Virtual Hosting With Proftpd And MySQL (Incl. Quota) For Arch Linux

Version 1.0
Original author: Falko Timme
Adapted text for Arch Linux and some other changes by Dretech.

This document describes how to install a Proftpd server that uses virtual users from a MySQL database instead of real system users. This is much more performant and allows to have thousands of ftp users on a single machine. In addition to that I will show the use of quota with this setup.

For the administration of the MySQL database you can use web based tools like phpMyAdmin which will also be installed in this howto. phpMyAdmin is a comfortable graphical interface which means you do not have to mess around with the command line.

This tutorial is based on Arch Linux and is an apdaption of the original how to for Debian Sarge. You should already have set up a basic Arch Linux system. On other distributions like SuSE, Fedora, Mandriva, etc. only the Proftpd installation is different; the configuration of Proftpd should apply to these distributions as well.

This howto is meant as a practical guide; it does not cover the theoretical backgrounds. They are treated in a lot of other documents in the web.

This document comes without warranty of any kind! I want to say that this is not the only way of setting up such a system. There are many ways of achieving this goal but this is the way I take. I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

1 Install Apache, MySQL And phpMyAdmin

For installation instructions of Apache and/or MySQL see https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Apache.
For installation instructions of phpMyAdmin see https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Phpmyadmin.

2 Install Proftpd With MySQL support

In Arch Linux MySQL support is compiled in Proftpd. Install Proftpd with de command:

pacman -S proftpd

Then we create an ftp group ("ftpgroup") and user ("ftpuser") that all our virtual users will be mapped to. Replace the group- and userid 2001 with a number that is free on your system:

groupadd -g 2001 ftpgroup
useradd -u 2001 -s /bin/false -d /bin/null -c "proftpd user" -g ftpgroup ftpuser

3 Create The MySQL Database For Proftpd

Go to phpMyAdmin (http://localhost/phpmyadmin or http://192.168.2.5/phpmyadmin (if 192.168.2.5 is the IP-number of the FTP-server)) with username root and the password you gave in step 1.

Click in the upper side of the screen on "SQL" and paste the query below in the SQL window:

create database ftp;
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON ftp.* TO 'proftpd'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON ftp.* TO 'proftpd'@'localhost.localdomain' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Replace the string password with whatever password you want to use for the MySQL user proftpd. Still in phpMyAdmin, select in the left side of the screen for the database ftp. Then we create the database tables: We need to copy the SQL commands below and paste it in the query window of phpMyAdmin:

CREATE TABLE `ftpgroup` ( `groupname` varchar(16) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
`gid` smallint(6) NOT NULL DEFAULT '9001',
`members` varchar(16) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
KEY `groupname` (`groupname`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COMMENT='ProFTP group table';

CREATE TABLE `ftpquotalimits` ( `name` varchar(30) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
`quota_type` enum('user','group','class','all') NOT NULL DEFAULT
'user', `per_session` enum('false','true') NOT NULL DEFAULT 'false',
`limit_type` enum('soft','hard') NOT NULL DEFAULT 'soft',
`bytes_in_avail` bigint(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`bytes_out_avail` bigint(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`bytes_xfer_avail` bigint(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`files_in_avail` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`files_out_avail` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`files_xfer_avail` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', PRIMARY KEY (`name`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8;

CREATE TABLE `ftpquotatallies` ( `name` varchar(30) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
`quota_type` enum('user','group','class','all') NOT NULL DEFAULT
'user', `bytes_in_used` bigint(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`bytes_out_used` bigint(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`bytes_xfer_used` bigint(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`files_in_used` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`files_out_used` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`files_xfer_used` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT '0'
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8;

CREATE TABLE `ftpuser` ( `id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`userid` varchar(32) NOT NULL DEFAULT '', `passwd` varchar(32) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
`uid` smallint(6) NOT NULL DEFAULT '9001',
`gid`smallint(6) NOT NULL DEFAULT '9001',
`homedir` varchar(255) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
`shell` varchar(16) NOT NULL DEFAULT '/sbin/nologin',
`count` int(11) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
`accessed` datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
`modified` datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
`email` varchar(64) DEFAULT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
UNIQUE KEY `userid` (`userid`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COMMENT='ProFTP user table';

