How to configure FileZilla server on your Windows server

This guide covers how to install and setup FileZilla on your Windows server. There are four parts to this guide:
Installing the FileZilla Server
Configuring FileZilla Server
Configuring the Windows firewall
Connecting to FileZilla

Installing FileZilla Server

Prerequisites

Before installing FileZilla server, you'll need the below:
At least 25 MB of free disk space
Administrator Permissions

The Installation

Please connect to your Windows server BEFORE attempting to setup FileZilla server. All actions should be completed on the server. See our Logging Into Your Windows VPS guide for help.

Firstly, head to the FileZilla server download page, and download the latest version of FileZilla server.

Once downloaded, click the file to run it.
Now, agree to the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL), the free opensource license under which terms FileZilla Server is provided.

Now, select everything which you want to be installed:
All will install both the Administration interface and the Server;
Server will install only the Server;
Administration interface will install only the Administration interface;
Desktop icons adds a link to FileZilla Server to your desktop, making it easy to find and run the program. See Administration and Starting and Stopping FileZilla Server from the desktop or Start Menu;
Start menu shortcuts will install shortcuts in start menu.

Note: You need to install at least one of them.

In this tutorial, we will leave all of them selected, with the Full installation.
Then click Next

Now you can choose where you want FileZilla to be installed. Leave this in the default area, and click Next .

Here you can select a start menu folder. Leave this as default and press Next.

FileZilla Server needs to be installed as a service on Windows ( Windows Service). Select the launch option you prefer from the top-downmenu, you can either get it started automatically (default) or manually.
Leave this as default, and press Next
8. Now, set the port that FileZilla server will use for connections to the Administrator interface. Leave this as default.
You should now set a password for the administrator interface.
Passwords must meet the following security criteria:
A minimum length of 12 characters.
At least one numeral (0-9).
At least one special character (e.g., !, @, #, $).
At least one uppercase letter (A-Z).
At least one lowercase letter (a-z).
You can choose to not enter in any password if you wish.

If you do not choose a password, a warning dialog will appear warning you about the risks.
As a security measure, if no password is set, you can only configure a server that responds on localhost (127.0.0.1)

Click Next .

Here you can select if you want the interface to start for every user, or for only the current user, or manually. In this guide, we are leaving it as default.

11. Click Install .
12. You will be asked to take note of the fingerprint of the TLS certificate that the server uses for administrative connections.

The installation is complete, you can press Close .

Configuring FileZilla Server

Firstly, make sure FileZilla server is running, and open the administrator interface.

Click on Connect to server
A dialogue will appear prompting you to enter in your login details. Enter in your password here, and optionally you can select Save the password .

Press Ok .
If this is the first time you have connected to this server, you will be asked to trust the certificate. If the fingerprint matches what was shown in the installation, you can press yes .
6. You are now in the configuration area of FileZilla server

Adding a user

If you want to add a user, you can do by following the steps below:

Click on Server, then Configure .

Wait while the window loads.
Click on Users

Now click on Add .

Enter in the username, and then type in a password for the user.

Now, select what path you want them to have access to:
To share files and directories with FTP users, FileZilla Server uses the concept of mount points.

A mount point includes a virtual path and a native path. The native path is a local file path, the virtual path is the path that the FTP users will see and it is mapped to the native path by FileZilla Server.

To add a mount point click on the Add button and enter a virtual path (eg. \) and a native path (eg, C:\ftproot\sample).

Virtual path format

The format of the virtual path is the same one used by UNIX-like operating systems: files and directories are separated by the slash / character and all files and directories belong to a unique root, whose name is exactly /. Virtual paths are normalized by resolving all . and .. directories and removing any trailing / character.

Native path format

The format of the native path is the same used by the operating system. On Windows UNC paths are supported too, and both the slash / and backslash \ characters are valid separators. Native paths are normalized just like virtual paths. In addition, on Windows the slash / is normalized to become a backslash \, path segments are not allowed to terminate with dots and they cannot contain the colon : character, except for the device name.

Note: While setting up native paths, make sure they exist or ask the server to create them for you by selecting the checkbox Create native directory if it doesn’t exist.

Example

In this example, we are going to give the user access to a folder on the Administrators Desktop.

Locate the folder and open it.
Click on the whitespace by the name of the folder and copy the folders path.

3. Head back to FileZillas administrator interface.
Under Mount Points click Add
Enter a Virtual Path of `/`and the Native Path of your folder as shown in the screenshot below.

Press Apply on the bottom right.

FileZilla server is now configured!

Configuring the Windows Firewall

So that users can actually connect to FTP, you need to open the firewall to allow this.

On the windows search bar, search for Firewall and select Windows Defender Firewall

Click on Advanced Settings

On Inbound Rules right click, and select New Rule

Select Port on the Rule Type page.

Select TCP and under Specific Local Ports, enter 21,49152-65534
Then click Next

On the Action page, select Allow the Connection, then Next.

On the Profile page, you can leave this as default, and press Next.

On the Name page, give it a title and description which makes sense to you, then press Finish.

The firewall is now configured!

Connecting to the FileZilla Server

Finally, now its time to connect to the FTP/FileZilla server (yay!).

Download FileZilla CLIENT from the download site.
Run the installer, once installed, open FileZilla.
You will see a bar at the top of the window. There are 4 important fields you need to fill in:
Host: This is the servers IP address
Username: This is the username for the user you created earlier.
Password: This is the password for the user you made earlier
Port: This is the port for the protocol you're using. This will be autofilled when connecting, so you can leave this field alone (unless you have a custom port setup).

Fill in the details using the details noted above. An example is provided below:

Click Quickconnect .
If its the first time you've connected to this, you may get a Unknown Certificate warning. If the fingerprint matches, you can click Ok, and optionally Always trust this certificate in future sessions .

You should now be connected! You should see all your files in your directory.


The left hand side is your local storage/files, and the right hand side is the servers storage/files.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the VoltHosting support team!

Updated on: 08/11/2024