10.4. Creating Virtual Servers

Being able to create a virtual FTP server is a powerful function. When there are 20 virtual Web sites running on a physical computer, it is logical for them to be able to provide FTP services. In this case, each site will be assigned its own access rights.

I will not go into detail on the virtual server subject, because this is beyond the scope of this book. If you desire more information on this subject, you can find it in the documentation (e.g., ftpaccess man page). Also, you can create one using the graphical FTP server-configuration utility.

To tell the truth, I am not fond of the virtual server functions of the wu-ftp server. If you need several virtual FTP servers, I advise you to take a look at the ProFTP server, which is, in my opinion, more suitable for this task. The wu-ftp server is too cumbersome to configure for work with virtual servers because its configuration files are spread all over the system.

All virtual FTP servers are defined in the ftpservers configuration file. A virtual FTP server is defined by specifying its IP address and the directory containing its configuration files (which are duplicates of the wu-ftp server configuration files listed previously). If a configuration file for a virtual server is missing, the corresponding file in the /etc directory will be used instead.