FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files between computers over a TCP/IP network like the Internet. It uses separate connections for control commands and data transfer. FTP servers allow users to upload, download, and organize files. Setting up an FTP server involves installing FTP server software on a computer with a static IP address or domain name. This allows other users to access files by logging in anonymously or with a provided username and password. FTP clients are programs that users can install to connect to FTP servers and transfer files in either direction with drag-and-drop or other simple interfaces.

1. Submitted to:-Submitted by:-<br />Mrs.Aman deep Kaur Gopal Singla<br />Mankush Garg<br />Jatin jain<br />MCA - III<br />File Transfer ProtocolFile Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to copy a file from one host to another over a TCP/IP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server applications, which solves the problem of different end host configurations (i.e., Operating Systems, file names). FTP is used with user-based password authentication or with anonymous user access.<br />FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the simplest and most secure way to exchange files over the Internet. Whether you know it or not, you most likely use FTP all the time. The most common use for FTP is to download files from the Internet. Because of this, FTP is the backbone of the MP3 music craze, and vital to most online auction and game enthusiasts. In addition, the ability to transfer files back-and-forth makes FTP essential for anyone creating a Web page, amateurs and professionals alike.<br />When downloading a file from the Internet you’re actually transferring the file to your computer from another computer over the Internet. This is why the T (transfer) is in FTP. You may not know where the computer is that the file is coming from but you most likely know it’s URL or Internet address.<br />An FTP address looks a lot like an HTTP, or Website, address except it uses the prefix ftp:// instead of http://.<br />Example Website address: http://www.FTPplanet.com<br />Example FTP site address: ftp://ftp.FTPplanet.com<br />Most often, a computer with an FTP address is dedicated to receive an FTP connection. Just as a computer that is setup to host Web pages is referred to as a Web server or Website, a computer dedicated to receiving an FTP connection is referred to as an FTP server or FTP site.<br />HistoryThe original specification for the File Transfer Protocol was written by Abhay Bhushan and published as RFC 114 on 16 April 1971 and later replaced by RFC 765 (June 1980) and RFC 959 (October 1985), the current specification. Several proposed standards amend RFC 959, for example RFC 2228 (June 1997) proposes security extensions and RFC 2428 (September 1998) adds support for IPv6 and defines a new type of passive mode.<br />Protocol overviewThe protocol is specified in RFC 959, which is summarized below. <br />A client makes a TCP connection to the server's port 21. This connection, called the control connection, remains open for the duration of the session, with a second connection, called the data connection, opened by the server from its port 20 to a client port as required to transfer file data. The control connection is used for session administration (i.e., commands, identification, passwords) exchanged between the client and server using a telnet-like protocol. For example \"
RETR filename\"
would transfer the specified file from the server to the client. Due to this two-port structure, FTP is considered an out-of-band, as opposed to an in-band protocol such as HTTP.<br />The server responds on the control connection with three digit status codes in ASCII with an optional text message, for example \"
200\"
(or \"
200 OK.\"
) means that the last command was successful. The numbers represent the code number and the optional text represent explanations (i.e., <OK>). A file transfer in progress over the data connection can be aborted using an interrupt message sent over the control connection.<br />FTP can be run in active or passive mode, which determine how the data connection is established. In active mode, the client sends the server the IP address and port number on which the client will listen and the server initiates the TCP connection. In situations where the client is behind a firewall and unable to accept incoming TCP connections, passive mode may be used, where the client sends a PASV command to the server and receives an IP address and port number in return, which the client uses to open the data connection to the server. Both modes were updated in September 1998 to add support for IPv6 and made some other changes to passive mode, making it extended passive mode.<br />While transferring data over the network, four data representations can be used:4.1 ASCII mode: used for text. Data is converted, if needed, from the sending host's character representation to \"
8-bit ASCII\"
