FTP Tutorial

At this FTP tutorial we will try to explain how to use FTP and FTP clients for uploading files on your web site. Many web hosting providers allow unlimited FTP access to their users.

The FTP tutorial is part of the rich collection of web hosting tutorials, which SiteGround experts have prepared for everyone. Find out how to start your website, how to promote it, how to deal with cPanel, webmail and FTP.

What is FTP?

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a fast, convenient and secure way to transfer files over the Internet. That is why many webmasters use FTP for uploading their websites on their hosting account and to add files and pictures to their web pages.

How to use FTP for transferring files?

To make an FTP connection you can use a standard Web browser* (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.) or a dedicated FTP software program, referred to as an 'FTP Client'. To use an FTP client you need to have an FTP account to the web account where you plan to upload your files. In case this is your hosting account, the main account for using FTP is your control panel account. You can also create additional FTP accounts for other users.

When using a Web browser for an FTP connection, FTP uploads are difficult, or sometimes impossible, and downloads are not protected (not recommended for uploading or downloading large files).

When connecting with an FTP Client (such as FileZilla or CuteFTP), uploads and downloads couldn't be easier, and you have added security and additional features. For example, you're able to resume a download that did not finish successfully, and continue with it later on. This is a very nice feature for people using dial-up connections which frequently breaks down.

SiteGround has long experience in providing web space for clients using FTP. Our FTP hosting service is the best choice for you for it offers the richest set of features, FTP-expertized support team and lots of FREE tools.

You may use this tutorial for your own use. You may not distribute it in any form without the express permission of the publisher. You may provide a link to the publisher's web site, where this tutorial can be used from. This tutorial is provided free of charge and without any warranty of any kind.

FTP Clients

What is an FTP Client?

An FTP Client is software designed to transfer files back-and-forth between two computers over the Internet. It needs to be installed on your computer and can only be used with a live connection to the Internet.

FTP Clients' interface is usually divided in two - the pane on the left shows the files and folders on your computer (your Desktop, My Documents, etc,) and the pane on the right displays the files on the remote computer (if this is your website hosting account, you will see 'public_html' and 'www' folders, where the files of your site are stored).

File transfers are made by simply dragging and dropping files from one pane to the other. Additional features of the FTP Client include: store of FTP sites; multiple file transfer at a time; auto resuming of the transfer; a queuing utility and more.

• FileZilla
• CuteFTP

FTP Clients: FileZilla

FileZilla is a powerful, yet free software with drag-and-drop capability for transferring files over the Net. FileZilla is the most popular FTP client and is used by webmasters from all over the world. Here you can download FileZilla Software.

How to use FileZilla FTP Client

Once you have the FileZilla client already downloaded and activated on your local hard drive, please provide your domain name in the address field (you could also use the server's IP address, found in the Customer area). The username and the password you need to type in are the same as the ones you use to log into your cPanel. The FTP Port is 21.

Now, please, hit the Enter key on your keyboard and wait for the file listing to appear. Find the www directory and double click on the name.

Then, select the files to be uploaded, and drag-and-drop them in the field where the www files are listed. Select upload and wait for the transfer to complete.

If you are behind a firewall and/or router you will need to use Passive mode for FTP to get a stable connection. You can see this setting as is shown bellow:

Open FileZilla and go menu Edit -> Settings. In the Connections section, please click Firewall settings and check the Passive mode option.

FTP Clients: CuteFTP

CuteFTP is an FTP client used for transferring files over the Internet. It has easy and intuitive interface and will help you a lot when publishing your web site or downloading photos or software.

How to use CuteFTP Client

CuteFTP has a short wizard that walks you through the setup of an FTP connection.

Step 1: The first screen prompts you for a label for your new connection. You can just use your domain name if you like.

Step 2: The next screen prompts you for the FTP server you want to connect to. Enter your domain name in the given space and click 'Next >'.

Step 3: The next screen prompts you for your FTP username and password. Enter them in the boxes provided and click 'Next >'.

Step 4: The next screen prompts you for a 'default local folder'. You should probably choose the folder where you keep all of your website files or if you don't have a website developed yet you can either make a new directory or just choose a random directory like c:\temp. Click 'Next >'.

Step 5: The next screenshot (below) shows the view when logged-in to your web hosting account. The list of files/folders on the right hand and left hand side is the view of your web hosting account.

You'll notice a directory named 'public_html' in your web hosting account. This directory is where all of your website files should be placed in order for them to be seen when you type in http://yourdomain.com.

