There are so many ways to access your files remotely. One of the most popular ways is using the cloud. Well, we are not here for that.
Let’s say you really want to access a very sensitive file that you are not willing to upload in the cloud.
The file is in your computer storage; you need to access it on the go. Technically speaking, you need to access it remotely.
There are few things that you can do to achieve this. There are so many options and methods available for us but I’m going to show you just one method in this post. The steps involved in these methods are not rocket science – You just have to read and follow them carefully.
What we need?
A Desktop Computer or a Laptop Computer
Any version of the Windows operating system (Windows 7, Windows 10, Windows Servers., etc.)
FTP Server Software
FTP Client Software
Internet – Obviously.
How are we going to do it?
On your computer, locate the files that you want to access remotely, and then we will install FTP Server and then configure few settings and then we will forward few ports and finally we will install FTP Client to test it.
STEP – 1
Downloading and Installing FileZilla Server.
- open the web browser and visit https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=server
- Click on the “Download FileZilla Server for Windows”
- Click on Download again as seen below
- The downloaded file should be in your %USERPROFILE%\Downloads and looks like the one shown below.
- Click on the downloaded file to start the installation and follow the below screenshots
- Click On “I Agree” as seen bellow
- Click “Next” – Do not change anything
- Click ” Next” – Do not change anything
- Click “Next” – Do not change anything
- Click “Install” as seen below
- Now click on “Close” as seen below
- Now you will see the FileZilla open, prompting you to enter Host, port and Password
This is to access your FileZilla Server console. If you wish to keep a password to access the console, you can enter it in this screen and leave the other boxes as it is and then click on “connect” as seen below
- Now you should see something similar to the below and ignore the Warning. We will set it up later.
STEP – 2
Downloading and Installing FileZilla client.
- Open your web browser and visit https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?show_all=1
- You will see multiple installers on the site and you should select the file appropriate for your platform, I have used a 64-bit installer.
- Now start the installation and follow the below screenshots.
- Click “I Agree”
- Select “Anyone who uses this computer (all user)” Assuming you are the only one using it.
- Don’t change anything in this windows and click next.
- Don’t change anything in this windows and click next
- Don’t change anything in this windows and click next.
- Click Finish.
- You should see the application opened as seen below.
STEP – 3
Preparing files to be shared
- This part is your choice, Either you can centralise the location for sharing or you can choose the files that are to be shared. For instance, I have chosen a folder in D Drive and there is an important file inside the folder. We can also see there is a subfolder inside the Important Folder.
Adding Users in FileZilla Server.
- Open the FileZilla Server and click Edit to open Users.
- Add users using the tab on the right side and type a new password for this user
- I have created a user name as test1 and also set a password.
- Click on “Shared Folders” and add the folders that you wish to be shared. In my case it is D drive as seen below in the screenshot
- Select the checkboxes as seen in the screenshot. Assuming that you are the user “test1” hence providing all the permissions.
Testing the access using FileZilla Client
- Open the FileZilla Client
- Type the below in the text boxes
Host: localhost
Username:test1
Password:your password
Port:21
Now click “quickconnect” - Now you should see that the connection will be successful and the directory will be listed as seen below
STEP – 4
Configuration for remotely accessing your file
In the previous steps, we were able to successfully use the FTP service using the hostname. To remotely access these files, as explained earlier we will need to forward ports and add ports to the Firewall and then Generate a server certificate for security purposes.
Now, as the FileZilla server is running on your local computer, we need to make sure that the FTP service is accessible via the Internet and when you use the Internet to access your files you have to secure the connection between your server and the client you are using to access the files.
All the ISPs providing an IP address to us will be a NAT IP, which is also known as a public IP address. This IP will not be static. It keeps changing as on when the lease time is over and when you type in google “what is my IP “the public IP will be different than what you have seen before. To avoid this, we will have to request the ISP to provide us with a Static IP. For now, we’ll stick with the IP we used before.
Note: We will not be able to use the FTP service unless you use the correct public IP address.
FileZilla server provides a good security feature as per the security standards to enable TLS. No need to dive deep into this now, just think of it as a gatekeeper.
General Settings
- Open FileZilla Server
- Click Edit and Click on “Settings”
- Click on “Passive Mode Settings”
- Select “Use custom port range”. You can use the same ports as seen in the picture below.
- Select “Use the following Ip” and type your External IP address which is a public IP.
- To find out your public IP
- Open Browser and go to www.google.com
- Type ” what is my IP ” in the search bar
- you should get the IP as seen below in the screenshot, I have masked it.