before transmission, and (again, if necessary) to the receiving host's character representation. As a consequence, this mode is inappropriate for files that contain numeric data in binary, floating point or binary coded decimal form.<br />4.2 Image mode (commonly called Binary mode): the sending machine sends each file byte for byte and as such the recipient stores the byte stream as it receives it. (Image mode support has been recommended for all implementations of FTP).<br />4.3 EBCDIC mode: use for plain text between hosts using the EBCDIC character set. This mode is otherwise like ASCII mode.<br />4.4 Local mode: Allows two computers with identical setups to send data in a proprietary format without the need to convert it to ASCII.<br />For text files, different format control and record structure options are provided. These features were designed to facilitate files containing Telnet or ASA formatting.<br />SecurityThe original FTP specification has many security concerns. In May 1999, the following flaws were addressed:<br />Bounce Attacks<br />Spoof Attacks<br />Brute Force Attacks<br />Sniffing<br />Username Protection<br />Port Stealing<br />FTP has no encryption tools meaning all transmissions are in clear text; user names, passwords, FTP commands and transferred files can be read by anyone sniffing on the network. This is a problem common to many Internet protocol specifications written prior to the creation of SSL, such as HTTP, SMTP and Telnet. The common solution to this problem is to use either SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol), or FTPS (FTP over SSL), which adds SSL or TLS encryption to FTP.<br />Remote FTP or FTP mailWhere FTP access is restricted, a remote FTP (or FTP mail) service can be used to circumvent the problem. An e-mail containing the FTP commands to be performed is sent to a remote FTP server, which is a mail server that parses the incoming e-mail, executes the FTP commands, and sends back an e-mail with any downloaded files as an attachment. Obviously this is less flexible than an FTP client, as it is not possible to view directories interactively or to modify commands, and there can also be problems with large file attachments in the response not getting through mail servers. As most internet users these days have ready access to FTP, this procedure is no longer in everyday use.<br />FTP over SSH (not SFTP)FTP over SSH (not SFTP) refers to the practice of tunneling a normal FTP session over an SSH connection.<br />Because FTP uses multiple TCP connections (unusual for a TCP/IP protocol that is still in use), it is particularly difficult to tunnel over SSH. With many SSH clients, attempting to set up a tunnel for the control channel (the initial client-to-server connection on port 21) will protect only that channel; when data is transferred, the FTP software at either end will set up new TCP connections, which bypass the SSH connection, and thus have no confidentiality, integrity protection, etc.<br />Otherwise, it is necessary for the SSH client software to have specific knowledge of the FTP protocol, and monitor and rewrite FTP control channel messages and autonomously open new forwardings for FTP data channels. Version 3 of SSH Communications Security's software suite, support this mode.<br />FTP over SSH is sometimes referred to as secure FTP; this should not be confused with other methods of securing FTP. Other methods of transferring files using SSH that are not related to FTP include SFTP and SCP; in each of these, the entire conversation is always protected by the SSH protocol.<br />What is an FTP Site?<br />An FTP site is like a large filing cabinet. With a traditional filing cabinet, the person who does the filing has the option to label and organize the files how ever they see fit. They also decide which files to keep locked and which remain public. It is the same with an FTP site.<br />The virtual ‘key’ to get into an FTP site is the User ID and Password. If the creator of the FTP site is willing to give everyone access to the files, the User ID is ‘anonymous’ and the Password is your e-mail address (e.g. name@domain.com). If the FTP site is not public, there will be a unique User ID and Password for each person who is granted access.<br />When connecting to an FTP site that allows anonymous logins, you’re frequently not prompted for a name and password. Hence, when downloading from the Internet, you most likely are using an anonymous FTP login and you don’t even know it.<br />To make an FTP connection you can use a standard Web browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc.) or a dedicated FTP software program, referred to as an FTP ‘Client’.<br />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).<br />When connecting with an FTP Client, uploads and downloads couldn’t be easier, and you have added security and additional features. For one, you’re able to to resume a download that did not successfully finish, which is a very nice feature for people using dial-up connections who frequently loose their Internet connection.<br />What is an FTP Client?<br />An FTP Client is software that is 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.<br />The classic FTP Client look is a two-pane design. The pane on the left displays the files on your computer and the pane on the right displays the files on the remote computer.<br />File transfers are as easy as dragging-and-dropping files from one pane to the other or by highlighting a file and clicking one of the direction arrows located between the panes.<br />Additional features of the FTP Client include: multiple file transfer; the auto re-get or resuming feature; a queuing utility; the scheduling feature; an FTP find utility; a synchronize utility; and for the advanced user, a scripting utility.