Please help with sftp-server
 

How do I get the server going? The instructions for it are unbeleievably vague. I honestly don't know where to start. I want to use this as an alternative to the non-secure proftpd.

i think you would basically just issue the command like you would regular ftp..

sftp username@host

but you need to insert this line in your /etc/ssh2/sshd2_config file:

subsystem-sftp sftp-server

then to submit the modification restart sshd with sshd restart... hope that is what your looking for.. let me know.

Thanks alot man I'll be sure to do that. But, where do I specify what files I want to share? Is there a configuration file somewhere?

i think your mistaking sftp and proftpd... sftp isn't setting up a ftp server on your box like proftpd, its kind of like you ftping to another box to upload or download files... from the command line.
like if instead of just typing ftp hostname, sftp is more secure than the traditional way.

Hmm alright let me explain my situation. I run a web server from a linux box with apache, and I would like a secure way for others to login to the linux box to upload and download their web page files. The way I understand is, proftpd is a standard ftp client with no encryption, and sftp-server (part of the sshd daemon), can act as a secure ftp server. Is this correct? And if so, how can I set it up? Sorry for the confusion.

well, sftp-server is a subsystem of ssh2 i believe. do you have ssh2 setup on your machine ?? you might want to check out some documentation on ssh to get it working right.

As I understand it, ProFTPd is an FTP Server and sftp is an FTP client.

Oh i see....
So if I were to run ProFTPD as the FTP server and connect on port 22 (the ssh port) with an sftp client, secure FTP would work?

that is what i was trying to say earlier.. i got confused in the mix myself.. :D

Guys.......I got it to work!
I downloaded PSFTP on my win machine and ftped over to my linux server.....that was too easy. BTW, the sftp-server apparently does not require proftpd at all. It seems to run by itself. I have one final question. If my users sftp to my linux box, are they "jailed" in their current folder? I'm sort of worried about that. Thanks again.

I've tested sftp using WinSCP (which is a rather nice tool). When you run this sftp client you can drill down out of the jail area you've set up for your user. I'm running into the same problem...except I'm intending to set up a guest user that's jailed. My guest's can simply go anywhere they wish on the box. Not sure how to control....