Thread: Anyone know anything about FTP software?

I hate to admit that I have never used an FTP software program. I figured it was time to learn how and have downloaded the free FileZilla. After following the tutorials on how to do it, I have the gist of how it works. My webspace uses cPanel, I thought I had all of the connection settings right but keep getting a failed conection error.

Any help or pointing in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx

Usually you just need the user name, password and IP or domain in most FTP.
Some you may also need to set the port #, and or connection method/type.

Originally Posted by Gomeza

I hate to admit that I have never used an FTP software program. I figured it was time to learn how and have downloaded the free FileZilla. After following the tutorials on how to do it, I have the gist of how it works. My webspace uses cPanel, I thought I had all of the connection settings right but keep getting a failed conection error.

Any help or pointing in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx

What GRIM said.

Check your username and password. When you first set up your hosting you may have received an email with your ftp access settings, make sure you're using these. You can also contact your hosting provider to get them.

Also, if you have a firewall on your computer, make sure that it's configured to allow FileZilla to get online.

That's all I can think of right now.

Hi Grim

Thanx, I had followed the instructions to the letter and still kept getting a 505 error. So I went back into the CP and enabled anonymous FTP upload and it worked. So I can do anonymous FTP uploads now. I'm not really sure exactly what "anonymous" means in this context but it strikes one as being unsecure.

Thanx einsteinsboi

I'm actually my own hosting provider, that's why I hate to admit that I have never used an FTP program. I'll revisit it all after a good night's sleep - - - thanx again for the input.

Anonymous means anyone , even I can upload things to your site.
This really isn't a good thing.

Username & Password , check these over again.
IP address , usually works ftp.yoursite.com.

Originally Posted by Gomeza

Hi Grim

Thanx, I had followed the instructions to the letter and still kept getting a 505 error. So I went back into the CP and enabled anonymous FTP upload and it worked. So I can do anonymous FTP uploads now. I'm not really sure exactly what "anonymous" means in this context but it strikes one as being unsecure.

Thanx einsteinsboi

I'm actually my own hosting provider, that's why I hate to admit that I have never used an FTP program. I'll revisit it all after a good night's sleep - - - thanx again for the input.

Originally Posted by BeatShot

Anonymous means anyone , even I can upload things to your site.
This really isn't a good thing.

Username & Password , check these over again.
IP address , usually works ftp.yoursite.com.

Ditto what BeatShot said.

Someone could upload a nasty script to your server and then execute it in a browser.
You really should disable the anonymous FTP and use your username and password to login.

From your previous error message, it looks like the settings in your FTP program were still set to login anonymously, instead of using your cPanel username and password.

You should disallow the anonymous FTP immediately. Someone could bring down your server, or worse.

Thank you everyone

That's what I thought "anonymous" meant. I have managed to make a secure password protected connection and have disabled anonymous connections. I should have realized that cPanel writes in its own syntax for FTP user names the same way as it does for databases. That was ultimately the connection problem.

Now of course I have a new problem. Once I have selected the files I am going to upload, I'm not quite sure of how the destination folder should be formatted. I've tried manual upload, the upload fails with an error that says the file folder does not exist. The help files are little help. Appreciate that I am not stuck on any FTP program, I won't be using it much. Below is a screenshot of the FTP program I am using now. Any suggestions of which program to use are still being considered.



Has anyone ever used this FTP program before?

Originally Posted by Gomeza

Hi Grim

Thanx, I had followed the instructions to the letter and still kept getting a 505 error. So I went back into the CP and enabled anonymous FTP upload and it worked. So I can do anonymous FTP uploads now. I'm not really sure exactly what "anonymous" means in this context but it strikes one as being unsecure.

Thanx einsteinsboi

I'm actually my own hosting provider, that's why I hate to admit that I have never used an FTP program. I'll revisit it all after a good night's sleep - - - thanx again for the input.

If you're your own hosting provider why don't you use ssh instead? Or a program such as WinSCP ?

Hi Grim

The answer to that question is very simple. Those things are beyond me at this point, shoot, I can't even get a simple FTP program to work. But that will change, (I'll have it by the end of the day) then as my knowledge progresses, I will visit all possibilities.

Okay, when you upload, make sure it is to the root.
Public_html.
Then if you want the upload in a folder, create a folder in public_html.
Most ftp programs allow you to create folders easily.
Once you have the folder, then you just upload the files to that folder.

Hi iowadawg

Thank you for the input.

I've got it now and have uploaded my first files successfully. Sometimes we can look at a software program and even with experience, the lights just don't come on. I needed an FTP program that clicked in my brain so I tried the free version of: ACEftp . . . it may be the fact that the user interface has more images or the fact that the help files are written in a way that I understand but I have had no problems at all with ACEftp versus FileZilla. There is a nag screen with the new program and ads served in a small window every time I use it but considering that I will only use an ftp program a few times a year, I can live with those things . . . . thank you all for the help.

Or use the one I use.
It is free and from firefox.
If you use firefox, get their ftp program.
Easiest one I have seen to set up and use.

And you are very welcome.

Might I ask how you are your own host if you don't know how to SSH? Do you have someone else managing your server, or are you on a reseller type plan?

Hi Grim

It is a custom reseller type of plan through Hostgator. Basically I lease a segment of one of their web servers.

First ftp program I ever used was AtomicFTP (http://atomicftp.net). Never had any trouble and still use it to this day.

I would recommend Core FTP LE 2.

This fast FTP client with SFTP/SSH and SSL/TLS has browser integration, FTP/HTTP/SOCKS proxy, drag and drop, a site manager, a session manager, a queue manager, custom screens, bandwidth control, caching, auto-transfer, retry/resume, auto-reconnect options, auto S/key, remote file-searching, advanced directory listings, start/stop/resume of transfers, chmod. Core FTP Lite is for personal and educational use. Check business and commercial use under the terms of the help file.

Core FTP LE - Reviews and free downloads at Download.com

Usually port seting will be 21/22

I'd highly recommend that you look into using cuteftp. I've used it for years and it's extremely user friendly.

Hello,

You can give a try through free WS_FTP

Thank you

What about your hosting company, check if they provide ftp. slow but easy.

Originally Posted by ngarama

What about your hosting company, check if they provide ftp. slow but easy.

if you are at a hosting company that doesn't provide ftp then that means you would have to email them your website to upload ...so hopefully all hosting companies provide ftp ...it's the ftp program that's needed

I use smartftp...I love it ...though it's the second one i've ever tried...i need to check out all the others still

I think today most or all of the hosting providers provide with FTP accounts to upload content with there hosting packages

I use linux. Filezilla is great but im not sure if they have it for windows. If i remember right the one i used back when i used windows was cuteFTP....if i remember right it was pretty good but i dont think it was free.

CuteFTP and SmartFTP are leading ones in the market but to my knowledge cuteftp is much better than smartftp.