<br />FTP Server Beginner’s GuideSo you’d like to start sharing files across the Internet, allowing visitors to get these files at their own convenience. Where do you start?<br />Unless you have your FTP site outsourced to a virtual hosting company, you’ll need a computer with adequate storage space for your FTP site. This computer will become your FTP server and, similar to a Web server, will need a constant connection to the Internet (i.e. a T1, Cable, DSL or ISDN connection). This computer may or may not be the same computer that hosts your Website.<br />Along with a constant connection, you’ll need a static IP address. An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a numeric Internet address for your computer. It is a set of four numbers, each between 0 and 255, that are separated by periods (dots). For example, the IP address for my FTP site is ‘206.151.165.244’. A static IP address is one that is permanently fixed to your computer.<br />You will also need FTP server software which allows you to serve files over the Internet, much like a Web server software that allows you to serve Web pages.<br />There are a number of options when choosing FTP server software. The server that is best for you depends on your computer’s operating system and how many people you expect to access your FTP site.<br />For those who need a robust FTP server, The recommended product is, WS_FTP Server. WS_FTP Server runs on Windows NT/2000 and is a popular choice for schools, ISPs or any business organization that needs to share files with an unlimited number of users. You can download a free 30-day evaluation of WS_FTP Server from the Ipswitch Website. <br />As demonstrated earlier, IP addresses are not very user-friendly. As a result, FTP sites will typically use a domain name for their Internet address – just like a Website. A domain name is simple text and is much easier for visitors to remember than an IP address (ftp.FTPplanet.com vs. 206.151.165.244).<br />If you already have a registered domain name for your Website, you will most likely want to use the same domain for your FTP site. If you do not have a domain, you can purchase one from a number of sites including Register.com or Internic.com.<br />Typically, an FTP site uses the sub domain ‘ftp’ instead of the ‘www’. The DNS (Domain Name System) is like an Internet directory that controls the redirect of each domain to a site’s IP address. Once you have your domain, you will need to adjust the DNS configuration so that your domain points to the static IP address of your FTP site. If you do not have DNS capabilities internally, you can use the free DNS service ZoneEdit.<br />Setting up your FTP Server<br />Setting up an FTP server is quite simple. Some software has the ability to set passwords, directory access permissions, and a number of other FTP server functions. You can experiment with these attributes as you get more comfortable with your FTP server. For now, let’s start with the basics.<br />To begin, you will need to set those directories you’d like to share, or ‘host’, on your FTP site. You can select an entire drive or any subdirectory of the computer you’re using for your FTP server.<br />Second, you’ll need to determine how people gain access to your FTP site. There are several options for granting permission to view, download and upload to your site.<br />Unlike most Websites, when a user visits an FTP site they must login. By default, a public FTP site uses an ‘anonymous login’. Technically, this means the User Name is ‘anonymous’ and the Password is a user’s e-mail address. However, often with an anonymous FTP site, the user is not required to enter any login information as these values are used by default.<br />It’s important to keep in mind that anonymous logins should only be granted for viewing and downloading – you never want to allow public uploads to your FTP site. For uploading, you want to force a visitor to type in a unique User Name/Password in order to gain upload access to your FTP site. It’s not uncommon for an FTP site to use a combination of anonymous and password protected logins.<br />Most FTP server software will detect the ‘home IP’ address of your computer during the FTP server setup or in the text display when the server becomes ‘on-line’. As mentioned earlier, you will need this IP address when setting up a domain name for your FTP site. <br />Designing Your SiteWhen setting up your FTP server, the most import design element is navigation. Unlike a Website that has hyperlinks to guide you, an FTP site relies on directories and text-based help files.<br />It is recommended taking the time to create a well organized file structure with easy-to-understand directory names. This will make it much easier to locate files on your site. For example, on my FTP site I have a directory of Web browsers. I have named this directory ‘Browsers’. Within this directory there are a number of folders that contain different types of browsers. I appropriately named these folders by the browser name and version number, i.e. Internet Explorer 5.5, Netscape 6, Opera 5, etc. The installation file for each browser is located within its relative folder. This is particularly helpful since most software file names are cryptic and next to impossible to identify.