MCCSC How to FTP

Monroe County
Community School Corporation
315 North Drive . Bloomington, IN 47401 . USA . 812.330.7700

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The Mysteries of FTP

FTP Primer
-- a history of the FTP, Gopher, Archie applications
Why use FTP?
-- sending and receiving / local and remote locations

How to FTP ...

from
using a Browser

Netscape 3.x or higher

to / from
using a Windows/Mac Client

NT = WS_FTP-le / Mac = Fetch

to / from
using Command Line

[username@monon username]$

Important Monon Pathnames

/ home / username
/ home / username / mail
/ home / username / www
/ home / webmaster / www
/ home / websch / www
/ home / websch

/ home / websch / mail

= Your home directory
= Your home mail directory
= Your home web directory
= MCCSC's web pages
= The school's web directory
= The school webmaster's
home directory
= The school webmaster's
mail directory

Space included for clarity only. Paths have NO spaces.

Remember: the FTP process bridges across platforms -- between the DOS/Windows - Mac operating systems and the UNIX-Linux operating system -- and across the Internet. It is important to realize that upper-lower case and filename extensions are treated differently on each system. Be sure you are entering username and password in the appropriate cases. Be sure you type filenames exactly as they appear.

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The MCCSC Learning Network subscribes to Policy and Guidelines 2521 of the Monroe County Community School Corporation. Links contained on these pages to information or other organizations are presented as a service and neither constitute nor imply endorsement or warranty. © 1998 MCCSC. Last update: 22 January 2004.

Why use FTP?

to send/copy an attachment from Monon mail to a local computer,
to send a file to Monon mail so that it can be "attached" to a Pine mail message,
to copy a *.jpg, *.gif, * wav (or other format) file from the local computer to the /home/username/www directory on Monon for use on webpages,
to send an <HTML> file from the local computer to the /home/username/www directory on Monon.

Both Windows and Mac stations can use a "FTP client" to send files to and from the local computer and the mail or web server -- right now, this is Monon -- in much the same way as the "telnet" client connects the two for communication. File Transfer Protocol clients can have sophisticated Windows/Mac interfaces or can be simple text applications.

Except for the sophisticated and pervasive research requirements addressed in the FTP Primer, many users find it hard to believe that FTP can be of any particular use to a "simple" email user. And to make matters worse, some modern applications actually perform FTP seamlessly and transparently unknown to the user.

For example, users often use File / Save As to "move" a Netscape/Web document to a local drive or floppy disk. That's an FTP operation, but we never realize it. The browser -- Netscape or Internet Explorer -- walks us through the process comfortably.

Or at home, users often have a Windows or Mac email program that goes out to the mail server at HoosierNet, Kiva, or Indiana University and brings all the mail -- including attachments like pictures or spreadsheets -- down to the home computer.

Finally, many of the web publishing tools -- Front Page, Netscape Composer, MS Publisher -- pull down and send pages and pictures to the websites without actually explaining that FTP is being used.

However, the Pine email user quickly finds an FTP requirement when a sender attaches a formatted file -- pictures, spreadsheets, word processed documents, an executable program -- to the strictly text MCCSC mail server.

Can not view. Try Save

VIEWER command launched

are the enigmatic messages from Pine.

Or the web developer working in Pico wants to add image files his his/her class website.

So, "Why use FTP?"

to send/copy an attachment from Monon mail to a local computer,
to send a file to Monon mail so that it can be "attached" to a Pine mail message,
to copy a *.jpg, *.gif, * wav (or other format) file from the local computer to the /home/username/www directory on Monon for use on webpages,
to send an <HTML> file from the local computer to the /home/username/www directory on Monon.

How to FTP...

from using a Browser -- Netscape 3.x

In Pine/Monon, V-View the attachment, then S-Save it to your home directory.
1. Use the "V" command at the bottom of the screen.
2. In the "Viewer Mode," highlight the attachment and try the "V" command again.
  1. If the attachment is pure ASCII / text, Pine will display the file on this page. If not, Pine will display in inverse video (dark on light) the words
```
VIEWER command launched
```
    and appear to be doing nothing.
  2. Use the "S" command at the bottom of the screen.
    
