FTP

Last update: October 06 2025

For your information

It is possible to work via FTP only with bucket in pools ru-1 and ru-7.

TLS/SSL Explicit encryption (TLS/SSL Explicit encryption) must be used when working with buckets.

Two connections are used for the FTP protocol to work:

• control connection — commands and responses are sent over it, they are text strings;
• data connection.

S3 uses only passive data transfer mode. The connection establishment and data transfer process is initiated solely on the client side.

Writing to the end of the file is not supported — attempting to do so will return response code 426.

Connection data

To connect to S3 via FTP is used:

• FTP host in the right pool;
• port 21.

Authentication is done with an S3 key — Account Owner or user with role iam_admin When connecting via FTP, the Access key and Secret key fields from the key are used as login and password respectively.

Configure FTP

1. Configure access.
2. Connect via FTP.

1. Set up access

Access can be configured by the Account Owner or a user with the role of iam_admin.

1. Create a service user с role with access to S3.If you use a service user with the role object_storage_user, you must have an access Bucket Policy.
2. Issue an S3 key to the user.

2. Connect via FTP

Only clients that support secure connection over TLS/SSL (FTPS) can be used for FTP connections.

Windows

Total Commander

1. Open Total Commander.
2. From the Network menu, select Connect to FTP server.
3. Click Add.
4. On the General tab, in the Connection Name field, enter any name (for example, Selectel).
5. In the Server field, enter the FTP host in the desired pool.
6. Check the SSL/TLS checkbox.
7. In the Account field, enter the value of  the Access key field from the S3 key.
8. In the Password field, enter the value of  the Secret key field from the S3 key.
9. Check the Passive sharing mode (as Web browser) checkbox.
10. Open the Advanced tab.
11. In the File name encoding field, select UTF-8.
12. Press OK. The profile will be saved.
13. Click Connect.

FAR Manager

1. Open FAR Manager.

2. To open the transition menu:

   • for the left panel — press Alt + F1;
   • for the right pane — press Alt + F2.

3. Select NetBox from the transition menu.

4. Press Enter.

5. Press Shift + F4. The screen for creating a new connection opens.

6. In the File Protocol field, select FTP.

7. In the Encryption field, select TLS/SSL Explicit encryption.

8. In the Host name field, enter the FTP host in the desired pool.

9. In the Port number field, enter 21.

10. In the User name field, enter the value of the Access key field from the S3 key.

11. In the Password field, enter the value of  the Secret key field from the S3 key.

12. Press OK.

13. Select the profile you have created.

14. Press Enter.

WinSCP

1. Open WinSCP.
2. In the Transfer Protocol field, select FTP.
3. In the Encryption field, select TLS/SSL Explicit encryption.
4. Enter the hostname — the FTP host in the desired pool.
5. In the Port field, enter 21.
6. Enter the user name — the value of the Access key field from the S3 key.
7. Enter the password — the value of the Secret key field from the S3 key.
8. Click More.
9. Select the Environment section.
10. In the UTF-8 encoding for file names field, select On.
11. Click OK → Save.
12. Enter the name of the connection.
13. If you want to save your password, check the Remember Password checkbox.
14. Optional: check the Create shortcut on "Desktop" checkbox.
15. Press OK → Sign in.

FileZilla

1. Open FileZilla.
2. From the File menu, select Site Manager.
3. Click New Site.
4. On the General tab, in the Host field, enter the FTP host in the desired pool.
5. In the Port field, enter 21.
6. In the Encryption field, select Require FTP over TLS (explicit).
7. In the Input Type field, select Normal.
8. In the User field, enter the value of the Access key field from the S3 key.
9. In the Password field, enter the value of  the Secret key field from the S3 key.
10. Open the Transmission Settings tab.
11. In the Transmission Mode field, select Passive.
12. Open the Encoding tab.
13. Select UTF-8 encoding forcibly.
14. Click OK.
15. From the Transmit menu, select Transmit Mode → Binary.
16. From the File menu, select Site Manager.
17. Select a site that has been created.
18. Click Connect.

