Creating secure FTP server through Yosemite

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Creating secure FTP server through Yosemite

Hi,

I am planning on doing some video editing for a mate but we're pretty far away from each other so obviously need some way of transferring footage to and fro. Was considering using FTP software as opposed to cloud etc as it would cut out the middle man.

I was going to use Filezilla Server to set up my Mac as a remote server however as the software's only available for Windows it's not going to work. So question is, how can I set up some kind of FTP between our Macs? I had a look online and I can't find a straight-forward answer, looks like FTP in some variation is built into Yosemite however all I've found is ways for myself to connect with full admin privileges which is great but not what I need.

Is there a way I can set up a user account with read and write privileges for my friend where he can access one folder on my drive using a username and a password and transfer video files to it remotely like i would using Filezilla Server, without him having access to everything on my machine? I don't want to fork out for software if it's possible within the actual OS.

Thanks.

P.S. have found the settings for file sharing under System Preferences, not giving me an option for FTP but as I understand it SMB is a similar thing? I think this is the section I need to be in, just need to know the ins and outs before I give someone access to everything by mistake!

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Oct 7, 2015 2:14 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 7, 2015 3:03 AM in response to chism3000

It is possible to setup an FTP server and a so-called SFTP server on a Mac this is pretty easy if you have the Server.app add-on. Ideally you would use SFTP and set your firewall to block access to the standard FTP port. (I say so-called SFTP because there are several varieties that often get grouped together under that heading, i.e. FTPS, Implicit FTPS and 'proper' SFTP.)

Another option is to buy a package called Rumpus, see http://www.maxum.com/Rumpus/

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Answer 2

chism3000 Author

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Oct 7, 2015 1:49 PM in response to John Lockwood

Thanks for replying John.

Seems to me that Apple removed the server.app from their OS and are now charging for it which is rather nice of them... I've looked into it and judging by the amount of data we have to transfer to each other (upwards of 50gb) as well as poor internet connections at both ends, I've decided to go down the crude route of posting an external HDD to each other relying on the grace and caution of the good old Royal Mail. I may have been a tad facetious in trying to find a more technologically advanced way of doing it.

Appreciate your help though,

CC

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