<br />12.1 A Few Important Tips:<br />In order for people to connect to your FTP server it must be ‘running’. And don’t forget to test the server before making it public.<br />Be careful not to give users permissions that they shouldn’t have. This is especially important when giving write or delete permissions. You don’t want to end up with a full hard drive or missing files.<br />Most FTP servers have a setting that allows users to resume broken transfers. This feature is a real blessing to modem users who often lose connections when downloading large files.<br />Keep a log of all server activity. This information can help you out in many ways. Logging can help tell you who is coming to your site and what they are doing on it.<br />Make sure that you remove old accounts and organize new ones. Most FTP server software allows you to classify users in groups which can help with this task.<br />FTP Client Softwares FTP Surfer :- A good freeware FTP client that features an Internet Explorer-style user interface. Features include multiple server connections, drag-and-drop, smart reconnect for unreliable connections, a favorites menu, and more. (For Windows). <br /> HYPERLINK \"
http://www.vista.ru/2inter.htm\"
\t \"
new\"
FTP Commander:- A basic, easy-to-use freeware FTP client. Offers all the functions of the Web's most popular FTP client. You can delete, rename and copy files, as well as create and delete directories on the FTP server. FTP Commander is freeware; unlike the second FTP client listed here, FTP Navigator,(which is shareware). <br /> BitTorrent:- A free, open-source peer-to-peer program, BitTorrent has become a big hit with people looking to rapidly download massive multimedia files (such as movies). What makes BitTorrent unique is that, the more popular a file is, the faster it downloads to your computer . (For Windows, Mac, and Linux). <br /> AceFTP :- One of the Web's most popular freeware FTP clients, this easy-to-use program offers advanced features and gives you the ability to open several FTP sites at once and execute multiple file transfers concurrently. AceFTP resumes broken transfers and lets you preview files with its integrated viewer.(ForWindows). <br />Turn a PC into an FTP ServerAnyone can run a full-functioning FTP server, even on your home PC. FTP is the fastest, most secure, reliable means of transferring files, so why not take advantage of these features for every file you transfer over the Internet.<br />14.1 Why an FTP Server?<br />E-mail attachments really don’t cut it. With e-mail, you have little control of how long it takes for someone to get your file. There are limits on file size and you’re unable to resume downloads that cut-out before they are complete.<br />Running an FTP server on your computer can virtually guarantee that your friends, co-workers, and venders can get all your files in a timely, secure manner. Running an FTP server is safe. FTP servers allow you full control over who can login to your computer, which files they can access, and whether or not they’re able to upload.<br />14.2 What do You Need? <br />To run your own FTP server all you need is a computer with an Internet connection (any Internet connection will do) and FTP server software.<br />Now there are number of options when choosing FTP server software. Like all Internet software, FTP server software is available at all price ranges. The server that is best for you depends on how often you intend on running your FTP server, how many people you expect to access your FTP server and the amount of money you’re willing to spend.<br />For those people who don’t plan on publicizing their FTP sever and/or won’t have a constant Internet connection to their FTP server, there are plenty of shareware or freeware FTP servers that would work for you. Go to your favorite download site and pick an FTP server that looks best to you.<br />For those people looking for a more robust FTP server, we recommend WS_FTP Server (available free for thirty days). This product WS_FTP Professional runs on Windows and is the ideal choice for personal use, schools, ISPs or any business organization that needs to share files with an unlimited number of users.<br />14.3 How Do I Do It?<br />After installing your FTP server client, there are only a few things you need to do to get started.<br />To begin, you need to decide what kind of logins your users have. If you want to allow everyone to have access to your files, you will want to make sure that your FTP server is setup to allow ‘anonymous logins’. This option is the default for most FTP servers and is how browsers and FTP clients first attempt to login to an FTP server.<br />If you want to grant permissions on an individual basis, then you want to disallow ‘anonymous logins’ and set-up a login user name and password. Depending on which FTP server you choose, you may also be able to allow access based on an individual’s IP address.<br />Second, you need to know the IP address of your computer so people can connect to your FTP server. There are two way to do this. Some FTP server clients will show you the ‘home IP’ address in the FTP server setup or in the text display when the server becomes ‘on-line’. Look around and you should be able to find it. If you can’t, open you DOS Command Prompt and type ‘ipconfig’ (or ‘winipcfg’ for older versions of Windows). This command will list your IP address, among other things.