Another important and often overlooked note is that you must have a file named index.html or index.htm which acts as your homepage. When a person types in http://yourdomain.com our webserver will look for the file named index.html or index.htm (there are a few others as well) first and will load that page. If you are having problems connecting here are some things to check:

1.If you just obtained your web hosting account then your domain may not be switched over to our service yet.
2.It may be that you are behind a firewall and/or router and need to use passive FTP. Just skip down to step 6 to see how to enable passive FTP.

Step 6: If you are behind a firewall and/or router you often need to use passive FTP to get a stable connection. Just open up the connection settings dialog by click on the Edit Menu and then 'Settings'. Once the settings window is open click on the 'Firewall' label on the left side of the dialog. You can then check/uncheck 'PASV mode' if necessary.

Step 7: Often when installing scripts and other web tools you will need to "chmod" or change permissions on a file or directory. It's easy to do from within the FTP session. Just right-click on the file/directory you'd like to change permissions on select "CHMOD" and you'll receive the dialog below. You can then either type in the permissions you'd like to set using numbers (755 for example) or use the various check boxes to set the permissions.

FTP Accounts

How to create FTP accounts?

To use an FTP client you need to have an FTP account to the web server where you plan to upload your files. In case this is your hosting account, the main account for using FTP is your control panel username and password. You can also create additional FTP accounts for other users.

Adding FTP accounts

You or your fellow site developers may need to transfer files from a computer to the server running your web site. If you need to transfer many files, using an FTP client is the quickest way to accomplish this. cPanel provides an option to manage multiple FTP accounts for one site.

To add new FTP accounts, please click on [FTP Accounts] from the Files box.

On the top of the page you will be prompted with all the necessary options for your new account:

When filling in the details, make sure to pick up a strong password for the account. This is important for preventing the so called brute-force attacks. A strong password will contain at least one number and one special character.

One of the boxes is called "Directory". It determines which will be the home directory of the newly created account. Leaving it blank will allow full access to your hosting account.

SiteGround recommends that a specific directory is designated for each particular user. Leaving the directory space blank will allow your FTP users access to the main directory, and they will be able to alter the content of your website.

If you are willing to grant such access, please consider doing this for a limited time and then change your password. The more public your authentication data is, the higher the risk for your account.

Please note that using one and the same directory for the purpose of both password protected and FTP storage is not recommended.

In order to complete the FTP account creation, click on [Create] at the end of the section.

Removing FTP accounts

FTP accounts can be removed by logging in cPanel and going to [FTP accounts]. In the Account Management box will be listed all the FTP accounts. One of the options in the Functions column is [Delete].

Make sure you delete only the unnecessary account because this process is irreversible.

FTP Sessions

Controlling FTP session

You can use this function to see who is currently logged in your site through FTP. This is helpful for controlling the access to your files and the ftp activity.

The Link to the FTP Session Control can be found by logging in Cpanel and looking at the Files section.

This section provides all the information about the current FTP sessions and gives you an option to disconnect users.

CHMOD with FTP

Changing permissions (CHMOD) recursively using SmartFTP

What is CHMOD?

CHMOD is a UNIX command that changes the mode of a file. There are three modes a file can have turned on or off: read ability, write ability, and execute ability. Each mode can be set for either the owner, the members of the owner's group, or all users.

Here you will find detailed instructions how to change the permissions of a file using SmartFTP. SmartFTP is an FTP client, which can be downloaded from here.

How to use CHMOD?

When you have downloaded and installed the FTP client, please connect to your FTP server. (In case you have an account with SiteGround, please, use the username and pass of your cPanel account to connect via FTP.)

Once connected, you will need to locate the file(s)/folder(s), where you would like to change the permissions. In this example, we will change the permissions on the Templates folder and all of the subdirectories/files within it.

Next, right-click on the Templates folder. A new menu will appear as shown below. Click on Properties / CHMOD.

A new window will popup. In this new window there is a field labeled Permissions. Change the value in this field to the appropriate number as specified by the documentation of the product you're using. In this example, we will change the value to 755 as shown below.

You may also want to change all of the permissions of the files and subfolders on the templates directory as well. SmartFTP has a useful feature that allows you to change the permissions recursively. This means that the permissions you have entered in the Permissions field will also be applied to all of the files and subfolders of your current selection. To do this, check the checkbox labeled Apply changes to this folder, subfolders and files as shown below.

Let the request process. This can take several minutes if you are changing the permissions on a lot of files. That's it, well done!

Please, feel free to contact us if you have any questions or recommendations about this tutorial at: tutorials 'at' siteground.com