KB / Account Control Panel / Users :: Users

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View a list of all the users on your active account. You can also use this area to add a new user, as well as edit or delete existing users.

Contents 1 Parent Article 2 Why does it say my username is already taken? 3 How do I share website access with another FTP user? 4 How do I add a user to my account? 5 How do I remove a user from my account? 6 How many users can I have? What kind?

Parent Article

• KB / Account Control Panel

Why does it say my username is already taken?

On shared webhosting accounts the "namespace" for usernames is shared across a fairly large "cluster" of machines.. therefore all the usernames you create for ftp/shell users must be unique across the whole group.

If you've been trying to add something like "ftp" or "admin", somebody else probably beat you to it.. maybe try making usernames based on your (already globally unique) web id!

How do I share website access with another FTP user?

If you want to add another user with access to all the same files as an existing user:

Basically, you can't. In unix systems, files are all owned by exactly one user, and it's not secure to allow other users full read/write access to them all. If you really want multiple people to have all the same access to the same files via FTP, the best thing to do is create one FTP user for all the stuff you want to share, and just use that same login info among all the people who need to work on the site.

There is a solution to this problem, it entails setting up unix file Access Control Lists (ACLs) (very similar to NTFS permissions). It allows you to specify directly which users have what access to what files. This is not currently enabled on dreamhost accounts, but there is a suggestion for it. Search for "File Access Control Lists" and vote for it if this interests you.

If you want to give full website access to a new FTP user:

Just move the domain to that FTP user (via the "edit" link at Manage Domains > Edit). If you still want access yourself, just also use that same FTP user. Multiple people can log in at the same time with the same user. Please note that changing the user assignment for a domain will not automatically transfer the files to the new account. (Due to FTP users not being able to go outside their home directory and problems with group writability for CGI scripts, only one FTP/shell user may access the web directory for a website hosted with us.)

If you want to give access to just one sub-directory of your website via HTTP (not FTP):

Leave the site as is and just use our Domain > Remap Sub-Dir area to put that one subdirectory in the new user's home directory. The only caveat with this is that CGI and PHP-CGI won't work in that directory (since it'll have a different user than the rest of the domain). This will only map the folder via HTTP (the web server daemon), it will not actually share the folder between FTP users (ie ability to upload/download files).

Another solution with Webdav

Another solution to restricting access to files within a specific subdir is to use webdav. You can set this up through goodies-->htaccess, just check the webdav box and leave off password protection so that it still has read access from the web. You can setup a connection through webdav just like an ftp connection through dreamweaver and many other applications. This way the user only sees the files within the subdir you specify but you still share all of the files in the big picture unlike remapping a subdir

Basically, one FTP user can have access to multiple domains, but each domain can only be accessed by one FTP user. i.e, each domain is owned by exactly one FTP user. One FTP user can own multiple domains though!

How do I add a user to my account?

1. Log in to the Account Control Panel. Select the Users tab, and click on the Users link:
2. Click on the link labeled Add New User
3. Fill in the requested user information (name, password, etc.)
4. If you have already used all of the users that come with your plan, you will have to add a new user as an add-on service. Do this by clicking on the Add Services link. See the article in the "Related Links" column to the left of this window for complete instructions for adding a new service.

How do I remove a user from my account?

1. Log in to the Account Control Panel. Select the Users tab, and click on the Users link.
2. In the Action column, click the delete link in the row of the user you wish to delete from your account.
3. You're done!

How many users can I have? What kind?

As many as you want!

Each of our plans includes a varying number users, and in some cases, several different types of users. Our hosting plans are subject to change, so please be sure to review our offerings at http://www.dreamhost.com/ to ensure you've got the most current figures. If you need more users than your hosting plan provides, you can always add extra users for an additional monthly fee.