# SFTP question



## fullauto2012 (Sep 27, 2021)

I am installing a minecraft-server instance and would like to have my brother maintain and admin it.  My question is can I allow him to SFTP to the /usr/local/etc/minecraft-server dir with use of links or should I build and instance of ProFtpd? He is going to be using lots of mods and will have to upload many files, but I don't want to run an FTPd that is open to the world.
I plan on giving him a login called "mcadmin12" and writing a few scripts so he can run the server through `tmux` so if he gets disconnected the server won't get killed and I can share the session with him and guide him through it.  Any help wouuld be greatly appreciated.


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## SirDice (Sep 27, 2021)

Create a group called "minecraft-admin" or something to that extend. Set the group on that /usr/local/etc/minecraft-server directory and change the permissions to 775 so the group has write access there. Then add your brother's account to that "minecraft-admin" group. Now he should be able to place files there. You might want to add a line to your sudoers too so he can start/stop/restart the service.


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## fullauto2012 (Sep 27, 2021)

SirDice said:


> Create a group called "minecraft-admin" or something to that extend. Set the group on that /usr/local/etc/minecraft-server directory and change the permissions to 775 so the group has write access there. Then add your brother's account to that "minecraft-admin" group. Now he should be able to place files there. You might want to add a line to your sudoers too so he can start/stop/restart the


But, do I have to add links to his user dir? And, if so what kind?


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## SirDice (Sep 27, 2021)

fullauto2012 said:


> But, do I have to add links to his user dir? And, if so what kind?


You could add a symlink in his home directory, but that's really only for convenience. I assume you're not going as far as running SFTP in a chroot as that would complicate things. If you just use the "normal" SFTP with a "normal" user account he can simply browse to that directory. 

What kind of link? Directories can only be "soft" linked (ln(1)), you can't make a hardlink on a directory.


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## jbo (Sep 28, 2021)

SirDice said:


> What kind of link? Directories can only be "soft" linked (ln(1)), you can't make a hardlink on a directory.


I seem to recall that I used to just mount a directory I wanted a user to have access to via SFTP to their /home directory using `nullfs`.
Reading your idea about just using a symlink I feel kinda stupid in retrospect...


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## fullauto2012 (Sep 28, 2021)

Never feel stupid about this stuff around me... I have all the FreeBSD accumen of a half eaten ham sandwich... lol


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## Geezer (Sep 28, 2021)

fullauto2012 said:


> I have all the FreeBSD accumen of a half eaten ham sandwich... lol



You seem to me to be doing very well.


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