How to install FileZilla FTP client in Linux

  John Mwaniki /    Updated on 07 Jul 2024

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol for transferring files between computers over a network. It is built on a client-server model and is used to share files between a client and a server.

In web development, developers use an FTP client and protocol to upload website files(eg. folders, .html, .php, images, etc) to a web server. With an FTP client, you can also easily manage the files and download them to your computer.

Uploading website files with an FTP client is more efficient and very useful especially when they are large-sized compared with hosting account File Manager.

There exist a number of FTP clients such as FileZilla, Core FTP, Smart FTP, WinSCP, etc.

In this article, I will take you through a step-by-step procedure for installing and launching FileZilla FTP client in Linux OS(Ubuntu 20.04 for demonstration).

What is FileZilla?

FileZilla is a popular open-source FTP client available on multiple operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and Mac.

FileZilla Installation

There are various methods by which you can install FileZilla in Linux. For this tutorial we will look into the two methods listed below:

• Via command line(apt repository)
• Via Software Manager
• Installing downloaded .tar.bz2 archive with command line

Method 1: Via command line(apt repository)

Run the command below in your terminal to synchronize the configured repositories. It updates all the installed software to the latest version.

sudo apt update

After the updates are over, run the command below to install FileZilla.

sudo apt install filezilla

The command above connects to the apt repository, checks the available version and its size, prints that information, and then asks for your permission to proceed with the installation as shown below:

Write y and hit enter to continue. The installation will proceed for some time and continue on its own without you doing anything else.

Method 2: Installation via Software Manager

Open the Ubuntu Software (this has different names such as Software Manager depending on the Linux distro you are using).

Search the term "filezilla" by using the search/lens icon at the top. Click on FileZilla from the search result.

Then click on the install button and the application will be installed on your computer.

Method 3: Installing downloaded .tar.bz2 archive via command line

Download the latest FileZilla client from the official website download page: https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?show_all=1. Choose between 32 and 64-bit packages depending on your computer system structure.

In my case, I chose the 64-bit because my laptop is 64-bits based. Save the archive file to your device storage.

By default, the file will be saved into the "Downloads" folder unless you have configured your browser otherwise.

After the archive file is downloaded, open your terminal and change directory to the directory in which the file was downloaded with the cd command as below:

cd Downloads

Then extract the .tar.bz2 file using the command below:

sudo tar vxf FileZilla_3.55.1_x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.bz2

Note: Replace "FileZilla_3.55.1_x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.bz2" with the name of the file you downloaded.

After the extraction is complete, copy the contents of the extracted directory into the "opt" directory with the command below:

sudo cp -r Filezilla3 /opt/

Then change directory to /opt where you just copied the files.

cd /opt/

Then change the ownership of the extracted FileZilla directory to root using the chown command as shown below:

sudo chown -R root:root FileZilla3/

Now the installation is complete and you can use the just installed FileZilla to transfer files.

How to launch FileZilla Linux

There are a number of ways you can launch/start FileZilla on your laptop depending on the installation method used as below:

Method 1

If you used method 1 or method 2 for installation, you can open the application by clicking on its icon in the application's shortcut.

Just click on the applications menu on the very bottom left of the screen.

You should see it among the installed applications. If you don't find it, simply search "filezilla" at the top.

Method 2

If you installed FileZilla via command-line apt repository, run the command below in the terminal:

filezilla

Method 3

If you installed using a .tar.bz2 archive file, run the command below in your terminal.

/opt/FileZilla3/bin/filezilla

How to uninstall FileZilla in Linux

You can easily uninstall FileZilla from Linux and remove its package using the apt command.

Use the command below to uninstall FileZilla.

sudo apt-get remove  filezilla

To remove the FileZilla package and all its dependencies, use the command below:

sudo apt-get remove --auto-remove filezilla

To completely remove FileZilla with all configuration files, use the command below:

sudo apt-get purge filezilla

or use the following command:

sudo apt-get purge --auto-remove filezilla

 

Conclusion

FileZilla is among the most popular FTP clients for transferring files in an FTP connection. It is available across multiple operating systems which include Windows, Linux and Mac.

It is widely used by web developers in uploading, downloading and managing website files.

In this article, you have learned how to install and launch FileZilla on Linux in multiple different ways.