Basic instructions on how to set up an SSH server on an Ubuntu 16.04/18.04 EC2 instance.
Step 1 – Create a New User
sudo adduser testuser
Step 2 – Create a Directory for File Transfers
sudo mkdir -p /var/sftp/uploads
sudo chown root:root /var/sftp
sudo chmod 755 /var/sftp
sudo chown testuser:testuser /var/sftp/uploads
Step 3 – Restrict Access to One Directory
Open the SSH server configuration file
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Add the following to the bottom of the file:
Match User testuser
ForceCommand internal-sftp
PasswordAuthentication yes
ChrootDirectory /var/sftp
PermitTunnel no
AllowAgentForwarding no
AllowTcpForwarding no
X11Forwarding no
Apply the configuration changes
sudo systemctl restart sshd
Step 4 – Verify the Configuration
Verify the user cannot via SSH
ssh testuser@localhost
Verify the user can connect via SFTP
sftp testuser@localhost
