TEG BAINS  PureFTPd is an easy to use, but powerful opensource FTP service. The GUI PureFTPd Manager provides setting a FTP server a snap. It's much better than the lame ftp service Apple includes in MacOS X client or server (including 10.5.x). You can also combine this with Webmin and the PureFTPd plugin for Webmin and administrate the FTP site that way as well.  
(Version 1.7)

WEB-JIVE  THANK YOU!!!! The only other product that would fit the bill was RUMPUS. Talk about over priced.. OUCH.

This is a great product so if you DL, make a donation to the author please.  
(Version 1.7)

EMBER  I downloaded version 1.6.3 today -- I'm on a Mac (version 10.4.9). I'm having trouble with the user passwords. When I add a new user and set a password, then close the User Manager, the password always defaults back to a different 13-character password. (I can't tell what it is because it's all dots.) Even when I try to reset it, it defaults again. Can anyone help? Thanks!  
(Version 1.6.3)

FIZZICIST  I have to qualify everything here by saying that I'm new to FTP. I spent one entire day messing around with it on my LAN trying to get it to work, with only partial success. Part of the problem is my ignorance about what I'm doing, and the rest of it is PureFTPd Manager's lack of clear and thorough documentation of its ample features.

Yes, ample features. I've learned enough about FTP to know that PureFTPd Manager is a godsend to anyone who doesn't want to mess around with command line stuff to configure Apple's built-in FTP server. If you know what you're doing, I suspect that PureFTPd Manager is a great solution.

My problem is that I don't know what I'm doing (yet). PureFTPd Manager enabled me to set up and configure an FTP server, create virtual users, and successfully connect to the FTP server from another Mac on my LAN as a virtual user, but I could not view the target directory. PureFTPd Manager's server log confirmed that I had successfully connected as the virtual user, but in each case the FTP client could not fetch the directory list. I tried it with numerous FTP clients, all with the same result. The client shows that it's trying to list the "/" directory, not the actual "/Users/ftp/VirtualUsers/virtual user directory I've specified. As far as I can tell, the FTP server seems to be trying to get the FTP client to load a root user directory that doesn't exist.

The problem appears to be related to the PASV mode, which is automatically invoked because I'm using Panther's built-in software firewall on the FTP server host. I've checked several user forums for various FTP client apps, and the failure to list the target directory appears to be a fairly common problem. So far, I haven't found any solutions. I'm convinced that the solution lies in the way the FTP server host is configured.

Anyhow, the point here is that PureFTPd Manager provides no documentation that mentions this problem or explains how to correct it. It also provides little information about many of its other features, like the User ID and Group ID name and ID number options, nor does the documentation provide any explanation or examples of the kinds of entries needed to complete the textbox entries in the Transfers tab of the User Manager.

PureFTPd Manager's interface is nice, and considering the bewildering (to a newbie) array of features it provides, the developer has done a magnificent job of taking the control of Mac OS X's native FTP server functionality into an intelligible GUI format. For someone who already is knowledgeable (at least, more so than I am) with FTP, you probably can't find better freeware.

To be fair, I have not tried contacting the developer, so I can't comment on his responsiveness. I'm giving PureFTPd Manager an overall rating of 4 because I think it's a good start, and based on the other comments I've read about it here and elsewhere, it's a great application for people who already know what they're doing.  
(Version 1.6.3)

C  As someone said, not too intuitive, but there are no options.

For every upgrade, one still has to go through the setup assistant - silly. (And the values in the assistant are not taken from my present configuration, so the assistant bugs me that it is not properly configured, and until I realized that 'skip configure' wouldn't scratch my already working server I couldn't get out of the assistant and into the program. Strange strange strange). And even worse, the options in dialogs et cetera are way too odd and sometimes even difficult to understand. A checkbox to skip something which changes name when it is checked to use the same feature, and no matter the state of the checkbox, all other options in the area are enabled even though they will all be of no interest of the feature of choice is disabled. There is no real documentation or even help text. It is too easy to open up huge parts of the computer to anyone or anyone that figures out a username, and so on.

This tool is based upon a good idea, and there is for sure a need for a program like this. There has been comments complaining about these things for a long time and it really can't take much effort to make it so much better, but still not much has happened.

If you know what you're doing and if you are willing to spend some time to test and configure your system to make it all work, I'd recommend PFTdM, if not just let it pass.  
(Version 1.5)

ANONYMOUS  Didn't work for me, because no directories or files showed up!

After uninstalling pureftp, OS X's ftp-server didn't work anymore :(

Any suggestions how to restore my previous settings?  
(Version 1.4.7)

ANONYMOUS  Not terribly intuitive, but it's the best out there.  
(Version 1.4.7)

EDDY  Hello,

I've been using this for some time now (ideal in combo with DynDNS) but I can't seem to get FXP working...

Any idea?  
(Version 1.4.7)

MORPE  yeaaaaa!!!

now startup un boot!!!