4 Configure Proftpd

Open /etc/proftpd.conf and add the following lines to it:

DefaultRoot ~

# The passwords in MySQL are encrypted using CRYPT

SQLAuthTypes            Crypt
SQLAuthenticate         users* groups*

# used to connect to the database
# databasename@host database_user user_password
SQLConnectInfo  ftp@localhost proftpd password PERCONNECTION

# Here we tell ProFTPd the names of the database columns in the "usertable"
# we want it to interact with. Match the names with those in the db
SQLUserInfo     ftpuser userid passwd uid gid homedir shell

# Here we tell ProFTPd the names of the database columns in the "grouptable"
# we want it to interact with. Again the names match with those in the db
SQLGroupInfo    ftpgroup groupname gid members

# set min UID and GID - otherwise these are 999 each
SQLMinID        500

# create a user's home directory on demand if it doesn't exist
CreateHome on 770 dirmode 770

# Update count every time user logs in
SQLLog PASS updatecount
SQLNamedQuery updatecount UPDATE "count=count+1, accessed=now() WHERE userid='%u'" ftpuser

# Update modified everytime user uploads or deletes a file
SQLLog  STOR,DELE modified
SQLNamedQuery modified UPDATE "modified=now() WHERE userid='%u'" ftpuser

# User quotas
# ===========
QuotaEngine on
QuotaDirectoryTally on
QuotaDisplayUnits Gb
QuotaShowQuotas on

SQLNamedQuery get-quota-limit SELECT "name, quota_type, per_session, limit_type, bytes_in_avail, bytes_out_avail, bytes_xfer_avail, files_in_avail, files_out_avail, files_xfer_avail FROM ftpquotalimits WHERE name = '%{0}' AND quota_type = '%{1}'"
SQLNamedQuery get-quota-tally SELECT "name, quota_type, bytes_in_used, bytes_out_used, bytes_xfer_used, files_in_used, files_out_used, files_xfer_used FROM ftpquotatallies WHERE name = '%{0}' AND quota_type = '%{1}'"
SQLNamedQuery update-quota-tally UPDATE "bytes_in_used = bytes_in_used + %{0}, bytes_out_used = bytes_out_used + %{1}, bytes_xfer_used = bytes_xfer_used + %{2}, files_in_used = files_in_used + %{3}, files_out_used = files_out_used + %{4}, files_xfer_used = files_xfer_used + %{5} WHERE name = '%{6}' AND quota_type = '%{7}'" ftpquotatallies
SQLNamedQuery insert-quota-tally INSERT "%{0}, %{1}, %{2}, %{3}, %{4}, %{5}, %{6}, %{7}" ftpquotatallies
QuotaLimitTable sql:/get-quota-limit
QuotaTallyTable sql:/get-quota-tally/update-quota-tally/insert-quota-tally

RootLogin off

RequireValidShell off

If you want to see a banner to see the use/available space after LIST, then add the lines below (by Martin Mrajca) to /etc/profptd.conf:

SQLNamedQuery gettally  SELECT "ROUND((bytes_in_used/1073741824),2) FROM ftpquotatallies WHERE name='%u'"

SQLNamedQuery getlimit  SELECT "ROUND((bytes_in_avail/1073741824),2) FROM ftpquotalimits WHERE name='%u'"
SQLNamedQuery getfree   SELECT "ROUND(((ftpquotalimits.bytes_in_avail-ftpquotatallies.bytes_in_used)/1073741824),2) FROM ftpquotalimits,ftpquotatallies WHERE ftpquotalimits.name = '%u' AND ftpquotatallies.name = '%u'"
SQLShowInfo   LIST    "226" "Used %{gettally}GB from %{getlimit}GB. You have %{getfree}GB available space."

