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FTP 7 min read

How to Create an FTP Account

Create scoped FTP users in cPanel or Plesk with directory limits, quotas, and security best practices.

Dedicated FTP accounts limit access to a single site’s files—useful for developers, agencies, or separating staging from production. Creating accounts through your control panel ensures correct home directories and permissions without sharing the main server password.

When to Use FTP Accounts

  • Grant a contractor access only to one domain’s httpdocs.
  • Isolate upload rights from database or email administration.
  • Rotate credentials independently of the primary hosting login.

cPanel: Create FTP Account

  1. Log in to cPanel.
  2. Open FTP Accounts (documentation).
  3. Under Add FTP Account, enter:
    • Log In — Username suffix (full user is often [email protected]).
    • Password — Strong password or use the generator.
    • Directory — Restrict to site root, e.g. public_html or example.com.
    • Quota — Unlimited or capped per policy.
  4. Click Create FTP Account.

Note the full username, server hostname, and port shown on the FTP Accounts page for client configuration.

Plesk: Create FTP Account

  1. Log in to Plesk.
  2. Go to Websites & Domains → FTP Access (FTP access guide).
  3. Click Add FTP Account.
  4. Enter name, home directory (default is the subscription’s webspace), and password.
  5. Confirm and save.

SerVee IT VPS: SSH/SFTP Users

On VPS without a panel FTP UI, SFTP uses Linux users jailed to a path via ChrootDirectory or separate FTP software. For simple setups, create a user with home under the site:

sudo useradd -d /var/www/vhosts/example.com -s /sbin/nologin ftpclient
sudo passwd ftpclient
sudo chown -R ftpclient:apache /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs
Warning: Giving shell access (/bin/bash) to FTP-only users increases risk. Use /sbin/nologin and SFTP-only configuration unless SSH shell is explicitly required.

Security Best Practices

  • Use unique passwords per account; rotate after project end.
  • Delete or disable accounts that are no longer needed.
  • Restrict directory to the minimum path required.
  • Prefer SFTP over plain FTP.
Tip: Document which client or agency owns each FTP login in your internal runbook so offboarding is straightforward.

Test the Account

sftp ftpclient@your-server-hostname
ls
pwd

Confirm the account cannot traverse above its assigned directory.

Summary

Create scoped FTP/SFTP accounts in cPanel or Plesk with a restricted home directory, strong passwords, and SFTP where possible. Remove unused logins promptly. SerVee IT shared hosting includes panel FTP tools; VPS customers can request jailed SFTP setup through support.