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FTP Services  (1)
pg. 8

• Three Types of FTP Access
• Administrative FTP Access
• User Authenticated FTP Access
• Anonymous FTP Access
• Using Command Line FTP
• Using an FTP Client
• Authenticated FTP with a Client
• Changing Your Administrative FTP Password

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standardized method of transferring files between computers, regardless of the platform or operating system each computer is running on. Your Virtual Server provides different types of FTP service, depending on the type of Virtual Server you have. FTP services can be accessed through a command prompt, or through an FTP client program. Your Virtual Server uses ProFTPD, an FTP server written for UNIX. ProFTPD is similar to design and concept to the Apache Web server. In addition to standards such as Authenticated and Anonymous FTP, ProFTP offers the following advanced services:
* Resumable downloads. This feature allows your visitors to pick up where they left off in the event they get disconnected.
*An FTP configuration file. Located in your ~/usr/local/etc directory, the proftpd.conf configuration file allows you to configure your FTP service to run the way you want it to.

This section provides basic information for configuring your FTP service. It is not meant to replace the documentation for ProFTP. For more in-depth documentation, please visit the ProFTP website at the following URL:
http://www.proftpd.net/docs/index.html

Each of your FTP services is further described in the following sections.

Three Types of FTP Access
There are three different types of FTP access: Administrative, User Authenticated, and Anonymous. Technically, Administrative FTP access is a type of user-authenticated FTP for the administrative user, but for simplicity you can think it as a third type.

Administrative FTP Access
Administrative FTP access allows the administrator of your virtual server to connect through an FTP client and have complete access to all of the virtual server’s files and directories. Administrative FTP access is available on all virtual servers.

User Authenticated FTP Access
User authenticated FTP access allows a user that was created with the vadduser command to connect to the virtual server using an FTP client. The user would need to provide the FTP client with the username and password assigned to him by the Administrator, and would then have complete access over the files in and below his home directory. The user would have the ability to send new files to his home directory and the directories located inside it, but would not have any access to the files located outside of his home directory.

Anonymous FTP Access
Anonymous FTP access allows anyone with an FTP client to view and retrieve files from a special area of a virtual server Pro by using the username “anonymous” or “ftp” and their email address as a password. A person connecting to your virtual server’s anonymous FTP service would only be able to retrieve files from the ~/ftp directory of your virtual server, as well as any subdirectories contained within it. It is also possible to configure a specific directory within the ~/ftp/pub directory to allow anonymous users to upload files to your virtual server. 

Using Command Line FTP
Your virtual server comes with an onboard FTP client of its own that can be run from the command prompt. This is useful if you want to connect to a remote FTP server on the Internet and download files directly to your virtual server without having to download them to your PC first. Windows 95/98 and Windows NT also have a command line FTP client that you can use from the DOS prompt to download files from Internet servers to your desktop computer.
To become familiar with command line FTP, you can run the FTP client on your virtual server to access to the FTP server on your virtual server. Using your virtual server’s FTP client to connect to its own FTP service in this way is not very useful, but it will help you understand the basics of FTP. To establish an FTP connection to your virtual server from your command line, type:
ftp yourdomain.com Enter
The yourdomain.com should be the domain name or IP address of your virtual server. If you’ve just recently ordered your virtual server, your domain name may not have had enough time to be processed by the naming authorities yet. If this is the case, you should use either your IP address or the temporary domain name provided to you when your order was confirmed.
Once you connect, a login prompt asks you for a username. Type the username for your virtual server and press Enter. Next, you will see a prompt that asks you for a password. Type the password for the administrative user and press Enter.
You’ve now connected to your virtual server’s FTP server from your own command prompt.
There are several commands that you can use in the FTP command line. Some of the basic ones are:
ls: Lists the files in the current directory of the remote system.
pwd: Displays the current directory on the remote system.
cd: Changes the current directory on the remote system.
lcd: Changes the current directory on the local machine that you are connecting from.
get: Retrieves a file from the current directory of the remote system, and places it in the current directory of the local machine that you are connecting from.
send: Sends a file from the current directory of the local machine that you are FTP’ing from and places it in the current directory of the remote system.
ascii or as: sets the FTP transfer mode to ASCII. Any text based file should be transferred in ASCII mode. Transferring text files in binary mode can cause them to become corrupted.
binary or bi: sets the FTP transfer mode to binary. Any file that is not a text file should be transferred in binary mode. Transferring binary files in ASCII mode can cause them to become corrupted.
quit or bye: closes the connection with the remote system and exits the FTP program.
Try using the cd, lcd, pwd, binary, and ascii commands to see how they work. It’s probably a good idea not to use the get or send commands at this point because you have no real need to use them. When you’re finished experimenting with the FTP program, use the quit command to exit FTP mode.

Using an FTP Client
An FTP client greatly facilitates FTP transfers between your virtual server and your personal computer. An FTP client is a program that runs on your local computer and interacts with your virtual server’s FTP service. Most FTP programs have graphical interfaces that make it easy to transfer and manipulate files.
Once you obtain an FTP client, you should install and configure it according to its documentation.

Authenticated FTP with a Client
Try an Authenticated FTP connection by connecting to your own virtual server. Enter the following information in your FTP client:
Hostname: www.yourdomain.com
Username: your_username
Password: your_password
Once you connect, your client will attempt to log in using the username and password you provided. If successful, you will be able to administer your file system through your FTP client. Be aware that you can upload, download, and delete files on your virtual server through authenticated FTP. Any files you send to your virtual server will automatically overwrite existing files of the same name, so be sure to back up important data if you intend to upload any files.

Changing Your Administrative FTP Password
Your administrative FTP password is the same password that you use for Telnet and for the administrative email account. If you would like to change your administrative password, it will be changed for all three of these services.
To change your administrative FTP password, SSH to your virtual server and type the following at the command prompt:
 vpasswd Enter
You’ll then be prompted to enter the old password. After doing so, you’ll be prompted for a new password, which you will need to enter twice for verification purposes. The password for all the services associated with your administrative account (Email, SSH, and administrative FTP) will then be changed.