Encrypted FTP (FTPS) with FileZilla: account and login details

Before you start

• Install FileZilla Client, free, from https://filezilla-project.org. Choose “FileZilla Client”, not “Server”. If the installer offers additional programs, decline them.
• You connect via encrypted FTP (FTPS), meaning explicit FTP over TLS: the password, commands and files are all encrypted in transit. SFTP (port 22) is not available, because the plans don't include SSH access.
• In Enhance, FTP only works with FTP accounts, created on the website. The email address and password you use to log in to Enhance don't work in FileZilla.
• On the Starter plan you can have 5 FTP accounts; on the other plans the number is unlimited.
• Don't want to install any program? Use the “File manager” in Enhance. The steps are in the guide “Uploading a website with File Manager”.

The steps

A. Create the FTP account

1. Log in to Enhance at https://server.nbt-host.com.
2. In the left menu, click “Websites”, then the website's domain. On the website page, open the “FTP” tab. You will see the “FTP accounts” list.
3. Click “Add account”. In the “Add FTP account” form, fill in:
   • “Username”: the account name, for example ana. Enhance automatically adds @domeniul-tau.ro, which you can see next to the field;
   • “Directory”: the folder the account has access to. Empty means the whole website: the main folder, which also contains public_html. For a collaborator who only works on the website's files, write public_html; for a single subfolder, for example, public_html/imagini. If the folder doesn't exist, Enhance creates it;
   • “Password”: the FTP account's password. You can click the generate button next to the field; Enhance sets a 16-character password, which you can reveal with the eye icon in the field. Write it down; you need it in FileZilla.
4. Click “Add”. The account appears in the list with its full name, in the form ana@domeniul-tau.ro. This is the user you enter in FileZilla.

For collaborators, create separate FTP accounts, each with its own folder. When they no longer need access, delete the account.

B. Connect from FileZilla

5. Open FileZilla and go to the File » Site Manager menu, then click New site and give it a name.
6. On the General tab, fill in:
   • Protocol: FTP - File Transfer Protocol;
   • Host: server.nbt-host.com;
   • Port: 21;
   • Encryption: Require explicit FTP over TLS;
   • Logon Type: Normal;
   • User: the full name, for example ana@domeniul-tau.ro;
   • Password: the FTP account's password.
7. On the Transfer Settings tab, under Transfer mode, leave Default or choose Passive.
8. Click Connect.
9. The first time you connect, the Unknown certificate window appears. This is normal: the FTP server uses its own certificate, not issued by a public authority, so FileZilla asks whether you trust it. In the window, the certificate is shown as issued to pure-ftpd (the name of the FTP program on the server), valid until 2036. Check that you are connected to server.nbt-host.com, and if you want to be sure, compare the SHA-256 fingerprint with the one below. Then tick Always trust this certificate in future sessions and click OK.

   8C:D0:73:B5:D0:E6:93:52:4D:90:B2:5B:98:94:E5:D0
   39:03:88:E2:26:3F:8D:96:9E:55:13:3F:83:0D:3A:A3

10. On the right you see the files on the server, on the left those on your computer. To upload files, drag them from the left into the public_html folder on the right (or directly to the right, if you gave the account access to public_html only).

FileZilla's menus appear in your system language. If yours is set to another language, the names differ, but they are in the same places.

C. Change the password or folder, or delete the account

• In the “FTP accounts” list, click “Manage” next to the account. On the “Manage FTP account” page, under “Login credentials” you change the password, and under “Directory access” the folder it has access to.
• To delete the account, choose “Delete”. The “Delete FTP account” window has the “Delete the contents of the home directory” checkbox. Leave it unticked: if ticked, it also deletes all files in the account's folder, and if that folder is the whole website, it deletes the website.

Login details at a glance

Why server.nbt-host.com and not ftp.domeniul-tau.ro

server.nbt-host.com always leads to our server, even before your domain points to us or if your domain's DNS is with another provider. ftp.domeniul-tau.ro only works once the domain uses our nameservers. In addition, FileZilla remembers the accepted certificate for the address you connected to, so with the same address for all your websites you only accept it once.

If something doesn't work

• “530 Login authentication failed”. Enter the full user name (ana@domeniul-tau.ro), not just ana, and check the password. Your Enhance email address and password don't work here. You change the FTP account's password from “Manage” » “Login credentials”.
• “Connection refused”, or it won't connect on port 22. You chose SFTP, which is not available. Choose FTP - File Transfer Protocol, port 21 and Require explicit FTP over TLS.
• The connection works, but without a padlock and without the certificate window. Under Encryption you chose Only use plain FTP (insecure). The server also accepts unencrypted FTP, for older programs, but that way the password and files travel over the internet in plain text. Change it to Require explicit FTP over TLS.
• It connects, but stops at “Failed to retrieve directory listing” or “Connection timed out”. Set Transfer mode: Passive. If that doesn't help, an antivirus or a firewall on your computer or network (for example, at the office) may be blocking the passive ports. Try from another network.
• Uploaded files don't appear on the website. You put them outside the public_html folder, or the FTP account only has access to a subfolder. Check the account's folder in “Manage” » “Directory access”.
• You don't see the “FTP” tab on the website page. Write to us.