Anonymous FTP

Anonymous FTP is included as standard with all FastVirtual web hosting plans.

When enabled, this option allows unauthenticated FTP users to download files from a specific directory on your domain. You may also permit users to upload to this directory, although this is not recommended.

Enabling Anonymous Downloads

To activate anonymous FTP, simply create a directory named "ftp" in your document root (htdocs). This directory will then be available through FTP at ftp://ftp.yourname.com and on the web at http://www.yourname.com/ftp/.

Once activated, FTP users will then be able to log in to "ftp.yourname.com" anonymously to view and download files. Any subdirectories you create under the "ftp" directory will also be accessible. Users will not be able to access content outside of this directory.

Enabling Anonymous Uploads

Anonymous FTP access is by default read-only. This means that users can view and download files, but they cannot upload. If you wish to permit users to upload files (not recommended), you need to change the access permissions for the "ftp" directory to "0777" (drwxrwxrwx). If this directory contains subdirectories, permissions for these also need to be changed to "0777".

If you do wish to enable anonymous FTP uploads, it is advisable to apply write permissions to a single subdirectory only, and not the entire "ftp" directory/subdirectory structure.

Important Information

Please remember that you are responsible for all content on your site. By allowing write-access to your "ftp" directory, you will be permitting third-parties to upload content which might cause your site to violate our policies, or which might cause your site to exceed your allocated disk space, resulting in additional disk space charges.

A better solution is to create one or more password-protected FTP accounts and selectively distribute the passwords to authorized users.