FTP

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a simple option for data transfers. SSH provides secure transfer methods for critical objects like configuration files, while TFTP provides simple file transfer methods for non-critical files.

Options for configuring FTP, SSH, and TFTP are in System > Services. Click the edit to configure the related service.

FTP requires a new dataset and a local user account.

Go to Storage to add a new dataset to use as storage for files.

Next, add a new user. Go to Credentials > Users and click Add to create a local user on the TrueNAS.

Assign a user name and password, and link the newly created FTP dataset as the user home directory. Add ftp to the Auxiliary Groups field. You can do this for every user or create a global account for FTP (for example, OurOrgFTPaccnt). You cannot create multiple accounts utilizing the same dataset as your home directory.

By default, only members of the ftp group can authenticate via FTP. Add your newly created user to the ftp group, or change this behavior in the FTP service configuration:

• Enable Allow Local User Login to allow any local user to authenticate
• Enable Allow Anonymous Login to allow anonymous connections without authentication

Dataset permissions are configured separately and control what files authenticated users can access.

Edit the file permissions for the new dataset. Go to Datasets, then click on the name of the new dataset. Scroll down to Permissions and click Edit.

Enter or select the new user account in the User and Group fields. Select Apply User and Apply Group. Select the Read, Write, and Execute for User, Group, and Other you want to apply. Click Save.

To configure FTP, go to System > Services and find FTP, then click edit to open the Services > FTP screen.

Configure the options according to your environment and security considerations. Click Advanced Settings to display more options.

When configuring FTP bandwidth settings, we recommend manually entering the units you want to use, e.g. KiB, MiB, GiB.

To confine FTP sessions to the home directory of a local user, select chroot.

Authentication Options:

• By default, only ftp group members can authenticate (no additional configuration needed)
• Enable Allow Local User Login to allow any local user to authenticate without ftp group membership
• Enable Allow Anonymous Login to allow anonymous connections without authentication

Do not allow anonymous access unless it is necessary. Enable TLS when possible (especially when exposing FTP to a WAN). TLS creates FTPS for better security.

Click Save, then start the FTP service.

Use a browser or FTP client to connect to the TrueNAS FTP share. The images below show FileZilla, a free option.

The user name and password are those of the local user account on the TrueNAS system. The default directory is the same as the user home directory. After connecting, you can create directories and upload or download files.