By default, FTP will leave all data and transactions in a plain-text format, easily intercepted by users with network access. Utilizing FTPS is the most effective way to secure your FTP server. When you save changes, the FTP service will restart automatically and your port will be updated. While we can’t determine what ports are available for you, find a high port that is free for your use and assign this here. To change the default listening port (21), you can modify this field and change it to another open port on your server. The page we are looking for, General Settings, will be the default page loaded. To do this, navigate to the Edit > Settings menu. Changing the port doesn’t mean they won’t or can’t find the server, it just makes it a little less likely to be attacked.

The first step is to change the default FTP port from 21 to something more obscure that attacking bots won’t be scanning for as easily. Securing FileZilla Server and TransactionsįTP is a notoriously insecure protocol that uses plain-text over a standard port, so the first thing we’re going to want to do is make some changes to lock things down a bit. The minimum password length is 6 characters and can be reverted to a blank password by leaving the field empty, which probably isn’t wise. If this is the case, set an administrative password at this location. However, you may want to be the only user who can manage the FTP server and create users. You can leave all the default settings as they are and finish the installation. For this part of the process, there are no special configurations or changes that need to be made during the installation. To begin installing, run the FileZilla Server installer as an administrator user on your server.

To get started setting up your new FTP host, login to your server and download FileZilla Server for Windows. It’s worth noting that FileZilla Server works fine on Windows 10 as well, but that’s probably a less common use. FileZilla Server is the server hosting component, which supports both FTP and FTPS, and the FileZilla Client is the application for utilizing FTP and connecting to FTP servers. Here’s how to set it up.įileZilla is open-source software that is available for free under the GNU General Public License. If you’re managing a Windows Server and you need a way to transfer files, you might need to resort to using FTP, and the best way to do that is with FileZilla Server.

Filezilla ssh mode