The FTP Service uses five different property sheets to configure specific areas of the service. During the installation of IIS, default values are assigned to the various properties on the property sheets. These properties can be set on the site level, directory level, and even on the file level.

Master

When IIS is installed on your computer, certain default properties are applied to the Master property sheets. Every virtual FTP site you create inherits these settings. If you change the settings on the Master property sheets, subsequent virtual FTP sites will inherit the new settings, but previously created virtual FTP sites will not.

Note To access the Master property sheets, open the Internet Service Manager, right-click on your computer icon, click Properties, and then click the Edit button under the heading Master Properties.

Default

The installation process created a Default FTP Site with its own default properties. Every file you create within the Default FTP Site will inherit these settings.

Files

Files created in a virtual FTP directory will inherit the virtual FTP directory's property sheet settings, whereas files created in the Default FTP Site will inherit the settings of the Default FTP site's property sheets. After a file is created, property sheets can be configured on the file level.

All FTP property sheets can be accessed using the Internet Service Manager snap-in for Microsoft Management Console.

To access the FTP property sheets

  1. From the Start menu, point to Programs, Microsoft Internet Information Server, and then click Internet Service Manager.
  2. In the left pane, double-click the IIS node.
  3. In the left pane, double-click the computername node.
  4. Right-click Default FTP Site, and then click Properties.

The FTP Property Sheet dialog box appears with tabs for each property sheet.
Use this property sheet to change the home directory for your FTP site or to modify its properties. The home directory is the central location for the published files in your FTP site. A default home directory, called Ftproot, is created when you install the FTP service. You can change the location of the home directory to one of the following:

  • A directory located on this computer
  • A share located on another computer

Access Check Boxes

These check boxes determine the type of access allowed to the director}'.

  • Read. Check this box to enable Web clients to read or download files stored in a home directory or a virtual directory.
  • Write. CheckThis box to enable Web clients to upload files to the enabled directory on your server or to change content in a Write-enabled file. Write can only be done with a browser that supports the PUT feature of the HTTP 1.1 protocol standard.
  • Log Access. Check this box to record visits to this directory in a log file.

Directory Listing Style

Select either UNIX or Microsoft MS-DOS to indicate which directory listing style is sent to FTP users.
Use this property sheet to set the KIP site identification, specify the number of connections allowed, and enable logging for the FTP site.
Identification

  • Description – This dialog box lists the name you choose for the Web site and will appear in the tree view of the Internet Service.
  • IP Address – This dialog box lists the IP address for the FTP site.
  • TCP Port – This dialog box determines the port on which each service will run.

Connections

  • Unlimited – Select this option to allow an unlimited number of connections to occur simultaneously.
  • Limited to – Select this option to limit the number of simultaneous connections to the server. In the dialog box, type the number of connections permitted.
  • Connection Timeout – Sets the length of time in seconds before the server disconnects an inactive user.

Enable Logging

Select this option to enable your Web site's logging features, which can record details about user activity and create logs in' your choice of format.

The Properties button brings up the Microsoft Logging Properties screen appropriate to the Active log format you have chosen. For example, clicking Properties for W3C Extended Log File Format would allow you to choose how often to create new logs, specify the file directory for the log, and select additional extended properties for logging.

Current Sessions

Click the Current Sessions button to view a list of users currently connected to the FTP Service.
Use the Security Accounts property sheet to control which users can access your server and to specify which account to use for anonymous client logon requests.

Anonymous Connections

Select the Allow Anonymous Connections check box to allow users using the username “anonymous” to log on to your FTP server. Use the User Name and Password dialog boxes to establish the Microsoft Windows NT user account to use for permissions for all anonymous connections. By default, IIS creates and uses the account IUSR_computername for all anonymous logons.

  • Allow Only Anonymous Connections. Select this box to prevent users from logging on with user names and passwords.
  • Enable Automatic Password Synchronization. Select this option to enable your Web server to automatically synchronize your anonymous password settings with those set in Windows NT,

Note If you select Allow only anonymous connections, the user password will be sent as plain text. You will need to inform your users to type their e-mail address as their password when accessing an FTP site.

FTP Site Operators

Use the FTP Site Operators dialog box to designate the Windows NT User Accounts you want to be able to administer this FTP server. To add a Windows NT User Account to the current list of accounts that have administrative privileges, click the Add button. To remove a Windows NT User Account from this list, select the account in the Operators list box, and then click the Remove button.

Messages

Use this property sheet to create the messages that will be displayed to browsers that contact your site. All the message fields are blank by default.

  • Welcome – This dialog box holds the message that will be displayed to clients when they first connect to the FTP server.
  • Exit – This dialog box holds the message that will be displayed to clients when they log off the FTP server.
  • Maximum Connections – This dialog box holds the message that will be displayed to clients who try to connect when the FTP service already has the maximum number of connections allowed.

Use the Directory Security property sheet to set access privileges by specific IP address. This allows you to block individuals or groups from gaining access to your server or to grant access only to specific individuals or groups.

TCP/IP Access Restrictions

By default, all computers will be:

  • Granted Access – Select this button to grant access to all computers by default. Click Add to list those computers that will be denied access.
  • Denied Access – Select this button to deny access to all computers by default. Click Add to list those computers that will be granted access.

Microsoft Posting Acceptor is a server add-on tool that Web content providers can use to publish their content using HTTP Post (RFC 1867). After installing Posting Acceptor on your Web server running Microsoft Windows NT Server, Microsoft Windows NT Workstation, or Microsoft Windows 95, you will be able to provide a hosting service for users who want to post Web content to your server.