    Pine will prompt with a "default" filename: accept or change.
    This file is saved to the directory /home/username
In Netscape, on the Location: type
ftp://username@monon.mccsc.edu
This gives you a "Gopher" page of /home/username
Clicking on a file either displays it in Netscape or prompts you to save it to the local disk.
You can File / Save As the displayed file just as you would another website.

Follow the same process to move any file from a Monon directory to your local computer. Click on the directory to change, then click on the file you want to move.

Very Important! Do not store these files or attachments in your /home/username directory for any long period of time. This directory is visible and accessible to the world. It's how e-mail works.

Go back to Pine/Monon, to the [usernamed@monon username]$ prompt:

list the files in the home/username directory with the ls UNIX/Linux command
remove the file(s) with the rm, remove, UNIX/Linux command:
rm filename.ext
or
move the file to the /home/username/mail directory with the mv command as follows:
mv filename.ext mail/filename.ext

If you are not in your [username@monon username]$ directory, typing cd will return you to your home ... [username@monon username]$ ... directory.

How to FTP...

to / from using a Windows/Mac Client -- WS_FTP-LE and Fetch

In Pine/Monon, V-View the attachment, then S-Save it to your home directory.
1. Use the "V" command at the bottom of the screen.
2. In the "Viewer Mode," highlight the attachment and try the "V" command again.
  1. If the attachment is pure ASCII / text, Pine will display the file on this page. If not, Pine will display in inverse video (dark on light) the words
```
VIEWER command launched
```
    and appear to be doing nothing.
  2. Use the "S" command at the bottom of the screen.
    1. Pine will prompt with a "default" filename: accept or change.
    2. This file is saved to the directory /home/username
The Graphical-User-Interface (GUI) Mac/Windows clients generally open with a session profile screen approximating this:

Usually, the user can choose a profile from a prepared list. In WS_FTP-LE, there is a down carat on the Profile Name: line. Any profile saved at |•| Auto Save Config will be listed alphabetically by "Profile Name."

If there is no profile pointing to your Monon space, select New and fill in the empty form as above and below.

Profile Name: Personalize this space: John's Web, Monon-username, etc.
Host Name: monon.mccsc.edu
Host Type: Unix (standard) : make sure this is selected
User ID: username -- your Monon e-mail login id
Password: leave blank -- Monon will prompt; uncheck | | Save Password
Account: leave blank check |•| Auto Save Config
Initial Directories: These may require using
choices at the top
of the screen in some
older versions of the client. this adds the profile to the list
so that you don't have to re-enter info each time.
Remote Host: blank = /home/username www = /home/username/www for Web
Local PC: C:/temp any local directory

Select OK to connect to the Remote Host and save the configuration profile.

* Remote Host Option(s):

This configuration is for the webmaster account. The webschool webmaster should enter

Remote Host: /home/websch/www/ in this profile.

The Graphical-User-Interface (GUI) Mac/Windows clients generally provide a screen approximating this:

If the client fails to display the directories you have specified, or fails to connect, check the Error Log or LogWnd at the bottom of the screen, and/or re-Connect and check the entries in the profile. The actual screen has options for the command buttons to be at the TOP of the window, and the program may be configured with an Alternate Display as below. These displays are configured using the Options button.

