Install FTP Server on Raspberry Pi

It is possible to create an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server on a Raspberry Pi. Setting up an FTP server on a Raspberry Pi allows you to easily transfer files to and from the device using an FTP client, such as FileZilla. There are several different software options for creating an FTP server on a Raspberry Pi, such as vsftpd, ProFTPD, and Pure-FTPd. Each of these options have their own advantages and disadvantages, so it is important to research and choose the one that best fits your specific needs.

Installing FTP Server on Raspberry Pi using vsftpd

To ensure that a Raspberry Pi is up to date, open a terminal window on the Raspberry Pi and run the below command to update and upgrade any outdated packages to their latest version.

sudo apt update -y
sudo apt upgrade -y

It could take some time to complete depending on the number of packages that need to be updated.

Now install vsftpd package on the Raspberry Pi.

sudo apt install vsftpd -y

Check the status of vsftpd service, you can run the below command. Make sure the service is active and running.

sudo systemctl status vsftpd

Enable anonymous access to the FTP server

It is generally not recommended to enable anonymous access to an FTP server because it poses a security risk. Anonymous users typically have limited permissions and can only access a specific directory. However, if you still want to enable anonymous access to your FTP server on Linux, yopu can follow these commands.

The vsftpd configuration file is located at /etc/vsftpd.conf. Edit the file with your favourite editor.

vim /etc/vsftpd.conf

Search the line “anonymous_enable=NO” and change it to “anonymous_enable=YES”. This will enable anonymous access to the FTP server. Save the changes to the configuration file and exit the editor.

anonymous_enable=YES

Restart the vsftpd service by running the command.

sudo systemctl restart vsftpd

To access FTP server on Linux, you can use the command line tool “ftp.” To connect to an FTP server, open a terminal and run the command “ftp 10.0.0.1” (replace “10.0.0.1” with the actual address of the Raspberry Pi). You will be prompted for a username and password; enter the credentials for an account that has access to the server.

To access an anonymous FTP server on Linux, you can use the command line tool “ftp” as well. You will be prompted for a username and password; use “anonymous” as username and password in email format, like “guest@example.com”

Once you are connected, you can use the following basic commands to navigate and transfer files:

• ls: list the files in the current directory on the server
• cd: change the current directory on the server
• get: download a file from the server to your local machine
• put: upload a file from your local machine to the server
• quit: disconnect from the server.

You can also use GUI based ftp client such as FileZilla to connect to ftp server.

Limitations

It’s worth noting that, while a Raspberry Pi can function as an FTP server, it may not be the best option if you expect a high number of concurrent connections or large file transfers, as the device’s limited resources may become a bottleneck.

Additionally, it’s important to keep in mind that FTP is an unencrypted protocol and it’s not considered secure. If security is a concern, you may want to consider using SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) or other secure protocols like SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) or WebDAV over HTTPS (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning).