Introduction Connecting Via FTP Where do I upload my website? What to call your home page? Troubleshooting FTP...

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1 This guide is designed to show you the different ways of uploading your site using ftp, including the basic principles of understanding and troubleshooting ftp issues. P a g e 0

2 Introduction... 1 When would I use FTP?... 2 Checking your domain name... 2 What do I need to connect to another machine using FTP?... 2 What software should I use?... 3 Finding your FTP username and password Connecting Via FTP... 4 Where do I upload my website?... 4 What to call your home page?... 5 Troubleshooting FTP... 6 I am Unable to Connect to my Website... 6 I Connect but get Authentication Errors... 7 I can Connect, but get Permissions Errors... 7 I Have Uploaded a File but it Shows as 0 Bytes on the Server... 8 I Have Uploaded my Files but Can t See my Home Page... 8 I cannot see the changes I made to my website, or I get a "no website configured at this address" error... 8 I can't see the changes I made on my website... 8 Appendix... 9 FTP codes... 9 Fasthosts MasterClass Range File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files between two computers. It is commonly included in many client based web design programs such as iweb, Dreamweaver, Microsoft Expression Web etc. There are also a large number of specialist FTP client available that will provide a graphical user interface for transferring files. Finally, the FTP suite is still available in the command line for many operating systems. P a g e 1

3 Note: Due to the varied range of software that uses FTP, this guide will not attempt to provide step by step instructions for each piece of software available to the user, but will provide generic details on how to connect and troubleshoot ftp. A range of step by step guides are available within our knowledgebase for the most popular ftp clients in use. You will commonly use FTP when you have a collection of website files on your local machine and need to upload them to a web hosting server for them to appear on the internet. Or when the opposite is true, and you have a website on the internet and you want to create a local copy of your website as a backup. In both of these instances, your website hosting provider will have a machine set up that will allow you to connect using FTP. Many people think that they have issues connecting using FTP, when in actual fact it is changes to DNS or the domain name that are the actual root cause of issues. This is often the case as when you are uploading your website for the first time. You may have a new domain name, or be in the process of transferring a domain name elsewhere. Our Domain Health Checker would be a good place to look for changes to your domain name before you begin. You don t need many things to connect via FTP: 1. The server that you want to connect to has to be configured to use FTP (in the case of your hosting account, your hosting company will have a computer already set up for your use.), you also need to know the address of this server. 2. Although it is possible to connect without an FTP client, why make things difficult when they don t need to be, FTP clients are easy and often free to use. 3. A username and password to authenticate with. While some FTP servers will allow anonymous connections, you don t want anyone being able to download and change your website files, so a username and password is essential to making sure that only you can update your website. And that s it. P a g e 2

4 You can use any FTP software to upload your website, so use whichever software you are comfortable with. If you don t already have a preferred client, there are a great number of FTP clients available, both paid for, and free to download and use. Examples of free to download and use FTP software include: Cyberduck (for Mac) Filezilla Fireftp (Add-on for Firefox) Note: Screenshots in this guide will be taken using filezilla, which is the FTP software that I am using at this time. It only takes a couple of minutes for you to create a username and password to use with your website. This is set up using your Fasthosts control panel. Step 1 Log in to your control panel and select Website Hosting from the Hosting menu. Step 2 A list of your hosting packages will appear. Click on the domain name you would like to view your FTP details on. If your domain name is not listed, you do not have hosting set up in this account. Step 3 Click anywhere in the FTP section. P a g e 3

5 Step 4 Your FTP details will be shown, these are the details you will need to enter into your FTP software to upload your website. To change your FTP password click Set Password. Enter a password for your FTP connection. Keep your username and password safe, you will need them later. Each FTP client is different but the information they will need to connect with is the same Server address/ Host or FTP Host: Enter (This is the address of our FTP server). User name: Enter the username of the FTP connection that you created earlier. Password: Enter the password of the FTP connection that you created earlier. In most cases, this is all you will ever need to enter and all other settings can be ignored or left on their default settings. Logon type: Normal or Username/Password Protocol: FTP Host directory/directory/path: Leave blank. Use passive FTP: Select this box. Use IPv6 transfer mode: Leave unselected. Use firewall: Leave unselected. Use Secure FTP (SFTP): Leave unselected. Port: Enter 21 We have an interactive guide to show you step by step how to connect via FTP at Once you are connected, you will see two main areas. One area (usually on the left), this area of the screen you can navigate files on your local computer in this window, then drag and drop them into the right hand window, which is your remote FTP server. When you set up your webhosting, we will automatically create some directories within your webspace for you. P a g e 4

