Tutorials

This way we will be able to connect to an FTP server

If we have a small server in our house or we want to access the files on our computer from another place, both inside and outside our own local network, it is very convenient to have a FTP server remote. That is why today we are going to tell you how we can connect using a Client.

One of the most used programs to connect to FTP servers is FileZilla. This client is mainly characterized by being free, open source and very easy to use, so any user with a minimum of knowledge will be able to use it without having any kind of problem.

How to connect with FileZilla

How could it be otherwise, the first thing we have to do is download FileZilla to our computer from your Web page. We must make sure to download it from this page, since a fake version has been circulating for some time that installs malware on our system.

Once downloaded we proceed to install it (if we have opted for the installable version) or to run it (if the version we have is the portable one).

We can connect in 2 different ways. The first of them is oriented to fast connections and we will have to do the following:

At the top, below the access buttons, we can see some boxes to fill in.
- Server: here we can the IP address or domain of the FTP server to which we are going to connect.
- Username: this will be the user with which we are going to connect to the server.
- Password: As usual, a password associated with the user could not be missing.
- port: in this case we will indicate the port that we are going to use to establish the connection.
Now we press the button Fast connection and we will automatically connect to the server. The problem with this connection method is that it does not allow you to configure any option, nor can we save it to connect next times in an easier way.

FileZilla also allows you to create a list of sites to connect to easily without having to enter data each time we enter. To achieve this we must do the following:

We must go to the menu Archive, to then press on Site manager.

Now, if we want to add a new site to save it, we must click on the button New site.
Now an entry will be added to fill in the list of FTP servers. In the tab general we must complete the following:
- Server: It is the place where we must put the IP or domain of the FTP server.
- port: here it is necessary to put the port on which our FTP server is working.
- Server type: we must choose what type of server it is. It can be FTP, SFTP or other.
- Access mode: here we can choose if we want to log in as a guest or with a previously configured username and password.

Now we should be able to enter the server without problems, but we can always give it one more touch, so that it is better configured. For that we do the following.

We go to the Advanced tab and fill in the following sections:
- Default local directory: here we can find the folder on our computer that will open by default.
- Default remote directory: in this case we are going to choose the remote folder that we will open by default when we connect.

Once we finish filling in the data, we only have to click on Connect and the connection will automatically be established.

When we want to reconnect we simply have to open the site manager, select our connection and click on connect, since we will no longer need to enter any data again.

How to install an FTP server in Windows

Although we have already seen how to connect to an FTP server, it may be that some of you need to know how to install a server of this type in Windows 10. Right now we are going to show you.

We are also going to use FireZilla Server to perform this task, so we must install it from your official Web.

General parameters

The first thing we have to do is configure FileZilla Server as follows.

We are going to Menu, then to Edit and then we enter Settings.
As we are only going to look at the basic things that we must do to configure our server and thus access only the files that we have stored in our personal Windows folder, we are going to leave many things the same, such as, for example, the port (21) or the maximum number of users that can be connected (0, that is, unlimited).
It is time to enter Admin interface settings. where we will enable the box Change admin password and we will write a password to prevent anyone from accessing our FTP.

Set up users

At this time is when we must configure the users who will be able to access the FTP server. We can do it individually or through groups of users.

We select Edit and later Users.
Now we must click on the button Add on the right side. In the window that appears we have to put the name of the user we want to create and a group to which it belongs (by default it puts them in none). Once done, click on okay.
Now we will see new options such as:
- Enable account: indicates whether the account is activated or deactivated.
- Password: here we must create a password to be able to connect.
- Description:: in this case we will have the option to write a description of the user.
As the next step we are going to Shared folders. Here we will manage the folders that can be shared and those that will remain private and without access from our FTP.
When we have the folders added, we will see a series of buttons where we can configure permissions of each user with respect to those folders. That is, if it is allowed only to read, also to write, to be able to erase, etc.
Now it only remains to accept the rest of the windows and our basic FTP server will be ready. We can’t forget to restart it for the changes to take effect.

The only thing we need now is an FTP client to connect to our IP address with our username and password to have full access to the folder that we have decided to share. This is something that we have already seen lines above.

In the FileZilla Server window we can always see who has connected and all the activity of the users to have a control of what happens on our server in order to find possible unauthorized users.