How to Setup an FTP Server in Windows 8.1

Here’s how to setup an FTP Server in Windows 8.1, I will show you how you can access it via LAN and WAN.

Video Tutorial:

Setup an FTP Server in Windows 8.1

1. Create a folder that your FTP users will be accessing. In my video I created one on my desktop but you can create it anywhere on your C: drive.

2. Press the “Windows key plus R” on your keyboard to open the Run window, and type CMD, click OK to open the command prompt window.

3. Here type “ipconfig” and press enter, Now write down the IP address and the default gateway IP, because we are going to use it in the future.

4. Go to Control Panel… Programs… Programs and Features… Turn Windows features on or off
Select the check box, next to the features “FTP Server” and “Internet Information Services IIS Management Console”, then click the OK button and wait for the features to be added.

5. Go to Control panel home, Administrative tools, Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, Expand the root Right click on Sites to create a new FTP Site, click on add FTP Site.

6. Give your FTP site a name, such as “AvoidErrors”, and browse and brows for the folder we created initially. This will be the default location where files will be accessible on the server via FTP.

7. On the Binding and SSL Settings page, click on the drop down to select the IP Address of the computer,Select “No SSL”. If you do have an SSL certificate, you can choose either “Require SSL” or “Allow SSL”.

Note: Be sure to require SSL if you intend to make this FTP server accessible via the Internet.

8. On the Authentication and Authorization Information screen, change “Authentication” option to “Basic” (require’s that the FTP users specify a login ID and password).

9. Authorization section, select “Specified Users”, and Read & Write permissions. Alternatively, you can choose specific user accounts or a group, and limit permission to only Read or Write.

10. Click Finish.

Create a local user account, and give it permission on the FTP content directory:
*If you prefer to use an already existing local computer user account instead of creating one you can skip the create user step and skip to assigning permissions to the folder.

1. Open Computer Management… Local Users and Groups… Users…

2. Right click “Users” and select “New User”

3. Name the new user “AvoidErrors-FTP” or what is applicable, and assign a password.

locate the folder that your FTP users will be accessing (example: C:AvoidErrors), right click the folder… select Properties… Security tab… and add the user that was created in the previous step with appropriate permissions.

Open firewall ports for FTP:

Open Control Panel… (View by: “Small icons” recommended)… Windows Firewall… Select “Allow an app or feature through Windows Firewall”…Change Settings…

Select the checkbox next to “FTP Server” and at least one of the networks, then OK.