Documentation forServ-U MFT & Serv-U FTP Server

Serv-U domain users

A user account is required to access the file server. At its most basic level, a user account defines login credentials (that is, login ID and password), a home directory, a set of directory access rules defining areas of the system accessible to the user, and the actions the user can perform in those locations. Each active session on the file server has a user account associated with it identifying the client to the administrator.

User accounts can be defined in various ways on the Serv-U File Server, including the following:

Domain users

Domain users can only log in to the domain under which they are created.

Database users

Database users are stored in an external database accessible through ODBC and supplement the local account database.

Windows authentication (Windows only, MFT only)

Defined at the domain level, Windows users use the credentials and often, the home directories, of Windows accounts from the local machine or Windows domain controller (including Active Directory).

LDAP authentication (MFT only)

Defined at the domain level, LDAP users use the credentials and often, the email and other attributes, of LDAP accounts from a remote LDAP server. Unlike Windows users, LDAP users work on both Windows and Linux, and may access LDAP servers, including Active Directory and OpenLDAP, in any accessible domain.

Because user accounts can be assigned at the various levels with the same login ID, a hierarchy is used by Serv-U to determine which account takes precedence. The user account types listed previously are listed in the order of precedence. Where user accounts can be specified at both the domain and server levels, the domain level account always takes precedence over the server one.

When you create users, consider what kind of access they need, and select the appropriate location for the user account accordingly. You can save time and effort by entering such settings at the server level to remove the need for multiple user accounts at the domain level.

With Serv-U MFT Server, you can also organize user accounts into collections to make account management more logical and organized. This can be useful when you manage all users from a department or physical location. For example, you can place all users in the accounting department in a collection named Accounting, or place all users at an office in Topeka in a collection named Topeka Users.