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Screenshot of the original War FTP Daemon, back in 1996.

WAR FTP Daemon is the premier FTP server for Windows. No other FTP server application brings together the UNIX style security features, a BBS like Windows interface for the system operator, the extreme flexibility, Win95 and NT 4 OLE support, the multithreading design and the advanced software technology and performance provided by this package!

But - despite the technical quality, the package is released as freeware; available on CD's, and spread all over Internet on a large number of HTTP servers, FTP servers and BBS systems. Provided that you accept the license agreement, you can use this software freely without registering or paying for it.

Free

War FTP Daemon version 1.6 and 1.7 are free for personal, educational and commercial use. It is not available for governments or governmental agencies, except NASA and NASA International Partners. Version 3 is released under LGPL and is free for everyone.

A brief history of the War FTP Daemon

I started to work on the War FTP Daemon in the fall 1995, and released a primitive beta a few months later, early 1996. At that time there was no other free FTP daemon for Windows, - and I received hundreds of brilliant suggestions each week. Lost of people contributed with ideas and technical knowledge - and this feedback is what's actually made the War FTP Daemon a winner.

Version 0.* - 1.6*

This branch is still the latest stable release, and the most full-featured. It is designed as a Windows application, that also have the capability of running as a native NT service. The NT service option is convenient for professional users that run NT or Windows 2000 - and don't need to access the FTP server's console often.

Operating Systems

Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP
NB: Windows 2003 is not supported

Windows GUI Yes, unless it runs as a service
Native system service Yes, under NT
Remote administration No
API No
Max users Depends on operating system
Migration support No
Origin Jgaa's Internet
License Free for all, except governments

Version 1.7*

This is an experimental (beta) branch, that introduce some advanced concepts, but miss some basic features like recursive directory listings. This is currently the most popular version - as it supports native service mode on both Win9x and NT, with local/remote administration trough a powerful Windows interface. The communication between the Windows manager program and the server is based on SUN's RPC protocol, with a hack to encrypt logon passwords. People who use the manager should connect to the server trough encrypted VPN is possible.

Operating Systems Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, 2003
Windows GUI Yes
Native system service Yes (also under Win9x/ME)
Remote administration Yes
API Yes (DLL "C" interface and C++ libraries)
Max users Depends on operating system
Migration support Can upgrade from 1.67 during installation
Origin Jgaa's Internet
License Free for all, except governments

Version 2

Version 2 was in fact developed prior to 1.7, but was discontinued before it reached beta because of design flaws. The source code is however available from http://support.jgaa.com

Version 3

Version 3 is the upcoming version. It has been under development for a long time, and will not go into beta before I'm satisfied with the design and the source code. It will be released under GPL, and supported by jgaa's internet under Linux, FreeBSD, Windows and Sun Solaris.

The current internal alpha version have the following features:

  1. Implementation of the traditional FTP protocol
  2. Supports the conventional UNIX "ls" list mode, with most modifier flags, including recursive dir listings spanning over physical and virtual paths.
  3. Has a built-in WWW server interface
  4. Written in C++ using STL. Compiles with Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0.

Version 3 is based on and part of WFDE (War FTP Daemon Engine), a full-featured, extendible C++ class library for embedded FTP server implementations.

Support

See http://support.jgaa.com for support, bug-reports and suggestions.

Safety

Internet server software is vulnerable for numerous attacks from script-kiddies and crackers. FTP servers have a particular bad record when it comes to serious exploits, and even if War FTP Daemon is way better than most - there are from time to time reported serious potential security risks. If you run an Internet server, it is therefore important to stay informed about exploits in the software you use, and to upgrade at once when a security patch is released.

Security exploits in war FTP Daemon are reported to the BUGTRAQ list, to the newsgroup alt.comp.jgaa, to the support-site, and to the war-software mailing-list. Upgrades that resolves the problems are usually released within hours from we receive information about the problem. 4 days are the longest response-time ever.

Documentation

  • The server ships with a Windows help file and an extensive release-notes file.
  • There is also an FAQ (also in PDF)
  • Installation manual for 1.70/1.80 in German (PDF)
  • The [early] documentation for WFDE is now available online.

Online guides on warftp.org

SQL scripts

Version 1.7/1.8

Utilities, addons, and scripts

There used to be a number of add-ons and utilities available for 1.6 - but as most users have migrated to 1.7/8, and that version don't have plugin-support at the moment - there are few utilities available at the moment.

Cool stuff

  • Some images from long ma, made in gimp.

Articles

  • Optimizing WFDE - How the new server-engine is becoming fast. In fact, very fast.

Download

Support and bug-reports