6 htdocs logfiles After connecting to your web space with an FTP program you will be automatically logged into the htdocs folder. You can navigate up a level to see the other directories we have created. htdocs: All your web content should be stored in this directory, or a sub-directory of this. Your home page should be within this directory and should be named index or default. Within the htdocs folder, you will see that another subdirectory has been created. cgi-bin: The cgi-bin directory is for files that require execute permissions. For example Perl or Python scripts, or compiled CGI. HTML and PHP files will not work if placed in this directory. logfiles: The logfiles directory contains the raw logfiles for your domain. This is where any monitoring software such as Matrixstats will get the information needed to show you website statistics. You should not upload any files to this directory. When someone visits a folder on your website, the webserver will look for the default document within your htdocs folder. Our webservers are configured to look for a file called index or default, to display as your home page. While it is good practice to have just one default file within your htdocs folder, if you have more than one, the server will display whichever is highest on its precedence list. The order that it chooses a default page is slightly different, depending on the type of server you are using. Below is a list of default files, with the highest priority at the top. default.asp index.htm index.html index.php index.pl default.aspx P a g e 5

7 In the image on the right, we can see a file called index.html within the htdocs folder. This Index file will be the home page of our website. Most problems in uploading websites are due to firewalls, or to do with the DNS of a domain name rather than the connection itself. The good news is that once these errors have been identified they are usually quick to fix. Some firewalls may be configured to prevent your FTP software from connecting to your web space. You can usually solve this with a quick change to either your firewall or FTP software s settings. Is your FTP software set to passive mode? FTP has two different modes - active and passive. In active mode, the FTP server (i.e. your web space) attempts to connect to your computer, which is likely to be blocked by your firewall. In passive mode, your FTP software sets up the connection with your web space. Switching your FTP software is set to passive mode is quick, easy and likely to work for most people. Is your FTP software blocked by a firewall application on your computer? By default, many software firewalls will block ports 20 and 21, which are used by FTP. If you are still unable to connect you should check any firewall on your local machine to ensure that ports 20 and 21 are set to allow traffic. P a g e 6

8 Does your router have a built in firewall that is blocking the connection? If you have a broadband router that has a built-in firewall, it may block FTP traffic. Follow the instructions in your router s manual to open ports 20 and 21. Is your computer on a corporate network? Many corporate networks block all non-web or traffic, including FTP. Contact your system administrator to request that FTP traffic be allowed from your computer. Is your domain name pointing towards Fasthosts? If your domain name is pointing elsewhere or you have made changes to the DNS settings within the last 48 hours, then you should replace ftp.yourdomainname.com with If you can connect using this IP address, then some of your DNS records are not set up yet. Is your domain name pointing towards Fasthosts? If your domain name is pointing elsewhere or you have made changes to the DNS settings within the last 48 hours, then you should replace ftp.yourdomainname.com with If you can connect using this IP address, then some of your DNS records are not set up yet. Is your username and password correct? By default, your ftp username will be your domain name. For example, domainname.com. If your username is correct. The error is with your password. It takes around 10 minutes for FTP password changes to take effect. If you have changed your password within this time, you should wait a few more minutes and then try again. Alternatively, you can update your FTP password within your control panel, wait 10 minutes, then try to connect using your new password. Have you uploaded files to your website before? You may have tried to upload a file that is larger than the amount of free web space on your account. Check that the size of your file is smaller than the amount of webspace available to you. If not, you may need to remove some content before uploading your file. P a g e 7