<br />Most FTP servers manage user accounts in a fairly simple way, allowing you to easily change passwords, directory permissions, access limitations and other FTP server functions. You can change these attributes as you get more comfortable with your FTP server.<br />As long as you have taken care of the login issues and you have your machine’s IP address, you’re ready to start running your very own FTP server. Keep in mind, in order for people to connect to your FTP server you must be connected to the Internet and your FTP server must be ‘running’. You might want to test the server by logging in with WS_FTP before you tell others to connect.<br />14.4 A Few Important Tips: <br />Watch Your Permissions – Be careful to not give users permissions that they shouldn’t have. This is especially important when giving write or delete permissions. You don’t want to end up with a full hard drive or missing files.<br />Control Your Bandwidth – Make sure you don’t allow too many people into your server at once. This could either take bandwidth away from you, or make your users experience slow downloads. Most FTP servers allow you to set send rates as well. <br />Prohibit Multiple Logins – If you don’t prohibit multiple logins, users will be able to take multiple files at the same time. In most cases, this just slows your server down and takes away from other users. <br />Allow Resuming – Most FTP servers can allow users to resume broken transfers. This feature is a real blessing to modem users and can really help get big files across slow lines. <br />Keep a Log – Keep a log of all server activity. This information can help you out in many ways. Logging can help tell you who is coming to your site and what they are doing on it. Again, most FTP server software supports logging.<br />Always Update User Accounts – Make sure that you remove old accounts and organize new ones. Most FTP server software allows you to classify users in groups.<br />FTP Technical Guide15.1 FTP Protocol Overview<br />A Brief description of File Transfer Protocol File Transfer Protocol (FTP) requires two programs, a server program, and a client program. Normally the server program offer files to the client program. But in some cases, the server will also allow the client to upload files. <br />15.2 A simple FTP session<br />The client program connects to an FTP sever on the internet. Once connected, the FTP server sends a welcome message to the client over the open socket (network) connection.<br />Server: 220 Sample FTP server ready. Please give user-name Client: USER anonymous Server: 331 User name OK. Please give your email address as password Client: PASS aaa@nowhere.comm Server: 230 User logged in <br />As you can see, the client and server are communicating in plain text. The digits in the server replies are ‘reply-codes’ defined by the FTP protocol. The uppercase words in the beginning of the client commands, are command verbs. The protocol is designed in a way that makes it easy for machines and humans to understand the dialog. In most cases, the client program doesn’t have to interoperate the text after the reply code. <br />Now, the user wants to see the available files and directories, and issues a DIR command in the client program. <br />Client: TYPE A Server: 200 Type set to A Client: PASV Server: 227 Entering passive mode (193,91,161,12,28,46) Client: LIST Server: 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls Server: 226 Transfer complete <br />The TYPE command tells the server to send the directory / file listing as plain ASCII, where each line is separated by a sequence. The PASV command tells the server to prepare for a new socket connection by creating a new socket and then listening for a connection from the client. Now, as you see, things are getting a little more complicated. The server reply includes a IP address and a port number, encoded as 6 different number values, separated by commas. The client must find and understand this address in order to receive the listing. <br />The LIST command tells the server to give a directory / file listing. Now the server replies with two reply lines.What’s happening is that the first line tells the client that the listing is ready and that the client can go on and make a new connection to the server. The client connects to the IP address given by the PASV reply and receives data until there is no more data to get. Then it closes the temporary data connection and switches back to the control connection to get the second reply line, which tells if the server transferred the whole listing. <br />In order to receive a directory listing, the client and server use two socket connections, one for the control flow (server sends commands, the server replies in plain text) and one for the data connection (which is continuous and goes in one direction only). Every time a directory-listing is sent, the server and client will use another new (temporary) socket connection for the transfer. <br />The user finds an interesting file, and gives the FTP client the command to get it. <br />Client: TYPE I Server: 200 Type set to I Client: PASV Server: 227 Entering passive mode (193,91,161,12,28,46) Client: RETR test.zip Server: 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for test.zip Server: 226 Transfer complete<br />As you see, the server and client use the exact same method to get a