TNX..... huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!  
(Version 1.4.6)

MORPE  sorry!!

pureftpd dont start at boot for me!!

on my imac g5.  
(Version 1.4.5)

ANONYMOUS  This is a really useful piece of software, but it could have been even better done - much better.

It is the only app I've seen that doesn't use the global interface system settings - why? As said before, one can not move the file out of the Application-folder. And there are horrible design glitches, like the option to restrict a user's access by time.. when is it enabled and when is it not?

Why do one need to go through the setup assistant for every upgrade? The dialog that asks for an admin-password doesn't say anything about PureFTPd Manager - I get it nevertheless, but every other app that needs to be admin does that just fine. The authentication-settings could really be made more intuitive, and one really should be told that with the default setup, every user account on the computer can be logged in to, even though there are no such users created in PureFTPd Manager.

I really appreciate the work that Mr Matthieu has put into this, and it would probably not require much more time to make it so perfect that it can be.  
(Version 1.4.5)

ANONYMOUS  Don't move the Manager-app out of the Applications-folder. That's why it doesn't get updated when installing a new release.  
(Version 1.4.5)

BLUEONE  Getting these two errors using the Setup Assistant. Previously uninstalled PureFTP, and now trying to reinstall.

Anonymous account already present

Anonymous account setup will be skipped

Virtual User system misconfigured

One or more of your settings is already defined and doesn't match with your system setup.

Also Jean, your email is not working

Email me at ninjaroll@gmail.com  
(Version 1.4.4)

ANONYMOUS  Use the uninstaller first and after that pftp'd 1.44 installs just fine. Don't forget to tell the uninstaller to preserve your prefs and users.  
(Version 1.4.4)

ANONYMOUS  Is this really version 1.4.4?

I installed it in Tiger and it says it is version 1.4.3 and it needs to be upgraded. I downloaded it again and still it is 1.4.3.

Any ideas????

AJ  
(Version 1.4.4)

HEMLIG  Can´t get SSL to a PC with FlashFXP to work, any ideas?

[R] AUTH SSL

[R] 500 This security scheme is not implemented  
(Version 1.4.3)

BRET WILLIAMS  We love this! I don't like the way FTP is implemented on Mac OSX Server, especially on a server that's just being used for Web serving. Rumpus is too expensive. And I'm no Unix hack. PureFTPd Manager made it extremely easy to install, manage, etc.

My only wish would be to be able to use this manager to manage remote Macs. As it is I have to ARD into our box.  
(Version 1.4.3)

ANONYMOUS  i just tried to start using pureftpd manager. i tried to set up user accounts, but they can not get access. i need help.  
(Version 1.4.2)

ERIC  Wow!!!

Why would anyone pay 250 bucks for Rumpus when this is available free? I had tried a demo of Rumpus because I couldn't find anything easy to use for a Mac ftp server, until I came across PureFTP Manager searching Macupdate. Installation and setup was as easy as could be. Unless there are unforseen problems with stability, I will never consider anything else!  
(Version 1.4.2)

ANONYMOUS  I love how it integrates with the preference pane under mac os x sharing options. However I find it odd that once you turn off the autostart feature, you can no longer turn it on and off from the preference pane, but have to use the program.

Please add the feature to control it from the sharing preference pane whether or not you have it autostart with the computer.  
(Version 1.4.2)

GLEB TRUSHNIKOV  PureFTPd Manager osx gui removes ALL files in the logs folder when you choose to delete log files, that was previously enabled in the GUI. In my case, I used root directory on my second hard drive for storing PureFTPd Manager logs and when I turned logs off, it removed ALL files and folder on my second hard drive.

It is a real shame for developers to offer such a software for use!!! If you want to delete all files in the logs folder - that's ok, but why do you remove other directories, even recursively ?!  
(Version 1.4.1)

CURLYNOSE  I get a crash when I try to make & then save a new user.   
(Version 1.4.1)

PEDRO GOMES DA SILVA  That was fast!!

it's working flawlessly now!!

Thank you so much  
(Version 1.4.1)

PEDRO GOMES DA SILVA  I have the same problem.

I upgraded to 1.4 fixed permissions and restarted.

To my surprise I'm no longer able to start the app. It crashes with a nice error log ;).

So although the server is still running I cannot change anything since I don't have access to the GUI.

Since I use it as my main "production" server I'm a little worried. Who told me to update without checking the reviews first?? ;)

P.S. Contrary to a poster somewhere in this page, even with this problem I keep my opinion. This is a great app and the author should be praised for trying so hard to make it better and better.

