The Tool Desk
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FTPS is FTP protected by TLS. It is not the same protocol as SFTP, which runs as a file-transfer session over SSH. If secure transfer is the only requirement, Ubuntu recommends considering OpenSSH/SFTP; FTPS is appropriate when FTP compatibility, an existing FTP workflow, or a client that explicitly supports FTP over TLS is required.
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What you are building
An FTPS WordPress arrangement has several separate pieces that must agree:
- vsftpd: the Ubuntu FTP server that accepts the connection.
- TLS: encryption for authentication and file data, using a certificate and private key for the server’s hostname.
- A restricted account: a non-root identity whose home or chroot leads to the WordPress files it must transfer.
- WordPress permissions: ownership or group access limited to the upload directory or other paths that genuinely require writing.
- Passive networking: a control connection plus a deliberately selected range of data ports allowed through UFW, cloud security groups, NAT, and perimeter firewalls.
- A matching client configuration: FTPS/FTPES mode, the correct control port, passive mode, hostname, username, and password.
A successful password exchange does not prove the setup works. FTP uses a separate data connection for directory listings, uploads, and downloads, so a server can authenticate correctly while every useful operation hangs.
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FTPS and SFTP are different protocols
Ubuntu describes FTPS as FTP encrypted with TLS. SFTP is an FTP-like session carried over an encrypted SSH connection. They have different ports, security administration, firewall behavior, and client compatibility.
| Area | FTPS | SFTP |
|---|---|---|
| Underlying protocol | FTP with TLS added to the control and data channels | SSH file-transfer subsystem; not FTP |
| Typical administration | Host certificate and private key, TLS policy, FTP account and passive range | SSH host keys and user authentication, commonly password or SSH key |
| Firewall model | Control connection plus a negotiated data connection; passive ranges must be opened | Normally one SSH service and one connection, so there is no FTP passive range |
| Client selection | The client must explicitly choose FTP over TLS (often labelled FTPS or FTPES) | The client must explicitly choose SFTP |
| Best fit | Existing FTP-compatible workflows or systems that require FTP over TLS | Transfers where secure SSH-based access is the only requirement |
Do not enter an SFTP URL or SSH port into an FTPS profile. Conversely, changing an FTPS profile to SFTP is not a cosmetic security upgrade: it selects another server protocol and authentication path. Ubuntu’s guidance specifically recommends considering OpenSSH/SFTP when the requirement is simply secure file transfer.
Prerequisites and a safe account design
Confirm the actual WordPress location
Before editing the FTP server, identify the document root and the WordPress installation below it. The usual media destination is wp-content/uploads, but a site may be installed in a subdirectory or use a different content directory. The account’s home, chroot, and writable path must be based on the real layout, not an assumed location.
Use a dedicated, non-root identity
Create a transfer account used only for this site or transfer job. Never use root for WordPress uploads. A dedicated identity makes it possible to revoke access, inspect ownership, and limit the damage if credentials are exposed. Its home directory or chroot should lead to the intended site directory rather than to the entire filesystem.
Decide whether the account uses a nologin shell
A service account may be configured with a non-interactive shell such as /usr/sbin/nologin. Ubuntu notes that PAM can require the account’s shell to appear in /etc/shells. If authentication is rejected for an otherwise correct account, check that relationship. Add the nologin shell to /etc/shells only when that account design is intentional; do not weaken shell policy merely to make a login succeed.
Install vsftpd and isolate the service
Install the Ubuntu FTP daemon with:
sudo apt install vsftpdAfter installation, keep the service limited to authenticated local users and configure chroot behavior for the account’s intended home or site directory. Ubuntu documents the chroot_local_user setting and the chroot-list controls. The exact combination depends on whether all local users or only a selected list should be jailed, so choose one policy deliberately rather than enabling contradictory exceptions.
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Record the account home and the path visible inside the chroot. A WordPress client will resolve its remote path from that view. If the account is chrooted at the site directory, the client may see wp-content/uploads; if it is chrooted one level higher, the same directory will have a different remote path. This distinction explains many “directory not found” reports after a technically successful login.
Apply least-privilege WordPress permissions
WordPress hardening guidance recommends locking permissions down and loosening them only when a feature such as uploads requires write access. Give the transfer account ownership or group access only to the exact upload path and any additional directories required by the workflow.
Choose ownership or a shared group
- Ownership: make the dedicated transfer account the owner of the required directory when it is the only process that needs to write there.
- Shared group: place the web-server identity and transfer account in a controlled group when both must access the same files, then grant group permissions only on the required paths.
