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Per-User Folders

Per-user folders for FTP control what a user sees as the root of your site and where they start after login through FTP.

This matters when users connect with an FTP client or script and you want a clean, restricted directory tree. Some legacy FTP clients cannot easily switch directories, so when users log in with those clients, their session needs to start in the appropriate folder.

How a user's FTP session interacts with your site's folder structure is controlled by two optional settings on each user: FTP/SFTP Client Root Folder and FTP/SFTP Client Default Home Folder. Both settings exist on each user record to support different requirements for each FTP connection.

Client Root Folder

The FTP/SFTP Client Root Folder defines a virtual root folder for the user, which they see as the top of the folder tree during an FTP session. Use this setting when you want to prevent the user from navigating to parent folders above a particular folder during FTP.

The same path setting also defines the user's view across every other protocol when the user's File System Layout is set to User Root; in that case, the path is presented in the user's account as their User Root rather than as their FTP/SFTP Client Root Folder.

Client Default Home Folder

The FTP/SFTP Client Default Home Folder setting chooses the folder the FTP session starts in for that user. Use this setting when FTP users always interact with a specific subfolder of their root folder, so the FTP client does not need to navigate to that subfolder.

Scope of These Settings

Neither the FTP/SFTP Client Root Folder nor the FTP/SFTP Client Default Home Folder grants additional access to a user; they only affect how folders are presented. Users must still hold folder permissions on anything they need to read or write.

For users whose File System Layout is not User Root, these settings only change what the user sees when they connect via FTP or SFTP. Through the web interface, client applications, and the API, the user still sees the folders allowed by their layout and folder permissions.

For users whose File System Layout is User Root, the same path that defines the FTP/SFTP Client Root Folder also defines the user's view through every other protocol. The Client Default Home Folder remains FTP- and SFTP-specific.