If some times things don't work as expected MAYBE we should remember that we are talking about a single person, working for free, trying to keep compatibility with a quickly evolving operating system... and even in this situation He does not give up. He keeps trying to do his best and so far he's been able to eventually fix everything.  
(Version 1.4)

ANONYMOUS  restarted mac after installing pureftp 1.4 the first time. but if i start up the manager it collapses. (10.3) dunno what the problem is ...   
(Version 1.4)

ANONYMOUS  While this application is very valuable, I have serious questions about developer's work ethics: when updates of application are released on almost daily basis it means that developer is being sloppy in his work. Developer - as any self-respecting worker - needs to dedicate more time to polishing his product and focus less on release times. It is better to have working and reliable product that last long than product that needs an upgrade every minute.  
(Version 1.3.5)

NIKOS  This is by far the most useful application on my computer. Dedicated FTP users is just what I needed and there are a dozens more features that let me control my FTP server the way I want.

A killer-app that is just a perfect replacement to Mac OS X standard FTP server. Try it, you already can't live without it.  
(Version 1.3.4)

LEVSKI  unstable  
(Version 1.3.4)

ANONYMOUS  Does PureFTPD do virtual users under Panther yet? I could not make that work!

Also, it got to a point where the app would crash every time I launched it and I do not know why. I couldt uninstall, I couldnt reinstall.. Nothing.  
(Version 1.3.4)

SHERLOCK42  Version 1.3.2 fixes the crashes I was having with the earlier 1.3 versions. With this update, this program, which was already very good, is now better than ever.  
(Version 1.3.2)

ANONYMOUS  Kudos to the developer for fixing the bugs introduced with vs. 1.3 so quickly.

Very, very good and best of all free!

Thx. Jean.  
(Version 1.3.2)

ANONYMOUS  Crashes for me too every first time, on 10.3.5. It works though ok after second launch. A good program still though. Just wish these bugs would be fixed, cuz it always kept on crashing too in 1.2  
(Version 1.3.1)

SHERLOCK42  Version 1.3 was working fine in OS X 10.3.5, but version 1.3.1 crashes on launch, every time.  
(Version 1.3.1)

MARTIN  Wont work in 10.3.5  
(Version 1.2)

LAPEYRE  I didn't find yet how to realize a ssl ftp connection with this server but this is probably a question of time - I will check the documentation later... - and the only thing which isn't working "out of the installer". The standard connections gave excellent results right after the install. Using v1.2, I didn't experienced any of the previously reported issues. Nice integration with Mac OS X : automatic opening of the Mac OS X firewall ftp port after the install + extremly easy set up and management of new users/folders and aliases. Powerful advanced options. Stopping and restarting the server manually -with the Stop/Start button- can be necessary to save the preferences changes.  
(Version 1.2)

HEMLIG DUVA  Can´t change so all users have the same directoy, It keeps creating new ones.

if I choose /Users/ftp/VirtualUsers/ for a user it changes to /Users/ftp/VirtualUsers/[USER] although I save,  
(Version 1.1.1)

MARTIN B  Works very well, I would like some kind of alert when a user logs in, maybe in the finders topmenu.  
(Version 1.1.1)

CHRISSS  Impossible to start :-(   
(Version 1.1.1)

IAN  Great product, but just remember to authenticate as a root user or it won't work properly, administrator access doesnt seem to be enough.  
(Version 1.1.1)

BASTIBENSE  Wonderful if you have to install a simple to use FTP server on a customer's OS X machine.  
(Version 1.1)

PEDRO SILVA  Hi all.

I've been using it for a while and it seems stable enough under 10.3.2, except that the "quotas" are broken. (I have some users without quota but the ftp clients cannot upload because "quota excedeed".)  
(Version 1.1b1)

ARMIN NIKGOL  this software is a killer app but has a really serious flaw. after using it for a while i fidn it impossible to add more users because the software has a problem remembering cofigurations.

for instance i cant add a single user now. and im doing the exacly the same thing ive always done but suddenly its not working.

anyone on Panther experiencing this problem??

its shame that it behaves this way because this can be the killer FTP server app on OSX  
(Version 1.1b1)

ANONYMOUS  Hmm, the installer has an error [plug-in (null) does not have a first page]. Love to give it a try.  
(Version 1.1b1)

PEDRO GOMES DA SILVA  PureFTPd is a great and stabe FTP server. I tried to use it a few months ago but I had problem compiling it and properly configuring it from the source. (I'm just a basic shell user really)

This manager works really well and made my life a little more simpler.

Right know I'm using it as my production server and I'm happy.

The FXP option was important for a job I'm doing. Some costumers of mine that transfer A LOT of files between them actually had their servers on the same machine and they used to transfer from one server to their PC and than again to the other server

Now they can transfer straight from one server to the other in a few secs using almost no bandwith.

(yes they are wintels users. There's no FXP client that I'm aware of on the Mac platform)

I had some problem (my fault actually) configuring the home directory and the author was responsive and extremely nice.

It's impossible for me not to recommend this great combination of Un*x FTP server, Mac GUI and great support.  
(Version 1.0)

ANONYMOUS  This soft kicks  
(Version 1.0)