Quickguide: the Joomla! FTP Layer

Written by Robin Muilwijk Friday, 20 March 2009 21:22

FTP Joomla! 1.5 has introduced a new feature, the FTP Layer. This feature solves issues with file write permissions, especially on Linux/Unix shared hosting servers.

Benefits of the FTP Layer are ease of use for site administrators, there is no need to make your folders writable anymore, making it easy to install extensions. Not having to make your folders writable also adds to site and server security.

So... how to enable and make use of the FTP Layer? This is done either during the installation of Joomla!, where you can enter the FTP account details on one of the installation screens, or you edit the configuration.php after Joomla! has been installed. To enable FTP, there are 5 things you needs to know which are:

Username
Password
Host
Port
Root

So before you start installing Joomla!, check the details you got from your hosting, and look for the FTP details/account info. The Username and Password should speak for itself. The Host is the FTP url, this could be something like ftp.your-domain.com. The Port is 21 by default. The Root path is the full path to the folder on your hosting account where you put your Joomla! files and folders.

During the installation of Joomla! you get to a screen such as below, enter your FTP details into that screen.

Web Installer FTP screen

You can also skip this installation step by clicking Next. Once Joomla! is installed, you edit the configuration.php file to enable the FTP Layer. You can do so by editing the following lines in the configuration file:


	var $ftp_host = ''; // ftp.your-domain.com or 127.0.0.1
	var $ftp_port = ''; // by default 21
	var $ftp_user = ''; // your ftp username
	var $ftp_pass = ''; // your ftp password
	var $ftp_root = ''; // something like / or /public_html
	var $ftp_enable = ''; // 1 = enabled, 0 = disabled

Two of the settings might give you some problems enabling the FTP Layer, these are the Host and the Root path settings. The Host setting is the FTP url, my advise is to first use the info you got from your hosting which is likely to be something like ftp.your-domain.com. If that does not work, try using "127.0.0.1" instead.

The other setting, Root, is the path to your location on the server where your Joomla! files and folders are. This should look like "/", "/public_html", "/www" or something similar. If you do not know the root path, there is a simple trick to retreive that, just use your FTP client and connect to your hosting server. In your FTP client you should be able to find it, see the screenshot below taken from the FileZilla FTP client. Look for "Remote site" circled in red, this contains the root path. Make sure you browsed to your Joomla! files and folders first.

FileZilla Remote site

FileZilla and the "Remote site" is just an example, you should be able to find this root path in any FTP Client. So, once you have your Host and Root settings correct, you are good to go and enjoy the ease of use of the FTP Layer.

Source: Joomla Installation Manual, Final Preparation on http://help.joomla.org/content/view/1941/310/1/2/

This post is updated at - 2009-03-26 - with:

Hungarian: Gyorskalauz: A Joomla! FTP-réteg (Translation by Herczeg József Tamás)

This article has also been translated by Paolo Mariani on Joomlashow

About the author Robin Muilwijk

Robin Muilwijk, born in 1969 in the Netherlands where is still lives, is a true Open Source enthusiast! During his years on internet he gradually got more and more involved in Open Source projects. With his blog posts he hopes to bring you interesting news, reviews, case studies and more.

More about Robin Muilwijk

There are 8 comments posted.

Re: Use suphp and the FTP layer is no longer needed

# 1 - Posted by: Brad Baker on 2009-03-20 22:21:51

Don't forget, a good host now would be running suphp which negates the need for using the FTP layer and adds far more security to your Joomla site.

Therefore, unless you have good reason, if you host tells you to use the FTP layer in Joomla.. ask them why they do not yet run suphp.

With suphp ownership issues as well as file write permissions are all think of the past.

I hope it helps.

Re: Re: Use suphp and the FTP layer is no longer needed

# 2 - Posted by: Robin Muilwijk on 2009-03-21 07:34:26

Hi Brad,

Thanks for the comment, this is very helpful indeed. suphp is of course the better option of the two. This guide should help people to enable FTP if they have no other options.

Re: CEO

# 3 - Posted by: Gary on 2009-03-21 14:52:38

This is a great article for those that don't have suphp, allot of users who are using Joomla fail to understand how to turn on Joomla FTP layer and it causes them hell. I think Joomla could have made the enabling of the FTP layer a little more friendly.

Gary Brooks

http://www.michiganmedia.net

# 4 - Posted by: Oleg Nesterov on 2009-03-21 21:49:07

Greetings!

Is the editing of the configuration file the only way to enable the FTP layer? I always was sure it can be done from the admin panel in the "Global Configuration" (but I've never used the FTP layer feature).

Re: Re: editing the configuration file

# 5 - Posted by: Robin Muilwijk on 2009-03-22 07:50:29

Hi Oleg,

You Oleg, you are correct, enabling it through the administrator and configuration options should also be possible. Editing the file itself is more of a habit of myself.

# 6 - Posted by: Robin Muilwijk on 2009-03-22 09:01:54

Too early in the morning...

You Oleg should be Yes Oleg

Re: The problem...

# 7 - Posted by: Ian on 2009-03-22 18:21:47

The problem with enabling the FTP layer from the configuration panel is that if you switch from non-FTP to FTP midway through you are bound to have problems, unless you get your host to chmod your files for you once you have enabled it. The big issue that FTP solves is that it keeps the ownership of your files the same. If you install extensions, and then switch on the FTP layer, you have the very same problem.

Re: Hungarian translation

# 8 - Posted by: Robin Muilwijk on 2009-03-26 19:34:12

With thanks to Jozsef Tamas Herczeg we now have a Hungarian translation of this article. Look at the bottom of this post to find the update note and the link to the translation.

Help for creating beautiful comments.

It's Friday - what a day to visit jfoobar!

Quickguide: the Joomla! FTP Layer