PureFTPd Manager Editor's Review

'PureFTPd Manager' is a Cocoa front-end that can administrate a PureFTPd server.

The PureFTPd server is by definition a "free (BSD), secure, production-quality, and standard-conformant FTP server". Its producer also says, "It doesn't provide useless bells and whistles, but focuses on efficiency and ease-of-use. It provides simple answers to common needs, plus unique useful features for personal users as well as hosting providers". This review is not about a PureFTPd server, but it's about how you can administrate this kind of server through a front-end. If you don't know how to install PureFTPd on your Mac, you might want to install it through MacPorts package manager. MacPorts was formerly called DarwinPorts.

Since this FTP server is a CLI (Command Line Interface), people started a project, which resulted in this Cocoa front-end that can easily administrate the PureFTPd server.

The manager starts with a setup Wizard that most of the computer users can understand. It provides some basic settings. Once that Wizard is finished, the application allows more control over the server.

The interface is well structured. It allows you to switch between server status, server logs, user manager, virtual host manager, and the 'Preferences' panels.

The user manager allows you to create virtual users, which can replace the real users from the Mac OS X installation. For example, this will allow you to use different passwords and settings for the FTP and the shell logins.
The virtual host manager allows you to use multiple accounts with multiple domain names on a single machine. Most of the FTP users won't need this kind of feature, but it's a great implementation.

The 'Preferences' panel is also well structured. It gives you more options that can modify this server's behavior. I think modifying the authentication method used is a very useful feature. You can use PureDB and PAM, which are onto the configuration file list by default, as well as the MySQL, PostgreSQL, or the LDAP authentication methods. The application also allows you to use secure SSL/TLS sessions by using the OpenSSL libraries.

Pluses: it provides you a good method to administrate a strong FTP server.

Drawbacks / flaws:

In conclusion: if you tried PureFTPd before and you thought of it as being a CLI nightmare, then maybe this application can change your mind.

version reviewed: 1.6.3