How to Install and Configure VSFTPD on CentOS 6

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is probably the most popular method of uploading files to a server; a wide array of FTP servers, such as vsftpd, and clients exist for every platform.

• These instructions are intended specifically for installing the vsfptd on CentOS 6.
• I’ll be working from a Liquid Web Self Managed CentOS 6.5 server, and I’ll be logged in as root.

As a matter of best practice we’ll update our packages:

yum -y update

Then let’s install vsftpd and any required packages:

yum -y install vsftpd

For a refresher on editing files with vim see: New User Tutorial: Overview of the Vim Text Editor

Let’s edit the configuration file for vsftpd:

vim /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf

Disallow anonymous, unidentified users to access files via FTP; change the anonymous_enable setting to NO:

anonymous_enable=NO

Allow local uses to login by changing the local_enable setting to YES:

local_enable=YES

If you want local user to be able to write to a directory, then change the write_enable setting to YES:

write_enable=YES

Local users will be ‘chroot jailed’ and they will be denied access to any other part of the server; change the chroot_local_user setting to YES:

chroot_local_user=YES

Exit and save the file with the command :wq .

Restart the vsftpd service:

service vsftpd restart

Then set the vsftpd service to start at boot:

chkconfig vsftpd on