How to use FTP Commander

Transcription

1 FTP (File Transfer Protocol) software can be used to upload files and complete folders to your web server. On the web, there are a number of free FTP programs that can be downloaded and installed onto your personal computer. Two of them that we recommend are FTP Commander and WS_FTP. Below are directions for using either of these programs. How to use FTP Commander If you search Google for ftp commander, one of the results will take to this page: If you notice, the third link down on the page above is a free version of FTP Commander. You can download it and install it to your machine. Once you install FTP Commander to your machine, you will see the icon below on your desktop. By clicking on the icon, you will start FTP Commander.

2 Starting FTP Commander brings up the following Window: The window is divided into two vertical panes divided by two directional arrow buttons. The left pane displays the contents of the various folders on your Local computer s drives, the computer sitting on your desk. The right pane will list the contents of the various folders on the Remote computer or FTP Server, the computer housing the files that web users see when they view your web pages. Once we are connected to the Remote computer (for our purposes this will be the CCP Faculty Server), we will move files and folders between the Local computer and the Faculty server using the directional arrows. The first step in connecting to the Community College of Philadelphia Faculty server is to set up FTP Commander to connect correctly. To do this you need to click on the New Server button on the FTP servers side of the screen. The following screen should appear:

3 You need to fill in the various fields with the correct information so that you can properly connect to the CCP Faculty server. This includes: Name: you can name this server anything you choose but you should call it something that you will identify with the CCP Faculty server FTP Server: this is the name given to the server by our ITS department. You should type: faculty.ccp.edu FTP port: this may fill itself but it should have the number 21 User ID: this field is your CCP login name. (IMPORTANT CHANGE: it NO LONGER has a period (.) before and after your name along with faculty.ccp). Password: it is probably safest to leave this blank. When you attempt to connect to the server you will be prompted for your regular CCP password When you are finished the screen should look like this: (be sure to click SAVE!)

4 To connect to the CCP Faculty server, you need to click on the Connect button on the upper bar. If you are successful, the screen will change slightly on the FTP server (right) pane to show you that you are connected to your own folder. For example, when I connect my screen looks like this: Before you can work with your folders and files, you need to specify where they are located. You need to click on the menu option FTP-SERVER and then the CHANGE DIRECTORY option.

5 Enter the following information into the Change Directory field: /web/faculty/yourloginname This will take you directly to your home folder on the faculty server. Files can be moved by clicking on (selecting) the file or folder on the Local computer (left) and press the arrow in the middle that points to the right. Be sure that you have selected the correct folder on the CCP Faculty server (right) pane before you transfer any files. In the example above, any files transferred would go the root level of the web server. If I wanted to transfer files into the Courses folder, I would first need to double-click on the Courses folder and then the name Courses would appear where it currently reads ADIBLASI. For those faculty with rights to DEPARTMENT level folders, you need to click on the FTP-SERVER menu, select CHANGE DIRECTORY and enter the following information: /web/dept/departmentfoldername As an example, if you have access to the Art department folder, you would type: /web/dept/art

6 How to use WS_FTP If you search Google for wsftp, one of the results will take to this page: On this page, you should see a link for download. You can download it and install it to your machine. Once you install WS_FTP to your machine, you will see an icon similar to the one below on your desktop. By clicking on the icon, you will start WS_FTP.

7 The first step in connecting to the Community College of Philadelphia Faculty server is to set up WS_FTP to connect correctly. To do this you need to set up a Profile containing the proper information about our server. Click on the New button and give this profile a meaningful name. The above Profile is named CCP. You need to fill in the various fields with the correct information so that you can properly connect to the CCP Faculty server. This includes: Profile Name: you can name this server anything you choose but you should call it something that you will identify with the CCP Faculty server Host name/address: this is the name given to the server by our ITS department. You should type: faculty.ccp.edu Host Type: leave this as automatically detect User ID: this field is JUST your CCP login name. (IMPORTANT CHANGE: it NO LONGER has a period (.) before and after your name along with faculty.ccp). Password: it is probably safest to leave this blank. When you attempt to connect to the server you will be prompted for your regular CCP password.

8 You also need to add you Initial Remote Site Folder to the Startup tab. Click on the tab and type the following: /web/faculty/yourloginname This will ensure that you see your specific folders and files when you connect. IMPORTANT: For those faculty with rights to DEPARTMENT level folders, you should probably create a second Profile to use when you are transferring folders and files to the Department folder. Follow the above directions to create this second profile but, type the following information into the Initial Remote Site Folder field: /web/dept/departmentfoldername As an example, if you have access to the Art department folder, you would type: /web/dept/art

9 Starting WS_FTP brings up the following Window: The window is divided into two vertical panes divided by two directional arrow buttons. The left pane displays the contents of the various folders on your Local computer s drives, the computer sitting on your desk. The right pane will list the contents of the various folders on the Remote computer or FTP Server, the computer housing the files that web users see when they view your web pages. Once we are connected to the Remote computer (for our purposes this will be the CCP Faculty Server), we will move files and folders between the Local computer and the Faculty server using the directional arrows. Files can be moved by clicking on (selecting) the file or folder on the Local computer (left) and press the arrow in the middle that points to the right. Be sure that you have selected the correct folder on the CCP Faculty server (right) pane before you transfer any files. In the example above, any files transferred would go the root level of the web server. If I wanted to transfer files into the Courses folder, I would first need to double-click on the Courses folder and then the name Courses would appear where it currently reads ADIBLASI.