Install and enable FTP access on an AWS EC2 instance with Linux CentOS 7

I’ll guide you through the quickest and easiest way to set up FTP access on an EC2 instance with CentOS 7 distribution on AWS (Amazon Web Services). We’re going to use VSFTPD (Very Secure FTP Daemon), so the first step is to install it.

VSFTPD Installation and Configuration

Step 1: Install VSFTPD

1. Update the package manager:

   sudo yum update

2. Install the VSFTP software:

   sudo yum install vsftpd

3. Start the service:

   sudo systemctl start vsftpd

4. Configure the service to start automatically when the server loads:

   sudo systemctl enable vsftpd

User Creation and Permission Configuration

Step 2: Create a new FTP user

1. The following command creates the new user:

   sudo adduser ftpuser

2. Assign a password for the user:

   sudo passwd ftpuser

3. Add the new user to the VSFTP user list:

   echo "ftpuser" | sudo tee -a /etc/vsftpd/user_list

Step 3: Configure VSFTPD

1. First, create a backup copy of the configuration file:

   sudo cp /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf.default

2. Open the configuration file with vim:

   sudo vi /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf

3. Look for the following variables in the file and update them as shown below:
   Note: Some variables may not exist, just add them at the end of the file.

   anonymous_enable=NO
   local_enable=YES
   write_enable=YES
   chroot_local_user=YES
   allow_writeable_chroot=YES
   userlist_enable=YES
   userlist_file=/etc/vsftpd/user_list
   userlist_deny=NO

4. Restart the service:

   sudo systemctl restart vsftpd

Step 4: Create a folder for the new user

1. Create the folder within the user’s root directory:

   sudo mkdir -p /home/ftpuser/ftp/upload

2. Set the access permissions as follows:

   sudo chmod -R 755 /home/ftpuser/ftp
   sudo chown -R ftpuser: /home/ftpuser/ftp

Enable Password Authentication for the FTP User

Step 5: Enable Password Authentication in SSH for the FTP User

1. Edit the sshd_config file:

   sudo vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

2. Add the following lines at the end of the file:

   Match User ftpuser
     PasswordAuthentication yes
     ChrootDirectory /home/ftpuser/ftp

3. Restart the service:

   sudo service sshd restart