If the directories match the information in the profile, but are not where you wish to be, you may Cancel, Connect, and create a New profile with different directory entries, or you may use change directory -- ChgDir -- on either the Local or Remote sides of the screen. Selecting a directory and using the Windows "double-click" is a shortcut. Remember, on the Local side. the [ . ] symbol is the current directory and the [ .. ] symbol is the previous directory.
One Very Important and one Slight Warnings:
1. Very Important! Do not store these files or attachments in your /home/username directory for any long period of time. This directory is visible and accessible to the world. It's how e-mail works.
  - Highlight the file in the remote directory and use the Delete button to remove the file from /home/username
    and/or
  - change the remote directory to home/username/mail and send a copy of the file back from the local directory to the new remote directory location. Be sure to delete the file from home/username.
2. Changing to /home directory on the Remote side will take quite awhile because Monon will be creating a list of all the users -- all 2,000. And the only one you will actually be able to access is your own -- /home/monon-id.
3. The Remote directory for school websites is no longer
  and is now the
  directory of the school webmaster's e-mail account, just as the individuals' web space is
| | ASCII |•| Binary |•| Auto are important:
- ASCII may be used only to transfer TEXT files. Any special formatting, spreadsheets tables, images, will be transferred as computer garbage!
- Binary may be used to transfer either TEXT or binary files.
- Auto allows the client to select the appropriate mode.
Selecting |•| Binary and |•| Auto will create the most efficient configuration.
Here comes the Fun! Select single or multiple files (use Ctrl-Select with mouse) from the originating location. Then select send or select the arrow pointing in the appropriate direction.
To Shortcut-send a single file, double-click on the filename.

How to FTP...
• to / from using Monon's Command Line

*UNIX-Linux Command Line FTP*
	*1. Login to Monon (Pine) --*
	Select [4] Go to system prompt (to type Unix commands) -- the [username@monon username]$ prompt. Type and [Enter]		ftp
	*2. Set the host address --*
	Type	open monon.mccsc.edu
	*3. Set the Remote directory (www on Monon) --*
		You are in /home/username directory. This is where attachments are found. Change only for web or other mail activity.
	To change for web, type	cd www
	or mail or other directory	cd directory-name
	*4. Set the Local directory on your computer --*
	type	lcd A:/	l = local cd = change directory the directory can be any local path (i.e., c:/temp)
	Send / Receive the ASCII and Binary files
	FTP needs to know whether the file should be sent as a Binary (i.e., all images, any spreadsheets, formatted word processed documents, or programs), or as ASCII (any unformatted text, such as HTML). All files can be transferred as Binary. But only text files can be sent as ASCII.
	5. Send / Receive any/all files as Binary (.bmp, .doc, .exe, .gif, .html, .jpg, .txt, .wps, *.xls, etc.) --
	Type	binary
	Type	put filename.ext or get filename.ext	-- to send -- to receive
	If desired, **5a. Send / Receive the .html or .txt files as ASCII--**
	Type	ascii
	Type	put filename.ext or get filename.ext	-- to send -- to receive
	*6. Exit*
	Type	exit or quit

Mac and Windows 95/NT users will be sending a file all ready for the UNIX format: filename.html. Windows 3.xx users will be sending a file with a three-character extension: filename.htm. The monon server can render either filename.htm or filename.html.

The Windows FTP clients will have a command to rename files. Highlight the file, select Rename, and follow the directions. Files retrieved from the server will have the suffix shortened to htm on Windows machines. On Linux/UNIX, you may use the mv command from the FTP> prompt:

mv filename.htm filename.html Be sure to Exit from the FTP client. Monon will "time out" the connection if the line is inactive for 15 minutes, but it's better for you to be in control of the connection in a responsible way. Use standard Mac/Windows exiting procedures. Some FTPs also allow command line exits: type quit.

Go back to Pine/Monon, to the [username@monon username]$ prompt:

list the files in the home/username directory with the ls UNIX/Linux command
remove the file(s) with the rm, remove, UNIX/Linux command:
rm filename.ext
or
move the file to the /home/username/mail directory with the mv command as follows:
mv filename.ext mail/filename.ext

If you are not in your [username@monon username]$ directory, typing cd will return you to your home ... [username@monon username]$ ... directory.

One note: Once you have "viewed" the page in your browser, the page remains in the memory of your computer and/or in a file called "cache" in your browser directory. This allows the page to be re-called more quickly than if your computer had to re-connect to the remote site each time you went Back to the page. Therefore, if you are editing the HTML document, you need to Reload the page -- usually this command is found on the browser toolbar or in the View window. Should this not result in the page as you edited it, there may be a "clock" problem between your machine and the monon machine. Use the "clear" disk cache and "clear" the memory cache from the Options tool. This should bring the "new" page up.

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