FTP server for content distribution

stefanu

4/19/24, 12:43 PM

I need to set up an FTP server for distributing various versions of a software package to a number of user accounts.

To avoid copying the files to each user's ftp home folder, I would like to set up a 'shared file environment' with symlinks using a structure much like this :

/
...
+-- srv
    +-- ftp
        +-- data
            +-- V1
                +-- Latest            -> /srv/ftp/data/V1/V1.3
                +-- V1.1
                +-- V1.2
                +-- V1.3
            +-- V2
                +-- Latest            -> /srv/ftp/data/V2/V2.2
                +-- V2.1
                +-- V2.2
            +-- V3
                +-- Latest            -> /srv/ftp/data/V3/V3.1
                +-- V3.1
        +-- users
            +-- user1
                +-- V3                -> /srv/ftp/data/V3/Latest
            +-- user2
                +-- V2                -> /srv/ftp/data/V2/Latest
            +-- user3

Each version is a folder with several files and subfolders.

I'm using a linux box (CentOS 7) with vsftpd; my problem comes when I try to limit user access to his home folder; the server will not allow following the link outside the user's folder.

For instance, I would like user1 to see only the V3 folder and its content (with sub-folders)

So the questions is : is this the right approach ? if yes, how to get it to work, if not, what would be the recommended approach for something like this ?

1 + 2

ftp

vsftpd

vidarlo

4/19/24, 1:15 PM

Why would you want ftp over e.g. http or sftp?

stefanu

4/19/24, 2:10 PM

thank you for the suggestion, but that's not the point of the question

Score:1

Server

HBruijn

4/19/24, 1:05 PM

As a general consideration: stop using the legacy FTP protocol for content distribution.

As an alternative to using symbolic links you can use a "bind" mount to replicate part of your file system elsewhere, for example in a users personal directory hierarchy. Bind mounts shouldn't interfere with chroot confinement strategies.

The following syntax is equivalent:

mount --bind /srv/ftp/data/V3/Latest /srv/ftp/users/user1/V3
mount -o bind srv/ftp/data/V2/Latest /srv/ftp//users/user2/V2

Create the associated entries in /etc/fstab to make that persistent across reboots.

+ 1

stefanu

4/19/24, 2:12 PM

thank you. it's exactly what I needed

Elon Musk

I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

EN: FTP server for content distribution

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