How to Use an FTP Server

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) servers are one of the oldest and most reliable methods of file sharing between computers. FTP servers and clients are available for all major platforms, including Unix, Linux, Macintosh and Windows. FTP servers offer advantages in reliability, security and efficiency, and offer good customization and configuration options. Access to FTP servers requires an FTP client. Paid and open source clients, both command line and graphical clients, are available for virtually all computing platforms.

Instructions

Command Line Clients

1. Type the command "ftp" followed by the name of the server. For example, "ftp server.com," where "server" is the name of the server you wish to access.

2. Type your user name.

3. Type your password.

4. Type "ls" to get a list of files available on the server.

5. Type "cd directory" to change to a subdirectory. "Directory" is the name of the subdirectory. For example, type "cd images" to change the directory to a directory named "images."

6. Type "get filename.extension" to download a file. For example, type "get ReadMe.html" to download the file "ReadMe.html."

7. Type "put filename.extension" to upload a file. For example, type "put ReadMe.html" to upload the file "ReadMe.html."

8. Type "exit" to close the command line FTP client.

Graphical Clients

1. Open your graphical client.

2. Enter the location of the remote server that you wish to access in the "host" or "server" text field, depending on the client you are using. In graphical clients, FTP servers are usually entered as "ftp.server.com," where "server.com" is the domain name of the server.

3. Enter your user name and password.

4. Click "Login" to log in to the server.

5. Browse, in the server pane, to the remote file you wish to download. In the pane of the window for the local computer, browse to the location where you wish to store the downloaded file.

6. Right-click on the file and select "Download" or "Put" to download the file.

7. Browse, in the local computer pane, to the file on your local computer that you wish to upload. In the server pane, browse to the location where you would like the file to be stored on the remote computer.

8. Right-click on the file and select "Upload" or "Put" to upload the file.

9. Exit the client to close the client and log out of the remote server.

Tips & Warnings

• There are a number of additional commands available for command line clients. Please refer to Resources. Modern FTP clients automatically sense whether the file is a binary or ASCII file and set the file type accordingly. This file type can often also be set manually.

References

• University of Cork: Using FTP to upload and download files

Resources

• List of FTP commands
• FileZilla: Free open source FTP client and server software