ProFTPd Administrator Review

excellent
key review info
application features
  • Add/Modify/Delete users
  • (4 more, see all...)

When I first moved to Linux, one of the first things I've tried to install was an ftp server so I could share files with my friends a lot easier. Also, few of my friends got used to getting new free programs from me because they are too lazy or don't exactly know where to get them from. I'm sure all of us have friends like those. So I had to make a separate user on my ftp server for each of them. Of course, besides downloading files from me, they started uploading their own files as well and after a while, I noticed my hard drive was almost full with all kind of junk files that came from the ftp server. So I had to manage their accounts, set a disk quota, transfer limit and so on. This hasn't been easy, especially because I had to configure those through ProFTPd's config file.

A few weeks ago, I found an application called "ProFTPd Administrator". ProFTPd Admin is a web-based tool written in PHP aimed at managing users and groups for the popular ftp server, ProFTPd. This tool enables you to easily manage your users, their disk quota and also, their allowed directories and to also view detailed logs about their activity on your ftp server, such as number of logins, the IPs they logged in from, what files they downloaded/uploaded and which directories they used for transferring them. In order to run this tool, you will need to have Apache, MySQL and, of course, ProFTPd.

Installing ProFTPd Administrator isn't exactly an easy task, especially for very new Linux users. Fortunately, it comes with a complete documentation which is easy to follow and which explains step by step how to install this utility. Also, the documentation has a troubleshooting section which explains how to go over most of the errors you might encounter through and after the installation.

Once you have completed successfully the installation process, it's time to start using it. Simply go to the web address where you installed ProFTPd Admin. On the Main Page, you will be presented with information regarding current logged in users on the ftp server and on the Linux server, as well as their current activity and how long they have been connected.

The next tab, "Users", will list the current configured users, the groups they belong to, the number of logins, the last login date, whether their account will expire, has disk quota set or is disabled. Clicking on an existing account name will send you to that account manage page, where you can view more detailed info about that user, such as home directory, shell, IPs he logged in from, expiration date and so on. On that same page, there are three tabs in the middle section named "Traffic", "Section" and "Transfer log". The first one will open a small window in the lower part of your browser and show you how many files and how much traffic in megabytes that specific user has generated on the past hour, in the last 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days. The next tab, "Section", will show you in the same bottom window the user activity by directory, while the last tab will show you the exact name of the files the user has transferred, when he transferred them, their size, how much time it took him to transfer them and whether he downloaded and uploaded them.

In the same "Users" tab, there are a few sub-tabs which enable you to configure that specific user. The first tab, "General info" allows you to enter basic info about that user such as ID, home directory, shell, whether the account is disabled or not, his name, address, email and some notes. From the next tab, "Groups", you can configure the group this user is part of. The next two sub-tabs, "Set password" and "Set expiration" are pretty self-explanatory. From the "Quota" sub-tab, you can set how much disk space the user is allowed to use and how many files he is allowed to upload or download. To use this feature, however, you must have the Quota extension installed and enabled from the Configure - Extensions tab. Finally, the next tab will delete the current selected user. However, if you enter the "Users" tab and don't have or don't click on any user, you can add a new one by clicking on the "Add user" button in the lower part of the page. This button will take you on a page where you can fill-in the fields regarding the new user's information such as username, home directory, password and so on. Overall, the user management feature is quite complex but still easy to use.

The next tab, "Groups", will take you to a page where you can configure existing groups or add new ones. By default, there are two groups already configured: admins and users. The groups' configuration can be made the same way users are configured, only a lot easier considering here are only a few tabs needed to be filled. The fields are, however, self explanatory and configuring them is a rather straight-forward task.

"Transfers" tab will take you to a general statistics page regarding transfers made by all users. You will be able to view here general statistics such as top files downloaded, top 10 downloaders/uploaders and so on. An interesting feature you will find here is the "Write out logs" which enables you to move the logs from the database to the hard drive if your ftp server is quite popular and a lot of logs will gather really fast. For ftp servers with one or two users which transfer a file once a week, this option is pretty useless but still quite interesting. You will also find here a Delete option which, obviously, will delete the log files forever.

Next tab is called "Status" and will show you various system information. You will be presented with data such as server ip, kernel version, uptime, terminal and ftp server user count, load averages, http and mysql servers version and php, proftpd and proftpd-admin versions. More detailed information about the current Linux server all of these services run on can be viewed through several sub-tabs named "Processlist", "Resources", "Hardware", "Kernel", "Database" and "ProFTPd". It's pretty self-explanatory what these sub-tabs will present once clicked on. This feature, while pretty useless on managing a FTP server, can be useful for Linux users that have installed a PHP script to view their system information because now, they can have both a FTP management script and a system info script merged in one single tool.

The next two tabs, "About" and "Manual" are basically the pages you will want to visit when you're having troubles with your proftpd server or administrator tool or when you want to find out how to use a certain feature. These are the main documentation pages which are complex, complete, easy to follow and sorted into categories.

The last tab, "Configure", will enable you to configure both MySQL and ProFTPd to work flawlessly with the ProFTPd Administrator. Inexperienced users will most likely find many of the options here quite complicated but fortunately, no harm will be done if you miss configuring some of them. This is a good thing because this way, new users can play around with the settings, see what they do and finally, get to know them and configure them accordingly to their needs. In this tab, options like database type, username, password, hostname and database name can be configured. Also, ftp server directories and sections, paths to programs related to the Linux and FTP server. These programs are used to show various system information in the "Status" tab (process list, kernel info etc). Moreover, here, you can set the default disk quota settings set on new users and ProFTPd Administrator extensions.

The Good

ProFTPd Administrator is a web script written in PHP, designed to easily manage FTP users and groups for the popular FTP server called ProFTPd through a web browser. It also doubles as a system information tool providing information like free hard-drive space, memory statistics and much more. It comes with a complete documentation (with a troubleshooting section) which makes it easy for inexperienced users to set-up and manage a great FTP server.

The Bad

Even if this web tool offers quite advanced features for managing users on a FTP server, it also offers A LOT of statistics and system information features which will be probably found by many users as 'useless'. In my opinion, the time allocated to creating these features could be very well used for enabling more FTP server-related functions and options. When users first download the ProFTPD Administrator, they will most likely expect to find a FTP server administration tool but, in fact, they find themselves using a mixed application which offers both FTP management functions and system information scripts. However, other users will probably find the sys info features as useful.

The Truth

Overall, ProFTPd Administrator is a very handy, useful and easy to use tool for managing users and groups on a FTP server. For what it's worth, I never stopped using it since I found it and don't even consider using a similar tool. However, it wouldn't hurt to offer more FTP server-related functions and options and less system information which if I really wanted to have, I would have installed a separate PHP script designed specifically for this. It's still, however, a great application and should be used by everyone that has a ProFTPd server up and running. It will definitely make their lives a lot easier.

Check out some screenshots below:

Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
user interface 5
features 3
ease of use 5
pricing / value 5


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
NEXT REVIEW: Sound Juicer