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Lion Server: Enabling the FTP service

This article discusses how to enable the FTP service in Lion Server.

Use the following steps (you must use Terminal). Note: In the steps 1 and 2, the example local administrator's short name is ladmin. Change it to your own local admin account's short name.

  1. Create an Access Control List (ACL) group: dseditgroup -o create -n /Local/Default -u ladmin com.apple.access_ftp

  2. Enter your password when prompted.

  3. Add users and groups to the ACL group.

    1. For example, to add a user named jacob: dseditgroup -o edit -u ladmin -a jacob com.apple.access_ftp

    2. For example, to add a group named teachers: dseditgroup -o edit -u ladmin -a teachers -t group com.apple.access_ftp

  4. Repeat the example commands above for any additional users or groups that need FTP access.

  5. Configure the FTP service to load on demand: sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ftp.plist

Learn more

Lion Server uses tnftpd by default. For more information, refer type man ftpd in Terminal.

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