- Parent directories: ensure the account can traverse each parent directory without making unrelated site directories writable.
Inspect the full path, not just the final directory. A write failure can come from a parent directory lacking execute (traverse) permission, from files owned by another identity, or from the account being chrooted somewhere different from the path you tested.
Avoid broad recursive write permissions across the whole WordPress tree. Making every file and directory writable may hide a local ownership mistake, but it also allows a compromised transfer credential to alter themes, plugins, configuration, and executable files that do not need upload access.
Enable explicit FTPS with a host-specific certificate
Edit /etc/vsftpd.conf and enable TLS for local users and data transfers:
ssl_enable=YES
rsa_cert_file=/path/to/host-specific-certificate.pem
rsa_private_key_file=/path/to/private-key.pem
force_local_logins_ssl=YES
force_local_data_ssl=YESThe certificate must be generated or issued for the specific hostname clients use. Ubuntu’s production guidance says to replace the default snakeoil certificate; a generic default certificate can produce hostname or trust warnings and does not identify the intended server to a client. Protect the private-key file with permissions that prevent ordinary users from reading it.
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Force encryption on both channels
force_local_logins_ssl=YES prevents local-user credentials from being sent through an unencrypted login. force_local_data_ssl=YES applies the same requirement to directory listings, uploads, and downloads. Enabling TLS only for authentication leaves the data channel exposed to a separate downgrade or interception risk and does not meet the goal of an encrypted WordPress transfer.
Prefer explicit FTPS (FTPES)
Explicit FTPS starts with the normal FTP workflow and upgrades the connection to TLS. Unless a client or policy specifically requires another mode, use explicit FTPS/FTPES. Implicit FTPS is a different mode in which TLS is expected immediately; port 990 is commonly associated with it, while explicit FTPS commonly uses the normal FTP control port 21. The current vsftpd documentation exposes implicit behavior separately through implicit_ssl. A client asking for port 990 may therefore be requesting implicit FTPS rather than indicating that port 21 is broken.
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Keep obsolete SSL protocols disabled
Do not enable SSLv2 or SSLv3 to accommodate an old client. The current Ubuntu vsftpd documentation states that TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 are enabled by default in the documented version and prefers TLS 1.2 or newer. Upgrade or replace an outdated client instead of weakening the server’s protocol policy.
Configure passive mode and every firewall
FTP’s control connection and data connection are separate. In passive mode, the client connects back to a server-selected port for a listing or transfer. Pick a narrow, unused range and set it in /etc/vsftpd.conf. For example:
pasv_min_port=12000
pasv_max_port=12100The range above is an example configuration, not a universal requirement. Keep it as small as your expected concurrency permits, reserve it for vsftpd, and open the identical range wherever traffic is filtered.
Open the control and passive ports
For explicit FTPS, allow TCP port 21 and the selected passive range in UFW:
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sudo ufw allow 21/tcp
sudo ufw allow 12000:12100/tcpRepeat the policy in the cloud security group, host or perimeter firewall, and any load-balancer rule. Opening port 21 alone permits login but not the data channel. If you choose another control port, use that port consistently in vsftpd, UFW, security groups, and the client.
Handle NAT and advertised addresses
When Ubuntu is behind NAT, the server must advertise the public address that clients can reach, and the passive range must be forwarded to the server. A private address in the passive response causes clients outside the network to wait for an unroutable destination. Verify both the address and the port forwarding; changing only the firewall rules does not correct a wrong advertised address.
Restart and validate the service
After saving the configuration, restart vsftpd:
sudo systemctl restart vsftpdInspect the service status and logs immediately. Then use an FTPS-capable client configured for passive mode and validate each operation separately:
- Connect to the server hostname on the selected explicit-FTPS control port.
- Confirm that the client reports a TLS negotiation for the login, and inspect whether the certificate matches the hostname.
- List the account’s starting directory.
- Change to the intended WordPress path, such as
wp-content/uploadsrelative to the account’s chroot. - Upload a small, harmless test file.
- Download that file and compare the result.
- Delete the test file using the same account if the workflow permits deletion.
Test from a network outside the server’s local subnet when NAT, a cloud security group, or a perimeter firewall is involved. A local test can succeed while outside clients still cannot reach the passive ports.
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WordPress’s WP_Filesystem_FTPext implementation accepts the method value ftps for SSL and accepts an FTP server port. In the WordPress filesystem or update setup, explicitly choose FTPS/FTP over TLS rather than plain FTP. Supply:
- the server hostname covered by the certificate;
- the explicit FTPS control port, normally 21 unless you deliberately changed it;
- the dedicated username and password;
- passive mode;
- the remote path as seen inside the account’s chroot.
