Using WS_FTP Professional for File Transfer

Setting up Site    Connecting to Remote Site    Transfer Files    Edit Site   Synchronize    Things to Explore   Where Get   Help

What Is WS_FTP Professional?

Why Should I Use It?

WS_FTP supports SFTP, secure file transfer protocol. To transfer files into the Engineering network, you must use SFTP.

In addition to basic FTP/SFTP service, WS_FTP includes several utilities: Find, Scheduler, Scripting, Synchronize, and Upload Wizard. The Find Utility, based on FTP, allows you to quickly search for files and folders on FTP sites, and then transfer the found files to your computer. WS_FTP Scheduler lets you schedule regular uploads or downloads for files or directories. The Scripting Utility lets you write, debug, and execute scripts that can perform many of the file transfer operations available in WS_FTP. The WS_FTP Synchronize Utility lets you synchronize (or mirror) two different directories (local and remote or remote to remote). It is a tool with which you can automatically keep your remote sites up-to-date, copying in new items, and deleting old items or items that have been removed from the source directory. The Upload Wizard allows you to transfer files from your local system to a remote FTP site without using the WS_FTP interface.

The Synchronize Utility is especially useful when you work on web pages locally, then upload them to the web server. Instead of uploading each new file individually or going through and selecting or remembering which files are newer than the others, the WS_FTP Synchronize Utility moves only files newer than the ones already stored on-line. (This also insures that if you work on the site from different locations that you don’t accidentally overwrite a page with an older file.) See Using the Synchronization Utility below for information on using this feature.

How Do I Use WS_FTP?

Setting up a Site

1. Go to Start | All Programs | Utilities | WS_FTP Pro. The program opens the window shown below.



2. If you have used WS_FTP Pro before, sites you have already created are listed under File | Connect | MySites.
   
   If you have never created an FTP site, click Connection Wizard. The dialogue box that opens asks for a site name (your choice), the server address (e.g., ftp.engineering.uiowa.edu), your user name (login ID) and password (optional; you can enter your password when you connect to the ftp site.), and connection type (see illustration; select SFTP/SSH).
3. The dialogue box that opens asks for a site name. Enter the name you’d like to call your remote site (i.e., Engineering).
4. The next dialogue box asks for the server address. Enter the ftp server name (for the engineering site, this is ftp.engineering.uiowa.edu).
5. The next screen asks for your User Name and Password. For the engineering site, enter your engineering account login ID. Entering your password is optional; you can enter your password when you connect to the ftp site).
6. If you will be using your engineering account remotely, choose SFTP/SSH as the Connection Type in the next screen. Not all hosts require secure authentication; check with your host site to see if it is required.
7. The next screen is a summary of the settings you entered. Correct if necessary by clicking Back. If the information is correct, click Finish. You will be connected to the site you just defined.
   

Connecting To a Remote Site

1. From the opening screen, click Open a Remote Connection (or Local Connection) in the right pane. Or click the Connect icon, which opens the Site Manager. Highlight the desired site and click Connect.
2. If you have not saved your password, enter it on the Login window.
3. Click Connect. This connects you to the root level of your H:\ drive, your home directory, whatever directory was open the previous time you used the program, or what you have set in Options - General - Auto reconnect. The left side of the screen displays the local system; the right side shows the Remote system.




You can change the view from the View pull-down menu or clicking the Views icon. To see the size, type, and modified date, select Details. In the example above, the view was set to List.

Transferring Files

1. Open the folder to which you want to add files or folders.
2. Select the files or folders to transfer.
3. Drag and drop the files to the destination folder. Or click the appropriate transfer arrow in the middle of the screen. Or use Edit | Copy, then select the destination and use Edit | Paste.
4. To change the name of the file in its new destination, click the transfer arrow when no file is selected, or hold the Ctrl key when clicking the transfer arrow.
5. You may need to change file permissions if you are uploading to your Engineering account or a Linux or Unix system.

Editing Sites

1. If you need to modify a site, start WS_FTP Pro. File | Site Manager, select site to modify, click Edit.
2. To change the connection to use SFTP, highlight the Advanced tab, then use the pull-down menu to change the Server type to SFTP/SSH. Click OK.

Using the Synchronize Utility

The Synchronize Utility is a tool with which you can automatically keep your remote sites up-to-date, copying in new items, and deleting old items or items that have been removed from the source directory. Settings are saved in control files with the .ctl extension. WS_FTP Synchronize can operate in four modes: synchronize Location 1 to Location 2; synchronize Location 2 to Location 1; synchronize both Location 1 and Location 2 ; and customized mode. Location 1 can be either a remote or local directory, but Location 2 must be a remote directory.

Note: In our testing we have found that you must have your password saved in the Site Manager for the Synchronize Utility to work.

To use the Synchronize Utility:

1. Go to Start | All Programs | Utilities | WS_FTP Pro | WS_FTP Pro Synchronize Utility.
2. In the window that opens, click the folder icon to the right of Location1 selection area. Browse to find the folder in the folder list and click OK.

   

3. Then click the folder icon to the right of Location2 selection area and browse to the appropriate folder.
4. From Options, click the appropriate selections.
5. You will be asked if you wish to save your settings. If you will be transferring between these two folders often, save the settings before continuing. If not, click No.
6. The Synchronize Utility opens, performing the Options selected. Click Synchronize or Close as appropriate.

WS_FTP Things to Explore

Active Edit - to edit local and remote files
File Mask - to limit the view to specific file types
Folder History - keeping information of folders visited during previous transactions
Transfer Manager - shows the progress (or to pause) on-going transactions
Using WS_FTP to delete files, name and rename files
Change permissions for Linux files - right click, select Properties; if editing web page files, this may be an easy way to assure the pages are viewable after transfer to the web server

Where To Get WS_FTP

Go to the ITS software download site to download the current version of WS_FTP.

Help

Read the on-line help from the Help pull-down menu; it is extensive and useful. For help using WS_FTP, please call the CSS consultants, 335-5055, 1253 SC.

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