FTP-Server and -Clients
Learn how you install your own FTP server on Linux. We also present different graphical frontends for FTP clients.
Isn't the server already installed??!
Are you surprised we recommend that you should install your own FTP server
although a server is installed in your distribution by default? There are several good reasons.
First, it is worthwhile and interesting to know which components work together
in the server. Second, the "wrong" FTP server is usually installed and third, you might need to close a security hole by installing a new
version of an FTP server.
Linux offers a cornucopia of FTP servers which are used for
special problems. The most widely used server seems to be WuFTP, a
server known as being highly configfurable, but also very large.
If you wanted to replace the server installed by default with WuFTP, you should download the most current version (get if from
http://www.wu-ftpd.org) and gunzip it.
>> tar zxvf wuftp-2.x.x.tar.gz -C /tmp
>> cd /tmp/wuftp-2.x.x
To compile the server you need to be root.
You build it with the entry:
>> ./build lnx
If you configured your old FTP server before, you should save the configuration
files now because they will be overwritten with the next step:
>> ./build install
In the file /etc/inetd.conf you need the following entry to start the
FTP server as a service.
ftp stream tcp nowait.400 root /usr/sbin/tcpd ftpd -a
The last entry has to point to the executable file "ftpd". If the program
is not in any $PATH directory you can enter the absolute path instead.
The option "-a" activates the additional functions offered by WuFTP.
To start the server you send a so-called "HUP" signal to the process:
>> killall -1 inetd
This command kills and restarts the program. For the restart, the new
configuration is used; you do not need to restart the whole system.
Clients
The user needs an FTP client to access the server. Every major
Linux distribution includes the console client "ftp".
This program is hard to use and should be relegated to use with small scripts only.
If you frequently access FTP servers, you would probably like to
have a nice graphical FTP client.
A plethora of clients exist but - as usual - they have all their strengths and
weaknesses and are tailored to special users' needs.
Wxftp/AxyFTP
|
The program AxyFTP, which was called WxFTP in an earlier version, exists in
two frontend versions: Motif and GTK.
The program uses two file browsers (as do many other FTP clients):
one for your local directory and one for the directory you are
connected to.
Special functions are the recursive download of directories and
the recursive upload of files.
Resuming a previously stopped download is supported.
Homepage :
http://www.wxftp.seul.org
|
IglooFTP
|
IglooFTP is a commercial FTP client although a free beta version is available.
The program uses a modern GTK frontend with many colored buttons.
The administration of bookmarks is a nice feature which looks
similar to Netscape.
The preferences are set via a
Netscape-like dialog window.
The downside: the beta version is not very stable and crashes sometimes.
Homepage: http://www.littleigloo.org
|
tkFTP
|
TkFTP is a TCL/TK client and should run on many platforms.
The program is quite spartan and supports just the necessary
functions. The setup only needs your e-mail address and the path
to the log file, but both entries do not have to be filled and the
program can be used without any configuration at all.
TkFTP also supports a bookmark list in which you can save
addresses you visit frequently.
Homepage: http://a.trevano.ch/~jermini/tkftp/
|
SkateFTP
|
SkateFTP is another FTP client written in TCL/TK. The program
needs the script extension Tix4.1 which has to be manually installed by the user
in some Linux distributions.
The program offers a collection of functions which are quite spartan compared
with the collection TkFTP has, but it offers a much nicer frontend.
Homepage: http://members.xoom.com/apostle1/software.html
|
gFTP
|
The GTK program gFTP has been released with a 1.x version number
and presents itself completed and fully developed.
One special feature of the program is that
it supports multithread so you can download many files simultaneously.
A list of bookmarks can be easily administered and will speed up
your access to the specified FTP server.
A recursive download of directories and the corresponding
subdirectories is supported.
GFTP offers a download queue in which you can add the wanted files that
will be downloaded one by one.
Many more features are included; gFTP is a very useful tool.
Homepage: http://gftp.seul.org
|
DPS-FTP
|
DPS-FTP is another FTP client programmed with GTK. It looks similar to
IglooFTP and gFTP and nearly offers the same features.
The program needs the special library dpsftplib for compilation
which is available at the homepage of the FTP client.
In addition, the Glade libraries are required.
If you think this might be too complicated for you, get the
static pre-compiled RPM file from the homepage.
Homepage: http://dpsftp.sourceforge.net
|
KFTP
Two different programs claim the name KFTP. Both are KDE programs and both are in development.
http://www.informatik.uni-halle.de/~trebs/kftp/
http://www.linuxfocus.org/~eric.santonacci/kftp/
kpftp
Kpftp is a KDE frontend for the console ftp client Pftp.
http://www.pftp.de/kpftp.html
cftp
The FTP client cftp works in a console and can be easily used via Ncurses.
It can also be used for a telnet session.
http://ftp.giga.or.at/pub/nih/cftp/
guiftp
Guiftp is a very simple FTP client and uses a GTK frontend.
http://www.altern.org/ldufresne/guiftp/
kbear
You find another KDE FTP program at
http://kbear.sourceforge.net/
Talkback Area
Enter Own Comment
