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Well, how do I configure SFTP on FreeNAS to be secure? My goal would be to get access to certain folders on my FreeNAS with a SFTP client like FireFTP.

I'm using 0.7.2 Sabanda (revision 5462).

The part I am the most unsure about is the Certificate. I'm not sure how to generate a key.

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Did you perhaps mean "FTPS" instead? –  Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Nov 25 '10 at 11:41
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If you really do mean "SFTP" then you don't even need a certificate; simply enable it in the SSH daemon running on the system.

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Aha, to enable SFTP all I need is to enable SSH? Is all communication now encrypted with SSH, or just FTP? I mixed SSL and SSH up, I guess. What benefits do I get when using SSL with FTP? –  Tim Nov 25 '10 at 12:16
Only SSH communication (which includes SFTP, since it piggybacks on top of SSH) will be encrypted. FTP will still be unencrypted. FTPS is fairly rare in the wild, so I wouldn't worry about setting it up unless you know you need it. –  Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Nov 25 '10 at 12:20
Just to be clear. Is FTPS, FTP on SSL? I'm not sure what you mean. Is the FTP unencrypted, even now when SSH is enabled? Or does the FTP become SFTP after enabling SSH? –  Tim Nov 25 '10 at 12:29
FTPS is indeed FTP-over-SSL. FTP and SFTP have nothing to do with each other; they are separate, independent protocols. –  Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Nov 25 '10 at 12:34
Okey, now it's beginning to clear up. But back to the main question. I cant find anything about SFTP in the SSH Service part of the FreeNAS GUI. How do I use the SSH daemon running on the system? –  Tim Nov 25 '10 at 12:43
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  1. Go to your FreeNAS web interface and browse to Services > SSH.
  2. Check the box labeled Enable and configure your settings to your liking, or leave as default.
  3. Click Save and Restart.
  4. Using your preferred SFTP client (e.g. I use FileZilla), connect to sftp://yourserver.com/.
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