1. cPanel & WHM Documentation
  2. WHM
  3. Service Configuration
  4. FTP Server Selection
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FTP Server Selection

Valid for versions 112 through the latest version

Version:

102

112

Last modified: 2025 February 13

Looking for this interface?
Note:

Your hosting provider can enable or disable this interface for resellers in WHM's Edit Reseller Nameservers and Privileges interface (WHM >> Home >> Resellers >> Edit Reseller Nameservers and Privileges).

Overview

This interface allows you to select an FTP server daemon, or to disable FTP services.

This interface is only available when you enable the FTP server role in WHM’s Server Profile interface (WHM » Home » Server Configuration » Server Profile).

Note:
  • We disable FTP services by default because the FTP protocol sends clear-text usernames and passwords over public networks. It also does not enforce encryption, so third parties can attack the transmitted data. We recommend that you use transfer methods that use encryption, such as the scp command or cPanel’s File Manager interface (cPanel » Home » Files » File Manager).
  • We support Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol version 1.2.
    • We strongly recommend that you enable TLSv1.2 on your server.
    • You can use RFC4346 or TLSv1.2 to manage your Pure-FTPd server.

How to select an FTP daemon

To select an FTP daemon for your server, perform the following steps:

  1. In the FTP Server column, select ProFTPD or Pure-FTPD.
    • Select Disabled to disable FTP services.
  2. Click Save.

Pure-FTPd and ProFTPD

The following list offers comparisons between these FTP server daemons:

  • Pure-FTPd typically provides faster FTP transfers than ProFTPD.
  • Pure-FTPd does not display statistics in the statistics menu.
  • Pure-FTPd supports virtual user quotas; ProFTPD does not.
  • ProFTPD will display your bandwidth usage, allowing you to monitor the amount of bandwidth that FTP sessions use.
Important:

ProFTPD does not use TCP-Wrappers-based access controls on the following systems:

Use the functionality available in WHM’s Host Access Control interface for these operating systems.

The rest of ProFTPD’s functionality still works on these operating systems.

For more information about these FTP server daemons, visit the ProFTPD and Pure-FTPd websites.

Troubleshoot unmanaged FTP services

If you configured your server to use an unmanaged package target, problems may occur in the cPanel interface.

For more information, read our How to Restore Missing FTP Interfaces in cPanel documentation.

Additional Documentation