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.
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
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.
The following links are to some FTP software which is recommended, but not
commercially endorsed by lsyf/yoa Inc. 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.
