This is the process:

1. Add the user to the group: sudo usermod -aG www blub as in Whats the simplest way to edit and add files to "/var/www"?

   
   
   

   or just use sudo adduser <username> www-data



2. Install vsftpd sudo apt-get install vsftpd



3. Configure vsftpd for remote access: sudo nano /etc/vsftpd.conf and inside the file set

   
   
   

   chroot_local_user=YES
   
   

   
   
   

   and ensure this is commented out:

   
   
   

   #chroot_list_enable=YES
   
   

   
   
   

   as per documentation.



4. Restart nsftp: sudo service vsftpd restart



5. Configure the user's home directory to the web directory (not in /home):

   
   
   

   sudo usermod -d /var/www/mysite/ftpaccessdir <username>
   
   




6. Configure ssh chroot

   
   
   

   sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
   
   

   
   
   

   add the following to the end:

   
   
   

   Subsystem  sftp  internal-sftp
   
   Match user <username>
   
       ChrootDirectory /var/www/site
   
       ForceCommand internal-sftp
   
   AllowTcpForwarding no
   
   

   
   
   

   and ensure that further up in the file that this is commented out (ie before the one you just added)

   
   
   

   #Subsystem sftp /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server
   
   




7. Restart ssh

   
   
   

   sudo service ssh restart
   
   




8. Change the permissions for apache:

   
   
   

   chown root:root /var/www
   
   chown root:root /var/www/site
   
   chmod 755 /var/www
   
   

   
   
   

   As in the docs here.




9. Ensure that your directory has www-data access

   
   
   

   sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/site
   
   chmod 755 /var/www/site