9 This problem is often caused by firewalls that block the file transfer itself but not the opening or closing of the transfer. This causes the FTP server to receive a file containing no data. See the earlier section I am Unable to Connect to my Website. Your home page should be called index or default and should be located in the htdocs folder for it to appear automatically when visiting your domain name. If your home page has a different name or is in a different location, our servers will not know it s a home page and will not automatically display it for your customers. See the article Where do I upload my website files? for more information. Errors of this kind usually indicate that your computer is looking for your website in the wrong place, or is displaying a cached (saved) version of your website. Our article: Why can't I see the changes I made to my website? will show you why and guide you through some solutions. I This error usually occurs when the webserver is unable to find your home page, or if a link on your website points to a page that does not exist. Our article I get a 'You are not authorised to view this page' error when I look for my website explains in more detail. This may happen if your computer is looking in the wrong place to see your website. This can occur if: The domain has been moved to another server within the last 24 hours. The nameservers on the domain name have been changed within the last 72 hours. The domain name was registered less than 72 hours ago. If this is the case you should wait for the allotted time before trying the site again. For peace of mind you can use the test domain link shown within your control panel. P a g e 8

10 If you visit a website regularly your computer may store a saved copy of the website for you to view. This allows your computer to view the website from a local copy, speeding up the time it takes to display in your web browser. Sometimes when you make a change to your website the changes will not appear instantly, as you are actually viewing a saved (cached) copy of your website. These cached copies will only be stored in your computer for a short time, so the changes to your website will usually be viewable after a few hours. Most FTP clients will also have a small window where you can see the commands that are executing as you use the client. You can also use this window to identify any error messages. Simply look the error message up against the list below to identify the status of your FTP connection. 100 Codes The requested action is being taken. Expect a reply before proceeding with a new command. 110 Restart marker reply. 120 Service ready in (n) minutes. 125 Data connection already open, transfer starting. 150 File status okay, about to open data connection. 200 Codes The requested action has been successfully completed. 200 Command okay. 202 Command not implemented 211 System status, or system help reply. 212 Directory status. 213 File status. P a g e 9

11 214 Help message. 215 NAME system type. (NAME is an official system name from the list in the Assigned Numbers document.) 220 Service ready for new user. 221 Service closing control connection. (Logged out if appropriate.) 225 Data connection open, no transfer in progress. 226 Closing data connection. Requested file action successful (file transfer, abort, etc.). 227 Entering Passive Mode 230 User logged in, proceed. 250 Requested file action okay, completed. 257 "PATHNAME" created. 300 Codes The command has been accepted, but the requested action is being held pending receipt of further information. 331 User name okay, need password. 332 Need account for login. 350 Requested file action pending further information. 400 Codes The command was not accepted and the requested action did not take place. The error condition is temporary, however, and the action may be requested again. 421 Service not available, closing control connection. (May be a reply to any command if the service knows it must shut down.)` 425 Can't open data connection. 426 Connection closed, transfer aborted. 450 Requested file action not taken. File unavailable (e.g., file busy). 451 Requested action aborted, local error in processing. 452 Requested action not taken. Insufficient storage space in system. 500 Codes The command was not accepted and the requested action did not take place. P a g e 10

12 500 Syntax error, command unrecognized. This may include errors such as command line too long. 501 Syntax error in parameters or arguments. 502 Command not implemented. 503 Bad sequence of commands. 504 Command not implemented for that parameter. 530 User not logged in. 532 Need account for storing files. 550 Requested action not taken. File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access). 552 Requested file action aborted, storage allocation exceeded 553 Requested action not taken. Illegal file name. Introducing HTML and CSS This guide will show you how to download and use all the tools needed to upload a business card website from scratch costing you a couple of evenings of your time. At the end of the guide you should know all about hosting websites and be confident in most aspects of web hosting. Download guide Introducing domain names and DNS This guide is designed to give you a broad introduction into how Domain names operate and how the Domain Name system works. Download Guide An Introduction to PHP scripting This guide will introduce some simple yet powerful features of PHP, a popular scripting language, and help you take your first steps towards building a strong web presence. Download Guide P a g e 11

13 An Introduction to MySQL Databases This guide will introduce MySQL, a powerful and popular free relational database system. Download Guide Troubleshooting with the command line The command line contains a powerful suite of tools that can be utilised in a variety of ways. This guide will show you how to use common tools to diagnose issues with websites, domain names and DNS. Download Guide P a g e 12