Learning FTP (1)

This article introduces File Transfer Protocol and FTP clients for the beginner.

It explains how to use an FTP client to:

• Connect to a remote server
• Upload files to the remote server
• Download files from the remote server

It does not cover FTP servers, other than explaining how to reach an FTP server from an FTP client.

See also WordPress and FTP.

Requirements

• FTP client - for example FileZilla or Fetch (FTP client)
• Credentials - remote server host name, user name, password, etc.
• Network connection to remote server

Download and install FTP client

Download and install an FTP client of your choice.

• FileZilla is popular, and available for Windows, OS X, and Linux
• Fetch (OSX only) is simpler and easier to use

Any FTP client will do -- they all do essentially the same thing.

Different FTP clients have different interfaces, and some are easier to use than others.

You should not have to pay for an FTP client. FileZilla is one of many free FTP clients.

You may already have FTP client capability: some programs, such as Dreamweaver, have built-in FTP clients, which can be used for general FTP purposes.

Configure FTP client with remote server credentials

FTP clients require remote server credentials.

The credentials consist of:

• Host name for remote server
  • Typically a domain name such as somedomain.com
• Username
• Password
• Remote folder
  • Remote folder is often required, but not always

Different FTP clients have different interfaces for entering the credentials, but all FTP clients behave essentially the same.

Typically, FTP clients let you enter credentials in two ways:

• On an immediate, one-time use basis, where you type in the credentials each time you use the FTP client
• In a configuration manager -- a dialog box which allows you to store the credentials for later re-use

Configuration management is useful because you can store multiple sets of credentials, for multiple remote servers. This is common in web design.

Activate the connection

Activate yourconnection.

Your client will display a dialog box showing files and folders on the remote server.

You may see one or two separate panels, with two sets of files (and folders), depending upon which FTP client you use:

• Remote files only (one panel)
• Local files and remote files (two panels)

Remote files only

Programs like Fetch have one panel which displays files on the remote server.

To upload files, use a Finder window to select the files and folders you want to upload, then drag the files and folders to the Fetch windows.

To download files, use the Fetch window to select the files and folders you want to download, then drag the files and folders to a Finder window (wherever you want those files/folders to go).

Local files and remote files

FileZilla displays two panels with files/folder:

• Local files (on your hard drive)
• Remote files (on remote server)

To upload files, select files and folders in the Local panel, and then either:

• Right-click and select Upload
• Drag to destination in Remote files panel

To down files, select files and folders in the Remote panel, and then either:

• Right-click and select Download
• Drag to destination in Local files panel

FileZilla behaves like the Finder (Mac) and Windows Explorer (Windows) -- that is, you can navigate files using a tree structure, made up of folders containing subfolders.

Synchronizing local and remote files

The term "synchronizing" is used in two different senses, when working with FTP clients.

Local and remote should have same files

You should have the same files in a local folder and the remote website, "more or less"

If you create files on the server, for example by running an auto-installer script for WordPress, you should download those files from the remote location (the web server) to your local computer.

The "more or less" clause includes local files which are in progress and not ready for upload.

Upload and download to correct folder

When using an FTP client, when you select a local folder, be careful to select the corresponding remote folder, and vice versa.

Working with an FTP client typically means navigating up and down a folder hierarchy. When you navigate on the local side, make sure to navigate to the same folder on the remote side.

See also

• Fetch (FTP client)
• File Transfer Protocol
• FileZilla
• FTP client
• FTP server
• Server (computing)
• Web server

External links

• File Transfer Protocol @ Wikipedia