protocol that should only be used in limited cases or on networks you trust.

Although SFTP in integrated into many graphical tools, this guide will demonstrate how to use it through its interactive command line interface.

SFTP Directory

The first thing we must do is create a directory that will house our FTP data. Open up a terminal window. su to the root user(type su and then, when prompted, type the root user password), and the issue the following two commands:

mkdir -p /data/sftp
chmod 701 /data

Create the SFTP group and user

Now we're going to create a special group for SFTP users. This is done with the following command:

groupadd sftp_users

Now we're going to create a special user that doesn't have regular login privileges, but does belong to our newly created sftp_users group. what you call the user is up to you. The command for this is:

useradd -g sftp_users -d /upload -s /sbin/nologin USERNAME

Where USERNAME is the name of the user.

Next, give the new user a pawword. This password will be the password the new users use to log in with the sftp command. To set up the password, issue the command:

passwd USERNAME

Where USERNAME is the name of the new user you created above.

Create the new user SFTP directory

Now we're going to create an upload directory, specific to the new user, and then give the directory the proper permissions. This is handled with the following commands:

mkdir -p /data/USERNAME/upload
chown -R root:sftpusers /data/USERNAME
chown -R USERNAME:sftpusers /data/USERNAME/upload

where USERNAME is the name of the new user you created above.

configure sshd

Open up the SSH daemon cofiguration file with the command:

vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

At the bottom of that file, add the following:

Match Group sftpusers
ChrootDirectory /data/%u
ForceCommand internal-sftp

Save and close the file. Restart SSH with the command:

systemctl restart sshd

Loggin in

You're all set to log in. From another machine on your network that has SSH installed, open up a terminal window and issue the command:

sftp USERNAME@SERVER_IP

Where USERNAME is the name of our new user and SERVER_IP is the IP address fo our SFTP server. You will be prompted for USERNAME's password. Once you successfully authenticate, you will be greeted with sftp prompt. Once you succfully authenticate, you will be greeted with sftp prompt. Type pwd to chenck the working path and you should see/upload

A simple solution

That's all there is to setting up an SFTP server on Linux, For any company looking to offer staff and clients a simple, secure means of uploading and downloading files, this is a not only a great solution but also very budget friendly one. Get your SFTP server up and running with zero cost and zero headache.

How to Connect with SFTP

By default, SFTP uses the SSH protocol to authenticate and establish a secure connnection. Beacause of this, the same authentication methods are available that are present in SSH.

Although passwords are easy to use and set up by default, we recommend you create SSH keys and transfer your public key to any system that you need to access. This is much more secure and can save you time in the long run.

Please see this guide to set up ssh keys in order to access your server if you have not done so already.

If you can connect to the machine using SSH, then you have completed all of the necessary requirements necessary to use SFTP to manage files. Test SSH access with the following command:

ssh username@remote_hostname_or_IP

if that works, exit back out by typing:

exit

We can establish an SSH connection and then open up an SFTP using that connection by issuing the following command:

sftp username@remote_hostname_or_IP

You will connect the remote system and your prompt will change to an SFTP prompt.

If you are working on a custom SSH port(not the default port 22), then you can open an SFTP session as follows:

sftp -oPort=custom_port username@remote_hostname_or_IP

This will connect you to the remote system by way of your specified port.

Getting help in SFTP

The most useful command to learn first is the help command. This gives you access to a summary of the SFTP help. You can call it by typing either of these in the prompt:

help

This will display a list of the available commands:


sftp> help
Available commands:
bye                                Quit sftp
cd path                            Change remote directory to 'path'
chgrp grp path                     Change group of file 'path' to 'grp'
chmod mode path                    Change permissions of file 'path' to 'mode'
chown own path                     Change owner of file 'path' to 'own'
df [-hi] [path]                    Display statistics for current directory or
                                   filesystem containing 'path'
exit                               Quit sftp
get [-afPpRr] remote [local]       Download file
reget [-fPpRr] remote [local]      Resume download file
reput [-fPpRr] [local] remote      Resume upload file
help                               Display this help text
lcd path                           Change local directory to 'path'
lls [ls-options [path]]            Display local directory listing
lmkdir path                        Create local directory
ln [-s] oldpath newpath            Link remote file (-s for symlink)
lpwd                               Print local working directory
ls [-1afhlnrSt] [path]             Display remote directory listing
lumask umask                       Set local umask to 'umask'
mkdir path                         Create remote directory
progress                           Toggle display of progress meter
put [-afPpRr] local [remote]       Upload file
pwd                                Display remote working directory
quit                               Quit sftp
rename oldpath newpath             Rename remote file
rm path                            Delete remote file
rmdir path                         Remove remote directory
symlink oldpath newpath            Symlink remote file
version                            Show SFTP version
!command                           Execute 'command' in local shell
!                                  Escape to local shell
?                                  Synonym for help
sftp>