Restart Proftpd:

/etc/rc.d/proftpd restart

5 Populate The Database And Test

To populate the database you can use phpMyAdmin. First we create an entry in the table ftpgroup. It contains the groupname, the groupid and the username of the ftp group/user we created at the end of step two (replace the groupid appropriately if you use another one than 9001):

INSERT INTO `ftpgroup` (`groupname`, `gid`, `members`) VALUES ('ftpgroup', 9001, 'ftpuser');

Now we are done with the table ftpgroup. We do not have to create further entries here. Whenever you create a new virtual ftp user, you do this in the tables ftpquotalimits and ftpuser. So let us create our first user (we are still in the query window of phpMyAdmin):

INSERT INTO `ftpquotalimits` (`name`, `quota_type`, `per_session`, `limit_type`, `bytes_in_avail`, `bytes_out_avail`, `bytes_xfer_avail`, `files_in_avail`, `files_out_avail`, `files_xfer_avail`) VALUES ('exampleuser', 'user', 'false', 'hard', 1073741824, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0);

INSERT INTO `ftpuser` (`userid`, `passwd`, `uid`, `gid`, `homedir`, `shell`, `count`, `accessed`, `modified`, `email`) VALUES ('exampleuser', encrypt('secret'), 2001, 2001, '/srv/ftp/exampleuser', '/sbin/nologin', 0, '0000-00-00 00:00:00', '0000-00-00 00:00:00', '[email protected]');

(Do not forget to replace the group- and userid 2001 appropriately in the last INSERT statement if you are using other values than in this tutorial!)

Now open your FTP client program on your work station (something like WS_FTP or SmartFTP if you are on a Windows system) and try to connect. As hostname you use the IP address of the system, the username is exampleuser, and the password is secret (if you have not chosen an other password).

If you are able to connect - congratulations! If not, something went wrong.

Now, if you run

ls -l /srv/ftp

you should see that the directory /srv/ftp/exampleuser (exampleuser's ftp directory) has been automatically created, and it belongs to ftpuser and ftpgroup (the user/group we created at the end of step two).

5.1 FTP user management

For managing the virtual FTP users I made a simple PHP script. You can download the script here. You only have to unpack the zipfile and copy ftpusermanagement.php to the /srv/http directory of your Arch Linux system. Open ftpusermanagement.php in your web browser, for example http://192.168.2.5/ftpusermanagement.php (if IP number 192.168.2.5 is the IP number is your Arch Linux system). You now are ably to add ftp-users, edit ftp-users and delete ftp-users in a simple way. If you delete a ftp-user you have to delete the directory of the user manually. In the webinterface of the php-script I also mention some idaes for future posibilities, but at the moment I am going to spend my time in other projects. The copyright of the script is the GPL licence, so you are free to improve and extend the script.

5.2 Database administration

If you want to manage your virtual FTP users without webinterface, you only have to create entries in the tables ftpquotalimits and ftpuser. So below you can find an explanation of the columns of these tables here:

ftpuser Table:

The important columns are these (the others are handled by MySQL or Proftpd automatically, so do not fill these manually!):

userid: The name of the virtual Proftpd user (e.g. exampleuser).
passwd: The unencrypted (i.e., clear-text) password of the user.
uid: The userid of the ftp user you created at the end of step two (e.g. 9001).
gid: The groupid of the ftp group you created at the end of step two (e.g. 2001).
homedir: The home directory of the virtual Proftpd user (e.g. /srv/ftp/exampleuser). If it does not exist, it will be created when the new user logs in the first time via FTP. The virtual user will be jailed into this home directory, i.e., he cannot access other directories outside his home directory.
shell: It is ok if you fill in /sbin/nologin here by default.

ftpquotalimits Table: The important columns are these (the others are handled by MySQL or Proftpd automatically, so do not fill these manually!):

name: The name of the virtual Proftpd user (e.g. exampleuser).
quota_type: user or group. Normally, we use user here.
per_session: true or false. true means the quota limits are valid only for a session. For example, if the user has a quota of 15 MB, and he has uploaded 15 MB during the current session, then he cannot upload anything more. But if he logs out and in again, he again has 15 MB available. false means, that the user has 15 MB at, no matter if he logs out and in again.
limit_type: hard or soft. A hard quota limit is a never-to-exceed limit, while a soft quota can be temporarily exceeded. Normally you use hard here.
bytes_in_avail: Upload limit in bytes (e.g. 15728640 for 15 MB). 0 means unlimited.
bytes_out_avail: Download limit in bytes. 0 means unlimited.
bytes_xfer_avail: Transfer limit in bytes. The sum of uploads and downloads a user is allowed to do. 0 means unlimited.
files_in_avail: Upload limit in files. 0 means unlimited.
files_out_avail: Download limit in files. 0 means unlimited.
files_xfer_avail: Tranfer limit in files. 0 means unlimited.