Do not assume that a field labelled “FTP” automatically enables TLS. The filesystem method and client mode must explicitly be ftps. If WordPress says credentials are required, reports that no filesystem method is selected, or connects but cannot perform an upload, check the method, port, account home, and passive reachability before changing permissions.
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Troubleshoot by symptom
Login succeeds, but a listing or upload hangs
This is usually a passive-data-path problem rather than a password problem. Confirm that:
pasv_min_portandpasv_max_portmatch the range opened in UFW and every upstream firewall;- the cloud security group allows the same TCP range;
- NAT forwards the range to the Ubuntu host;
- the server advertises a reachable public address;
- the client is set to passive mode;
- the client is using the same explicit or implicit FTPS mode configured on the server.
Authentication is rejected for an account using nologin
Check whether PAM requires the configured shell to appear in /etc/shells. Ubuntu specifically calls out this interaction. Add /usr/sbin/nologin there only if the account is intentionally non-interactive, then retry authentication and inspect the logs.
WordPress connects but cannot write
Inspect ownership and permissions on the exact target path and every parent directory visible inside the chroot. Confirm that the account has write access to the uploads directory, not merely read access to the site root. Correct the narrowly scoped ownership or group membership instead of granting write permission recursively across WordPress.
The client reports a certificate or protocol error
Verify that the certificate is for the hostname entered in the client, that the private-key path is correct and readable by vsftpd, and that the client supports modern TLS. Replace the default snakeoil certificate with a host-specific certificate. Do not re-enable obsolete SSL protocols just to make an old client connect.
A client insists on port 990
Determine whether the profile is requesting implicit FTPS. Explicit FTPES and implicit FTPS are different modes. Select the mode that matches the server configuration; changing only the port leaves the negotiation incompatible.
The remote path appears empty or is not found
Remember that chroot changes the path the client sees. Recalculate the path relative to the account’s chroot, then verify that the account can traverse the directory and that the WordPress installation is actually located there.
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Running vsftpd on your own Ubuntu server gives direct control, but it also makes you responsible for every layer that affects an upload. A managed WordPress or managed Ubuntu service can remove some of that operational work, but the provider’s access controls, supported transfer methods, and troubleshooting process become part of the design.
| Responsibility | Self-managed vsftpd | Managed service |
|---|---|---|
| Daemon installation and updates | You install vsftpd and apply Ubuntu security updates and configuration changes. | The provider normally handles the platform and service maintenance, subject to its plan and support scope. |
| TLS certificate | You obtain, install, renew, and monitor the host-specific certificate and private key. | The provider may automate certificates, but you must verify hostname coverage and renewal behavior. |
| Passive networking | You choose the range and coordinate UFW, security groups, NAT, and perimeter rules. | The provider may hide or manage these layers, but you have less control over their exact limits. |
| Account isolation | You define chroot behavior, shells, ownership, groups, and WordPress write scope. | The provider supplies its own isolation model; confirm that the account can be limited to the intended site. |
| Support burden | You diagnose logs, TLS negotiation, paths, permissions, and firewall behavior. | Support may investigate platform issues, but FTPS availability and WordPress filesystem configuration still need to be specified. |
Choose self-management when you need control over the daemon, certificate policy, account isolation, and network rules and can maintain them. Choose a managed option when maintaining TLS, passive firewall ranges, patching, and permissions is outside your team’s operational capacity. In either case, insist on least-privilege WordPress write access.
Quick Recap
Operational checklist
- vsftpd is installed and starts successfully.
- The transfer identity is dedicated, non-root, and restricted to its intended home or chroot.
- The account’s shell policy is deliberate, including any
/etc/shellsrequirement for nologin. - The WordPress upload path has only the ownership or group permissions it needs.
ssl_enable=YESis set.rsa_cert_fileandrsa_private_key_filepoint to a certificate and key for the hostname clients use.force_local_logins_ssl=YESandforce_local_data_ssl=YESare enabled.- SSLv2 and SSLv3 are not enabled; clients support modern TLS.
- The passive range is configured in vsftpd and allowed in UFW, security groups, NAT, and perimeter firewalls.
- The server advertises a reachable public address when NAT is present.
- The client uses explicit FTPS/FTPES, passive mode, the correct port, and the chroot-relative path.
- A listing, small upload, and download have each been validated and logs are available for failures.
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