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How to enable FTP server in macOS Sierra

  Date Of Publication: June/2025
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One of the most important aspects and tools that we can use in our organizations for administration and support tasks is to use FTP ( File Transfer Protocol ) which allows us to transfer multiple files quickly and safely between various equipment It is this opportunity we will see how we can enable our macOS Sierra computers as FTP servers.

Advantages of using FTP

  • Possibility to copy large files
  • Security
  • Transfer speed
  • It is possible to resume the download in case of any network failure
  • We can transfer files between operating systems

1. Create macOS Sierra FTP server from sharing


Step 1
To enable the FTP server in macOS Sierra we will access System Preferences using one of the following methods:
  • From the icon located in the Dock
  • From the Apple menu by selecting the System Preferences option

Step 2
Once we are in the System Preferences window we must select the Share option and we will see the following window where we must activate the Remote Session box:

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In this window we find the following options:

How to log in via SSH

We can see at the top how we should log in remotely to the FTP server using the syntax: 

 ssh ón_IP

Define permissions

At the bottom we can allow access to either the administrators or all users.

Define server name

At the top we can set the server name by pressing the Edit button and modifying its name.

Once these parameters have been defined, we can access the device using SSH to transfer files and perform the respective FTP procedures.

Step 3
Once we have these values ​​defined, we can use an FTP client to access the Mac server using FTP, in this case we will use Putty.

putty download

Once we execute Putty we must enter the indicated line:

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Step 4
Press Open and then enter the respective access credentials:

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Step 5
Once we enter the FTP server we can use the sudo sharing -l command to get a list of the commands that we can use through FTP

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We can access the various folders of the FTP server and see what is inside it, for example we access the desktop using cd Desktop and use ls to view the files.

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2. Access FTP server using macOS Sierra terminal


Step 1
The most common way we can access an FTP server in macOS Sierra is using an FTP client which we can download for free.

best free ftp mac

Step 2
Once we open the terminal we must enter the following syntax: 

 ftp ón_IP
In this case it will be 
 ftp
And we will see the following after entering the correct credentials:

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Step 3
From this point we can perform tasks such as transferring files locally, in this case we have created a file called solvetic.rtf and we can use the get command for the transfer, get solvetic.rtf

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We can use the ls command to display all the content of a route.

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Step 4
Other commands that we can use to see the status of our ftp server are the following:

  • View the FTP status in macOS Sierra
 sudo serveradmin status ftp

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  • Configure macOS Sierra FTP options
 sudo serveradmin settings ftp
We can use FTP in our daily tasks in a simple and secure way by accessing from one of the free clients for this purpose or from the terminal of the same macOS system and thus transfer all the necessary files in a complete, agile and risk-free way using local networks . Take advantage of all the advantages that FTP offers us and we have secure tools for proper management.

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