Linux

Nautilus

1. Use Nautilus to open any directory.
2. From the File menu, select Connect to Server.
3. In the Server Address field, enter ftps://<ftp_host>. Specify <ftp_host> — the FTP host in the desired pool.
4. Click Connect.
5. Select Registered User.
6. Enter login — the value of the Access key field from the S3 key.
7. Enter the password — the value of the Secret key field from the S3 key.
8. Optional: check the Remember Forever checkbox.
9. Click Connect.

FileZilla

1. Open FileZilla.
2. From the File menu, select Site Manager.
3. Click New Site.
4. On the General tab, in the Host field, enter the FTP host in the desired pool.
5. In the Port field, enter 21.
6. In the Encryption field, select Require FTP over TLS (explicit).
7. In the Input Type field, select Normal.
8. In the User field, enter the value of the Access key field from the S3 key.
9. In the Password field, enter the value of  the Secret key field from the S3 key.
10. Open the Transmission Settings tab.
11. In the Transmission Mode field, select Passive.
12. Open the Encoding tab.
13. Select UTF-8 encoding forcibly.
14. Click OK.
15. From the Transmit menu, select Transmit Mode → Binary.
16. From the File menu, select Site Manager.
17. Select a site that has been created.
18. Click Connect.

FTP operation

Authorization

Team	Arguments	Designation
USER	Access key from S3 key	Pass login
PASS	Secret key from the S3 key	Pass the password

Defense

Team	Arguments	Designation
AUTH	Not required	Establish a secure TLS connection. Arguments will be ignored
PROT	P / C	Set the protection mode. P for Private, C for Clean. By default, P will use TLS
PBSZ	Buffer size	Set the size of the protection buffer. The server will respond with 200 OK

Miscellaneous

Team	Arguments	Designation
FEAT	Not required	Display a list of supported additional functions
SYST	Not required	Display the server operating system
NOOP	Not required	Empty operation, the server will respond with 200 OKs
OPTS	According to RFC2389.	Pass additional options to the server

File access

Team	Arguments	Designation
SIZE	File name	Get file size
STAT	Not required	Get connection statistics
MDTM	Way	Get the date and time of file modification
RETR	File name	Download file. It will work only after switching to passive mode with PASV command. Docking is supported
STOR	File name	Upload a file in passive mode
APPE	File name	Tell the server to accept the remote file. The command will work only if such a file does not exist in the storage yet. If the file exists, an error will be returned
DELE	File name	Delete file
RNFR	File name	Select the file to rename
RNTO	New file name	Set a new file name. Only after the RNFR command has been selected
ALLO	Size in bytes	Return a response about available space. Regardless of the argument, the response will be 202 OK
REST	Offset in bytes	Command to "rewind" to a specific position in the file. Required for downloading with RETR

Working with bucket

Team	Arguments	Designation
CWD	Directory name	Go to the specified directory
PWD	Not required	Show the current working directory
CDUP	Not required	Go to the parent directory
NLST	Not required	Return a list of directory files in a shorter format than LIST. Only in passive connection mode
LIST	Way	Output the contents of the current or provided directory. Both relative and absolute paths are supported
MLSD	Way	Output the contents of the current directory. The main difference from LIST is that time stamps are accurate to the second, time is specified in UTC
MKD	Directory name	Create a directory
RMD	Directory name	Delete directory

Establishing a connection

Team	Arguments	Designation
TYPE	A / I	Change the mode of data transmission. There are two options, ASCII(A) or Binary(I). Either argument is ignored, the command is used for backward compatibility. Only Binary mode is supported
PASV	Not required	Switch to passive data transfer mode
EPSV	Not required	Initiate a passive mode data connection. In response, the server will transmit the port number for the connection
EPRT	Protocol version / address / port	Initiate a data connection. The command is exclusive to active data transfer mode, so the server will report to this command that active mode is not supported
PORT	Not required	Switch to active data transfer mode. The command is exclusive to active data transfer mode, so the server will report to this command that active mode is not supported
QUIT	Not required	Disconnect from the server