ONLINE DISCUSSION ABOUT USING FTP WITH SAKAI:

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1 ONLINE DISCUSSION ABOUT USING FTP WITH SAKAI: FTP ISSUES IN SAKAI Roy Twaddle forwarded several questions regarding Sakai and connections to FTP servers (i.e. remote servers where files are stored for access using FTP client software). Although we massmoved files from the WebCT server as requested by faculty during the Sakai transition, some instructors have files stored elsewhere for student access. The two separate questions that arose are: (1) Can students be pointed to a remote FTP site from within Sakai? (2) Can faculty copy files from an FTP server into Sakai Modules? QUESTION 1 Can students be pointed to a remote FTP site from within Sakai? In Sakai Resources, it is possible to link to an FTP site via a normal HTML link. We created a link in Resources to an FTP location. Using Firefox on a PC we were able to able to open folders and open or download files from an FTP server, after entering the FTP site s required password. Using a PC and Internet Explorer 8, however, the user is not granted access to the FTP site at all. This procedures works with Firefox on a Mac; it also works in Safari, although Safari will not support FTP links from the other tools (see below). We also tried making a link using the Sakai Web Content tool, and also the Assignment tool. The FTP page opens on a PC in Firefox and permits both file readings and file save as to the user s local machine; in IE8 and it is possible to open a file and then save it locally but it is not possible to do a save target as. This works on a Mac in Firefox, but not in Safari. All of these FTP connections in Resources, Web Content and Assignments are for download only, not for file uploading. This demonstrates that students can be linked to FTP locations for downloading from Resources and from Web Content. At the present time, it is not possible to make a link to an FTP site in the text editor box in Modules. Every time you enter an FTP site URL and save, the Modules tool inserts in front of the URL, rendering it unusable. We are investigating whether this is something that can be fixed in the current version of Modules. (See Marshall Feldman s comments below we have both found that with some persistence, and peeking at the source code, you can use a location on that you own as an ftp location, but this seems to work only because uri.edu is an address and does not have ftp in the URL at all. I think that if you are connecting to a location that starts with ftp, you are out of luck with Modules.

2 Question 2 Can faculty copy files from an FTP server into Sakai Modules? At the present time, files can only be uploaded into the Manage Content of Sakai Modules one at a time. Although there is a drop-down list for as many as ten files in one pass, the user must still browse to a local drive and click on the desired file name, one at a time. For instructors wishing to copy files from an FTP server, this normally poses a double task: download the file from the FTP server to the local machine, and then upload them into Sakai. Steve Jaegle and Brett Rutherford tested and confirmed that both PCs and Macs are capable of connecting to FTP sites as network locations. We have screen shots available showing the procedure for the Mac. After log-in, it is then possible to point to files on the FTP server during the Sakai browse, thus making it possible to upload files straight from the FTP server to Sakai Modules. At the present time, there is no mass file copying possible into the Modules database, as unique file signifiers are added by the Sakai system as the files are uploaded one by one. We are investigating whether the additional functionality of a second Modules component called Lesson Builder provides mass file copying similar to the WebDAV method that can be used when moving files into Sakai Resources. If any instructors have standing FTP locations with files they need to transfer to Sakai, we will be happy to assist in one-time file transfers into Sakai modules or into the Resources area of a Sakai project site. If you have an FTP site with 50 or more files and want to migrate, please contact Charlene Yang cyang@uri.edu. For information about setting up the connection to an FTP site, please contact Brett Rutherford, brutherford@mail.uri.edu MARSHALL FELDMAN s COMMENTS: I've been able to overcome most of the limitations you mention by using URI's web server as my ftp site. From my PC or Mac I use an FTP program (WinSCP and CyberDuck respectively) to upload and synchronize files. Then on Sakai I use the regular tools, including those in modules, to create html pages with links to the corresponding files. Depending on whether I'm using WinSCP or CyberDuck, constructing the correct URL is a bit of a chore but not too onerous. Both allow the user to copy a file's URĿ, which I then paste on Sakai. The URL from CyberDuck is usually perfect, and no more work is necessary. With WinSCP the URL is usually of type FTP:, so first I type in " then leave some space and paste the URL from WinSCP. I then go back to the space and delete the parts of the copied URL that are redundant, finishing up by eliminating the extra space. Also, as you know, WebDAV is notoriously buggy on Windows XP. Apparently it's been improved in Windows 7, although I can't vouch for it. The article from U. of Michigan mentioned some software to get around this, but WinSCP does too. (It implements its own WebDAV protocol.) Since WinSCP can synchronize files, it's an excellent tool for working with Sakai, both via an intermediate FTP/Web server and directly with files in a subfolder of a Resources folder.

3 Marsh P.S. Both WinSCP and Cyberduck are tailor-made for URI budgets. They're both free, although CyberDuck does nag for a donation from time to time. SCREEN SHOTS FOR MAKING AN FTP CONNECTION ON A MAC:

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