Enable FTP Over TLS
- Open FileZilla Server.
- Click Edit and Click on “Settings”.
- Click on “FTP over TLS settings”.
- Select the checkbox “Enable FTP over TLS support (FTPS)”.
- Select the checkbox “Disallow plain unencrypted FTP”.
- Now click on the “Generate new certificate” button.
- Fill up the required details
- Now click on the “Generate Certificate” button.
- Click “Ok”
STEP – 5
Configure Firewall Rules to allow ports
- On your keyboard press “Windows key” and “R” key simultaneous to open the Run dialogue box.
- Type “firewall.cpl” and click “ok”.
- On the left pane, select “Inbound Rules”.
- On the right pane, select “New Rule” Under the Actions menu.
- Now select “Port”
- Now Select “TCP” and select, “Specific ports:” type 6000-6100 and click “Next”.
- Now click “Allow the Connection” and click “Next”.
- Now mark all three checkboxes ” Domain”, “Private” and “Public”.
- Click “Next” and provide the name ” FileZilla ports” and Click Finish.
- Now on the left pane, select “Outbound Rules”.
- On the right pane, select “New Rule” Under the Actions menu.
- Now repeat the steps from 5 to 8.
STEP – 6
Port Forwarding
Port forwarding is a bridge between your router and the internet. To access your files from anywhere in the world you need to instruct your router to forward the incoming communications to access the right resource.
In our case, as we need to access the files via FTP, we have already set up an FTP server running on your computer. Now, all we need to do is to instruct your router that if anybody from the internet is trying to access your files, forward them to the internal port where the FTP service is running.
Well, this isn’t secure enough, because anyone can easily try to access it unless they know your public IP, your username and password. Not to worry, we have secure the connection by generating a trusted certificate. However, You need to make sure you are not sharing your credentials with anybody. If any of your friends or family want to access the files, you need to create a new user in the FileZilla server as we did earlier.
There are so many routes in the world and port forwarding will be the same for all of them. Except that the user interface and the location of the port forwarding settings will be in a different place.
How to Find router login Page address
To configure port forwarding, we need to access your router admin page. Assuming that you already know what router brand you use, I am providing a list of popular home networking router’s default router login addresses.
There can only be three IP addresses for accessing your router page. Try the below IP Addresses in your web browser and see if you were able to access them.
192.168.50.1 or 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1
If you were not able to find the router page, You can easily identify this at the back of your router device and should look something similar to the one seen in the below screenshot. You can also see the credentials printed on it to log in.
Find the IP address of your computer
- open Run Dialog box and type “cmd”
- Type “ipconfig”
- If you are using wifi on your computer, you should look under “Wireless LAN”
- If you are using an Ethernet cable, you should look under “Ethernet adapter”
Configure Port Forwarding
- I use an Asus router and we will now see how to configure the port forwarding in the Asus router.
If you are not using an Asus router, please read the above on how to find the router page and once found, please follow the below steps. - Open the browser and type “192.168.50.1” – Replace it with your router address.
- Login using the credentials – Username and password printed on the back of router device.
- Go to Wan Settings – This can be under network settings in your router.
- Select Virtual server/port forwarding
- Click on Add Profile – It may be different in your router
- Type “21” in External Port and type “192.168.xx.xx” – This is the IP address of your computer running FileZilla Server
- Now click Ok and again click Add profile.
- This time we are configuring Data ports.
- Type 6000:6100 under External ports and “192.168.xx.xx” under the Internal Ip address.
- Click ok
This concludes the port forwarding configuration.
Now, all we need to do is TEST.
STEP – 7
How to access files remotely
As we have already found the Public IP address in STEP – 4, We will be using it to test the access as this can confirm, we have successfully configured everything to be able to access your files remotely.
Your Public IP address is the key here. Where ever you go, you need to access the FTP service using this Public IP only. Given that the Public IP address is a static IP. If not you need to connect to your home network and check what is your IP in google.
There is something else we can to do avoid this and that is known as a DDNS – Dynamic Domain Naming Service.
Well, I am not getting into this now. This will be a topic for another post.
Assuming that you are using you are out of your home and using a public computer or your friend’s wifi.
- Open FileZilla client
- Type your public IP address , your username and password we created in STEP – 3.
- Type the port number “21”
- Click “Quickconnect”
- And Boom, If you have followed everything correctly, you should get connected successfully.
I hope this helps.