Transferring Files Between The PC And UNIX Using WS_FTP

WS_FTP is usually located in the Communications or WS_FTP submenu of the Programs menu within the Start menu. The first time you launch WS_FTP, you may see a screen asking you to accept the license agreement. Since this program is free for educational use, click Accept. The Session dialog window of Figure 5 will open.



Figure 5: The Session Dialog

 

  1. In the Host Name/Address enter webdrive.stolaf.edu.
  2. For the Host Type field select Automatic Detect
  3. Make sure the Anonymous box is NOT checked
  4. If your login name does not already appear in the box to the right of User ID:, click within that box and type your login name. If you are using a private machine, click Save to save your user name in the default setup; this way, you will not have to re-enter it every time you use the program.
  5. Press TAB to move to the Password: field, and enter your St. Olaf password.
  6. Click on OK.

    7. The window of Figure 6 will open. The left half of the window represents your PC, and the right half represents your UNIX account. You will use this graphical interface to execute all of your file transfers.


Figure 6: The FTP Window

PC-to-UNIX File Transfers

To transfer a file from your PC to your UNIX account, follow these steps:

  1. You must first select the PC drive that contains your file. In the bottom half of the left-hand side of the window, double-click on the letter for the appropriate drive. The selected drive and its current directory will then appear in the box labeled "Current PC Directory" in Figure 5.
  2. If the current directory is not the correct one, click on the ChgDir button on the PC side of the window. In the window that opens, type the drive and directory path for the directory that contains your file. For example, if the file is located in the WEBPAGE directory on your C: drive, type c:\WEBPAGE and press ENTER. The directory you entered will appear in the Current Directory box, and the files in that directory will be listed in the scroll box in the bottom half of the PC side of the window. Alternatively, you can navigate using the folders in the window; if you need to move back a level, double-click on the arrow followed by two dots at the top of the column
  3. When you launch WS_FTP, it will log you into your UNIX home directory. The files in your home directory will be listed on the UNIX side of the window. If you're building personal webpage you need to save your pages to your www folder, so double-click on the www folder before transferring. If you're working on a non-personal page (ie a departmental page) then you need to move to the correct folder. To do this click on the ChgDir button on the far right (UNIX side) and type in the location you wish to save your files in. For example, if you're working on the Math department's pages you would enter /home/www/depts/math/ for the location of your files. Here are some general guidelines for locations:

    Page type Page location
    Departmental /home/www/depts/department_name
    Online Course Materials /home/www/courses/current/ department_name/course_number
    Student Organizations /home/www/orgs/organization_name
    Personal * /home/www/people/username

    *If you are developing a personal site, you will need to Activate your Personal Web Space by visiting the account services page. Questions can be directed to webmaster.
  4. On the PC side of the window, click on the name of the file you want to transfer (in the filename scroll box) to highlight it. Use the up and down scroll arrows to locate the file if necessary.
  5. Once you have selected the file to transfer, click on the PC-to-UNIX Transfer button (labeled in Figure 6). A window will open displaying the progress of the file transfer. Once the transfer is complete, the file should appear in the listing on the UNIX side of the window. The original file remains untouched in its original location on your PC. A copy of the file has been placed in your UNIX account.

UNIX-to-PC File Transfers

To transfer a file from your UNIX account to your PC, follow these steps:

  1. First, make certain that the file you wish to transfer from UNIX has a DOS-compatible filename; i.e., it should be no more than eight characters in length with a three-character extension.
  2. If the file you wish to transfer is not in your UNIX home directory, change directories as explained above.
  3. If the current drive and directory listed on the PC side of the window are not where you wish to place the transferred file, change the directory as explained above.
  4. On the UNIX side of the window, click on the name of the file you want to transfer (in the filename scroll box) to highlight it. Use the up and down scroll arrows to locate the file if necessary.
  5. Once you have selected the file to transfer, click on the UNIX-to-PC Transfer button (Figure 5). A window will open displaying the progress of the file transfer. Once the transfer is complete, the file should appear in the listing on the PC side of the window. The original file remains untouched in its original location in your UNIX account. A copy of the file has been placed on your PC.

Changing Permissions with WS-FTP

Every file on the web server has a set of permissions which indicate who has access to read, write and execute that specific file. For people using the St. Olaf Templates it is very important to have the proper permissions set on your files so that they will correctly display the St. Olaf headers and footers.

To change the permissions on a file using WS-FTP:

  1. Right click on the file that you wish to change permissions on.
  2. This will bring up a menu that has the option chmod(UNIX), click this.
  3. On the window that pops up there will be 3 columns, Owner, Group and Other. Check the following boxes:
    • Owner : Read, Write and Execute
    • Group : Read, Write and Execute
    • Other : Read and Execute
  4. Click OK to set these changes.

NOTE: This must be done for every file that uses the standard St. Olaf headers and footer.

Quitting WS_FTP

When you are finished transferring files, you may quit WS_FTP by pressing the Exit button in the lower right-hand corner of the WS_FTP window.

 

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