Start by opening the FileZilla client and navigating to the Site manager. Add your particular hosting server as the host and type “22” as the port. Next, select SFTP-SSH File Transfer Protoco l from the Protocol drop-down menu. Step 2: Set up an SSH key. Now, you’ll be able to secure your account by requiring an SSH key for access. First you'll want to create a certificate, this can be used in the Certificate Generator in FileZilla Server. The Generator will want country code, state, city, etc. Be as truthful as possible, you only undermine your own credibility if you enter wrong information into the certificate.
To generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR), a key pair must be created for the server. These two items are a public key and a private key pair and cannot be separated. Typically with FileZilla the suggested application to generate this keypair is to use an archaic method of command line using OpenSSL. How To Generate a CSR for FileZilla Using OpenSSL. If you prefer, you can build your own shell commands to generate your FileZilla CSR. Use your terminal (ssh) to login to your FileZilla server. At the prompt, enter the following command, making sure to replace server with the name of your server.
Use these instructions to build your own shell commands to generate your FileZilla CSR.
We recommend that you save yourself some time and use the DigiCert OpenSSL CSR Wizard to create your FileZilla SSL CSR. It’s as easy as filling in the certificate details, clicking Generate, and pasting your customized OpenSSL command into your into your terminal.
If you already have your SSL Certificate and just need to install it, see FileZilla: SSL Certificate Installation Instructions.
If you have any questions or would like help with your installation, feel free to chat with an SSL expert - they are ready to help, regardless of where you purchased your SSL certificate.
If you prefer, you can build your own shell commands to generate your FileZilla CSR.
Use your terminal (ssh) to login to your FileZilla server.
At the prompt, enter the following command, making sure to replace server with the name of your server:
openssl req –new –newkey rsa:2048 –nodes –keyout server.key –out server.csr
This starts the process for generating two files:
The Private-Key file for the decryption of your SSL Certificate.
Generate key file from certificate. A Certificate Signing Request (CSR) file, used to apply for your SSL Certificate.
When you are prompted for the Common Name (domain name), enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the site that you are securing.
Note: If you are generating a FileZilla CSR for a DigiCert® Wildcard Plus™ Certificate, your common name should begin with an asterisk (i.e. *.example.com).
When you are prompted, enter your organizational information beginning with your geographic information.
Note: You may have default information set already.
This creates your OpenSSL .csr file.
Open the .csr file with a text editor.
Copy the content, including the BEGIN and END tags, and paste it into the DigiCert Certificate order form.
Save (back up) the generated .key file. You need it later for your SSL Certificate installation.
After you receive your SSL Certificate from DigiCert, you can install it.
See FileZilla: SSL Certificate Installation Instructions.
SSL Certificates, Guides, & Tutorials
Buy NowLearn MoreAre you a recent cloud hosting convert and find yourself struggling to figure out how to best manage the files on your first virtual private server (VPS)? Do you find yourself intimidated by the command line? If so, you will be happy to learn that FileZilla provides a user-friendly graphical interface that can securely transfer files to-and-from, as well as move files around within, your VPS.
The two most common methods of securely transmitting information between two computers are the (i) Secure Shell (SSH) and (ii) Transport Layer Security (TLS), and its predecessor Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), cryptographic protocols. Both are public-key cryptography tunneling protocols that aim to create a secure, confidential exchange of data and connection across a network (particularly the internet). The encryption technologies used by both protocols are very reliable, and are (when configured correctly) nearly impossible for hackers to break into. However, while both protocols provide similar services, they are not the same. In fact, they have several significant differences that are beyond the scope of this article.
Today, OpenSSH is a default software package found on Unix-like operating systems such as Mac OS X and Linux. Thus, programs or subsystems that are based on the SSH protocol will work “out-of-the-box” without having to go through the additional steps of either purchasing or creating the requisite SSL certificate needed for certain modes of secure data transmissions via TLS/SSL.
When needing to upload or download files from your VPS in real time, you essentially have the following options:
Among the various file-transfer options, one should never, ever, ever connect to a remote server via FTP; SCP and SFTP are just as easy to use, but provide much more security. In addition, while FTP requires the installation of FTP server software such as vsFTP or ProFTP, both SCP and SFTP utilize the SSH protocol and, as a result, will work “out-of-the-box” when connecting to a remote Unix-like machine, such as Mac OS X or Linux.
Given that both SCP and SFTP utilize the SSH protocol in connecting to another computer, the two methods are fairly equal in regard to security. SFTP has a slight edge in regard to efficiency, because an interrupted file-transfer can resume where it left off in the event of a broken connection that is later re-established.
SFTP should not be confused with FTPS, because the two methods are incompatible with each other. While FTPS can provide equal security, it does require additional steps to deploy if one does not already have an SSL certificate.
There are several quality SFTP clients out there: Cyberduck, Filezilla or WinSCP, to name a few. This article, however, will focus on Filezilla – an open-source (i.e. free) FTP client for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. In addition to being able to download the program, the filezilla-project.org site also contains a documentation Wiki and a Support Forum.
With SFTP, you have two user-authentication options when connecting to a cloud server: (i) passwords or (ii) SSH keys. For a discussion on the benefits of SSH keys over passwords and/or instructions on setting up password-less logins on your server, please refer to How To Create SSH Keys with PuTTY to Connect to a VPS.
FileZilla has a built-in key management page in the Settings dialog, which allows you to save your Public (SSH) Key and to (securely) automate the process of connecting to a remote server.
If you have yet to create an SSH key pair, you can do so by following one of two DigitalOcean tutorials:
Follow these steps once you have an SSH key pair that you would like to use to connect to your VPS:
Note for PuTTY users with passphrase-protected public keys: If your original .ppk file is password-protected, FileZilla will convert your .ppk file to an unprotected one when importing the key into FileZilla. As of version 3.0.10, a password-protected key file is not yet supported.
If a password-protected key file is desired, FileZilla is able to utilize PuTTY’s Pageant tool.
In managing your VPS, you will inevitably encounter a situation where some programming (text) files require edits. FileZilla does not carry a built-in text editor, which gives you the freedom of using any text editor of your choice. A popular editor among Windows users is Notepad++ because it is lightweight and can work with many of today’s popular programming languages.
By default, FileZilla is configured to utilize your local system’s default editor. If you do not wish to make Notepad++ your system’s default text editor, but would nevertheless like to use it to edit HTML, XML, Python, CSS, PHP & other programming files on your VPS: