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FTP
SERVICES
FTP [File Transfer Protocol]
is one of the oldest protocols still in use on the Internet
today. This is mostly due to its proven speed, reliability
and functionality. Since so many web administration tasks
involve sending files to the server, understandably FTP can
be put to use for nearly all of them.
FTP clients are available for
all operating systems capable of connecting to the Internet.
Some are better featured than others though, and are often
found as shareware.
What
FTP can do
- Navigate through your
files and directories
- Upload & download
files
- Create and delete
directories
- Manipulate file &
directory permissions
It is rather clear that FTP
handles just about every administrative task necessary for
a web site. It is also a very easy medium to administer through
once you have your FTP client configured, and have acquired
a basic understanding of the concepts involved. Which brings
us to out next section.
Connection
Quickstart
Firstly you must obtain an
FTP client that is capable of the required functionality.
Configuration
To set up your FTP client to
connect to your account requires three things:
server address: enter
your domain name or your server IP address
login ID: your login ID you received with your
account
password: the password you chose when you ordered
your account
Upon logging in, the 'remote'
window of the FTP client will show a list of files in your
home directory. Of special note is the public_html
directory, where you will want to place any files you wish
to be accessible through your web server, and the public_ftp
directory, for files you want accessible from your FTP server.
The home directory is described more specifically in Chapter
2: Your Home Directory.
logged into the account, showing the public_html directory,
where web pages are uploaded to
Managing
your site with FTP
To start uploading your web
site, upload your files into the public_html directory.
Be sure your main page is named either index.html or
default.html and is in the public_html directory,
as the web server will look for one of these two files when
people access your domain directly.
Hidden Files - Certain
files/directories will not appear when logged in via FTP;
mostly the 'dot' files - those that have filenames that
begin with a period.
Transferring Files -
Transferring files in most graphical FTP clients is as simply
as dragging file from the local window (your computer) to
the remote window (the server). Just be positive that you
are in the correct directory on both sides before transferring
any files.
Changing file permissions
- Changing file permissions (sometimes referred to as
attributes) is usually as simple as right clicking on the
file you wish to modify permissions for. For most users
this will not be necessary but will be for users upload
CGI files. This is discussed in greater detail in Chapter
2: UNIX File System.
File Types - Although
most FTP client should detect this automatically, it should
be noted that FTP has two transfer modes - ASCII
and BINARY. Most uploads should be done in BINARY
mode, however, if you are uploading files which are in text
[ASCII] they should be uploaded in ASCII mode to convert
carriage returns correctly. [Unix uses different signals
for the end of a line of text than Windows or Macintosh].
Of final note is that most [not all] FTP client have the
ability to set file permissions on files on the server.
Consult your FTP client documentation.
Note: HTML Files [.html,
.html], Perl/CGI Files [.pl, .cgi], and Text files [.txt]
should all be transferred using ASCII mode, as they are
ASCII based files.
FTP
Resources
The following links are to
some FTP software which is recommended, but not commercially
endorsed by MediaHostNet. All of these programs are certified
to function with our servers, and should be relatively easy
to configure and use.
Note: The screen shots on this
page are of CuteFTP.
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