How to Install and Configure vsftpd on CentOS 7

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is one of the most popular methods to upload files to a server. There exists a wide array of FTP servers, such as vsftpd, that you can use, and FTP clients exist for every platform.

Essentially, no matter what OS you use, you can find an easy-to-use FTP client, so it makes for a great solution to transfer files. On CentOS-based Servers, before you can connect via FTP, you’ll have to set up an FTP server. Here we’re gonna set up vsftpd, which is a great option since it has a focus on security and speed.

Installing vsftpd on CentOS 7

Pre-Flight Check

These instructions are intended specifically for installing the vsfptd on CentOS 7.
You must be logged in via SSH as the root user to follow these directions.

Warning: FTP data transfer is inherently insecure; traffic is not encrypted, and all transmissions are done in clear text (including usernames, passwords, commands, and data). Consider securing your FTP connection with SSL/TLS.

Install vsftpd

Before installing new software, it’s always best practice to run updates

yum -y update

Then install vsftpd and any required packages

yum -y install vsftpd

Configure vsftpd

Now, let’s edit the configuration file for vsftpd. Open the file with the following command

vim /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf

Now that the file is opened up, you’ll want to make the following changes. Either find the option line and edit it, or simply delete it and replace it with the lines noted here.

Disallow anonymous logins; this allows unidentified users to access files via FTP. Ensure that the anonymous_enable setting is set to NO

anonymous_enable=NO

Enable local users to log in; this will allow your regular user accounts to function as FTP accounts. Change the local_enable setting to YES

local_enable=YES

If you want the 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. Set the chroot_local_user setting to YES

chroot_local_user=YES

Exit and save the file with the command :wq, or with :x.

Restart and enable the vsftpd service

First, restart the service

systemctl restart vsftpd

Then set the vsftpd service to start at boot

systemctl enable vsftpd

Allow vsftpd Through the Firewall

Allow the default FTP port, port 21, through firewalld

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=21/tcp

And reload the firewall

firewall-cmd --reload

And that is it! You should now have vsftpd installed, set up, and configured on your server. If you followed these directions, you should now be able to log in to the server via FTP! The only catch is that if you have a hardware firewall in addition to the server's software firewall, you may need to adjust that too.