1. Hillsborough Community College
Using FTP
Prof. Wayne Pollock
Hillsborough Community College
Tampa, FL

2. What is FTP ? FTP is the abbreviation for File Transfer Protocol
Used to copy files between computers
You must have an FTP client on your computer (such as WinSCP)
The remote computer must be running an FTP Server

3. What is sFTP and FTPS?
Although still widely used, FTP is considered insecure; usernames, passwords, and files are sent unencrypted (plaintext) and easy to “snoop” or even modify
sFTP is a version of FTP built into SSH (along with “scp”), and is widely supported
FTPS is regular FTP through an encrypted tunnel, and works similarly to HTTPS
The HCC Student Webserver supports FTPS

4. What is WinSCP? FTP Software for Windows This version is free
Easy to use
Newer versions at
Alternative software you can use is FileZilla, at filezilla-project.org
Mac users don’t need additional software; see osXdaily.com for instructions

5. Using WinSCP Connect to the Internet Start WinSCP (figure 1)
Enter the required information to connect to the Student web server (figure 2)
Save the session information (figure 3)
Double-click saved session to launch

6. Figure 1 Name of remote server
Your user ID (folder name) and password. See the feedback comments in the Web Site Concept project, for your info.

7. Figure 2 Select FTP Name of remote server
Select Explicit Encryption
Name of remote server
Your user ID (folder name) and password

8. Figure 3
Saved Session

9. Server Connection Security Key Screen
When you connect for the first time, a screen similar to figure 4 will appear. This is an extra security measure
Click on “Yes”. You shouldn’t see this screen again
After clicking “Yes”, you will see the window similar to figure 5

10. Figure 4
Uniquely
identifies
the server

11. Figure 5

12. Understanding the Session Window
On the left side of figure 5 are files on your hard drive (local)
On the right side of figure 5 are files on the remote computer (remote)
You need to change the local folder to where your website files are. In figure 6 I navigate to “My Website” folder on the desktop. Figure 7 shows the result

13. Figure 6
Change Folder Button
Click here to add as a bookmark

14. Figure 7

15. Upload Your Web Site Click on a file once to select it
You can select several files at once with control-click
Drag the files to the right to upload
Figure 8 shows the transfer dialog window. Make sure the transfer type is “automatic” or “binary”
Figure 9 shows the result

16. Figure 8

17. Figure 9

18. Updating Your Web Site
Start WinSCP, enter your user ID (folder name) and password, and open your folders as before
Click on images or other files on your computer (local) to select them
Select updated and new files from the left, and upload by dragging
Right-click on a file to rename or delete it

19. Updating Your Web Site (cont.)
To modify a file that is already uploaded, just upload the modified copy and it will replace the original copy
Download by dragging a file from the remote (right) to the local system (left). This file can then be modified and uploaded again
Always check your web site after modifying it, by using your browser’s refresh (or reload) button

20. Summary Upload just your files, not the folder containing your files
The top (main) web page must always be named “index.htm” or the web server won’t find it
Use URLs of just filenames (such as “foo.gif”) and not pathnames (such as “C:\Users\student\Desktop\folder\foo.gif”)
Be sure to use the file’s full name, including the extension
Look in the feedback comments for the Web site Concept project for your FTP username and password
Use the additional resources on our class web page

21. The
End
©2015 by Wayne Pollock