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Using the KSUCVM FTP Site If you are new to the concept of using FTP to transfer files, the information below may be of some help. If you are an experienced FTP user and just need the particulars about our site, please click here. What Is FTP? FTP is a method of sending and retrieving files to and from other computers on the Internet. Normally, you need a password and authorized access in order to send or get hold of a file from elsewhere, but there is a special case of FTP called Anonymous FTP, which allows Internet users access to the many hundreds of thousands of files which are available in this way. FTP is fairly fast and reliable, and in most cases, you are able to resume a transfer that has been interrupted due to loss of connection or other problems rather than starting over from the beginning. FTP is most commonly used for large files that can not and should not be sent as e-mail attachments due to their size. All you need in order to transfer files via FTP is the use of a computer which has a connection to the Internet and the name (or numeric address) of the site you want to download from or send a file to (the exact directory name and filename is also useful, but often not essential, as you can normally browse through what is available). Depending on the site, you may also need a User ID and Password for access. The names of machines are usually in the format machine.site.network, for example ftp.microsoft.com but you can also use the numeric (IP) address if you know it (four numbers separated by dots, e.g. 129.130.129.21). Note that some sites add a fourth, and sometimes even a fifth, element to the name, e.g. ftp.vet.k-state.edu. How do I use FTP? When FTP was first developed, you connected to other sites using a command-line interface like DOS, Unix, or VMS. Although you can still use a command-line interface to connect, today it is much easier to use a graphical interface, commonly called an FTP client, in order to connect to an FTP site. Connecting Using the Internet Explorer Web Browser: If you are using Windows and have the Internet Explorer 5.0 or above web browser, you can use the web browser itself to access an FTP site. Other browsers (like Netscape) might be capable of this as well, but aren't always as reliable. For anonymous access, simply type in ftp:// (note the similarity to http:// for accessing web sites) and the machine name or numeric IP address, e.g. ftp://ftp.vet.k-state.edu. The browser will connect to the FTP server and display the contents (files and/or folders) that are available to anonymous users. Most FTP sites have an Incoming directory, which is a folder that is available for uploading files to; and a Pub or Public folder that is available for public browsing. You can then use your mouse to browse and drag-and-drop files from the Explorer window to your desktop or a folder on your computer. Keep in mind that doing this this initiates the transfer, and it may take some time for larger files to complete the transfer.
Most FTP sites require a non-anonymous User ID and Password in order to upload files to that site. Using Internet Explorer, you can simply type in the User ID and Password in this format to connect: ftp://UserID:Password@ftp.vet.k-state.edu. Once connected, you can use the mouse to drag-and-drop files from your computer into the folder on the FTP site. Once again, this initiates the transfer and can take some time to complete.
Connecting Using an FTP Client: While Internet Explorer is a simple way to connect to an FTP site, most people prefer to use an FTP Client because it is more reliable and has the ability in most cases to resume broken transfers. There are several FTP clients available for your use. Most Mac users have an FTP client called Fetch. A free Windows FTP client is called FileZilla (from the makers of the Mozilla web browser). A version of FileZilla for Windows 2000/XP can be downloaded from here. Since most FTP clients work the same, an understanding of one client will lead to the understanding of others. Once FileZilla is installed and opened, you can enter the name of the machine you wish to connect to in the "Address" box. Enter a username and password if needed (leave blank for anonymous connections). Port 21 is the default port for un-encrypted FTP connections. Pressing the "ENTER" key or clicking on the "Quickconnect" button will connect you to the FTP site listed in the "Address" box.
The upper FileZilla window will display the commands to and responses from the FTP server. The left-side window that displays your local drive/directory structure, and once connected, the right-side window will display a directory listing of the remote host. You can easily download files to any local directory by right-clicking on a remote file and selecting it's local destination. The box at the bottom of the window monitors all transfer progress. Remember that depending on what User ID and Password you used to connect, you may or may not have sufficient rights to upload files and create and/or delete files and folders on the remote site. When you download files from a remote site to your local machine, you should also be sure that you remember the name of the file and the directory that you downloaded it to so that you can find it later. It is a common practice to create a "Downloads" directory on your local machine that you use for all files you retrieve from remote sites.
Accessing the KSUCVM FTP Site
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