Basic tutorial for creating a SFTP-only user on Ubuntu 9.04 and greater

sftp-ubuntu.md

Adding SFTP-only user to Ubuntu Server

To add a SFTP-only user, you'll need to make sure your SSH config settings are correct, add a new user/group and set permissions for your new user. For step-by-step directions, see below. Omit sudo if you're logged in as root.

Directions

1. Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and make sure to add the following at the end of the file:

    Match group filetransfer
    	ChrootDirectory %h
        X11Forwarding no
        AllowTcpForwarding no
    	ForceCommand internal-sftp
   

2. Restart OpenSSH:

    sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart
   

3. Add new group for SFTP-only users:

    sudo addgroup filetransfer
   

4. Add new user (make sure to switch out username in the following steps to your specified username):

    sudo adduser username
   

5. Add user to new group and set permissions:

    sudo usermod -G filetransfer username
    sudo chown root:root /home/username
    sudo chmod 755 /home/username
   

6. Create directories for user and set final permissions:

    cd /home/username
    sudo mkdir folder_1 folder_2
    sudo chown username:username *
   

7. Setup a symbolic link to make the user's folder available to the public (/var/www/... path will be dependent on your environment):

    sudo ln -s /home/username/USER_DIRECTORY /var/www/devpress.cbai.us/wordpress/PUBLIC_DIRECTORY/
   

   If you need to view the public directory index, you may have to add a .htaccess file in your PUBLIC_DIRECTORY with: Options +Indexes

8. Use Cyberduck or another SFTP client to connect. Go have a beer.

Thanks for the tutorial, found it helpful. :)

I skipped step 7 (don't want them public). Can I still go for the beer?

More stress on the importance of step 5 though, tried to skip that too first (why should the user not own their home? or write there?) but it just wouldn't work without it.

Hi there, I originally used this same guide and added two user accounts that worked perfectly well until fairly recently. One of my accounts I can login fine into FileZilla, but the other one or any subsequent accounts I create, will not log in. I get 'Authentication failed' and Critical error: could not connect to server.

Please advise

I understand all the steps, but when I tried to connect with my sftp client (FileZilla), I obtain authentication error message. I dont know why, I repeat all the steps many times.