file, as they do to get a directory listing. The only change is that the RETR command is used in stead of the LIST command. In this case, the file was a .zip archive. Since such files can’t be translated to text-files (at least not in a safe manner), the FTP client switched to binary mode (TYPE I). File and directory listings can be transferred in both binary and text-mode. Since different operating systems use different means to separate lines in text-files, it is generally a good idea to let the FTP server and FTP client do the conversion. Both know the rules for a ASCII (text) transfer and the client always knows the rules for the local storage of text-files. <br />You can connect to an FTP server with a Telnet client and give commands line by line. However, it is much easier and safer to transfer files with an FTP client.<br />WS_FTP Home & ProfessionalIf you need to get started with an FTP client, two options are offered by Ipswitch File Transfer.<br />16.1 WS_FTP Home:<br />Ideal for Personal Users<br />Web publishing, photos, music, video sharing<br />Simple, easy-to-use file transfer program.<br />16.2 WS_FTP Professional:<br />Perfect for business and advanced file transfer users<br />Transferring valuable data securely<br />Building web sites & moving large files<br />Works over SSL, FTPS, SSH/SFTP protocols.<br />Web browser supportMost recent web browsers can retrieve files hosted on FTP servers, although they may not support protocol extensions such as FTPS. When an FTP rather than HTTP URL is supplied, the accessible contents of the remote server is presented in a manner similar to that used for other Web content. Firefox has a full-featured FTP client in the form of an extension called Fire FTP<br />FTP URL syntax , taking the form:<br />ftp://[<user>[:<password>]@]<host>[:<port>]/<url-path><br />(The bracketed parts are optional.) For example:<br />ftp://public.ftp-servers.example.com/mydirectory/myfile.txt<br />or:<br />ftp://user001:secretpassword@private.ftp-servers.example.com/mydirectory/myfile.txt<br />How to connect to FTP with a web browser?There are a few ways to connect by FTP to a host. The easiest way is using Internet Explorer which has the best ftp support.<br />In order to connect by FTP with your browser, you should just use the following address:<br />ftp://YourFtpUser:YourFtpUserPassword@yourdomain.com<br />However, if your FTP user to connect is similar to user@yourdomain.com then you will have to URL encode it like this:<br />ftp://YourFtpUser%40YourDomain.com:YourFtpUserPassword@yourdomain.com<br />In the above case it is important to note what the FTP username is:<br />YourFtpUser%40YourDomain.com <br />This address is URL-encoded and comes from YourFtpUser@YourDomain.com where @ has been substituted with %40, which is the ASCII code for @.<br />For more information about FTP you can check SiteGround's FTP Tutorial.<br />If you still have problems connecting by FTP, it is possible that your outgoing TCP port 21 is blocked by your local firewall or Internet service provider. If this is not the case, then your FTP server might be unreliable and you should transfer to a stable FTP service provider.<br />Different FTP Connection Types<br />Each organization determines how they wish users to connect to their FTP server. There are three basic ways:<br />Anonymous FTP access - this is the easiest connection method. You do not need to include any user information. Some common examples are software companies (Microsoft) or government sites (IRS.GOV) where you can download forms. <br />User name required - in this instance the organization wants you to have an account to access the site. Schools tend to use this type of access. <br />User name + password - this is the most restrictive as the user has to have an account and password to gain access to the site. Many websites use this method for people to upload files to the server. <br />19.1 Anonymous FTP Logins<br />For most anonymous logins, the FTP browser syntax is the same regardless of browser. You type ftp://ftp.server_name in your browser's address bar. For example, ftp://ftp.microsoft.com<br />In the second thumbnail showing a FTP connection using Internet Explorer 7, you'll see additional information. This is an example where a company can customize the information based on user agent.<br />After you press the Enter key, your browser displays a list of available folders for your use rather than a web page. Many sites that allow anonymous FTP access start you at a \"
pub\"
or \"
public\"
folder.<br />As with file explorer, you can click a folder to see its contents. Some sites may direct you to other folders than the public ones such as /downloads. In these instances, the browser syntax would be: <br />ftp://ftp.xyz.com/downloads<br />19.2 FTP Connection Requires Username and Password<br />Other companies offer FTP access, but they require the user to authenticate by providing a user name and possibly a password. Often, the files aren't for public distribution, but for specific purposes. For example, you need to submit your customer address list to a mailing house. In this case, neither company would want the public to access these files.<br />There are actually several ways that you can do these type of FTP connections with your browser. The easy way is to start the connection as you did for an anonymous FTP connection.<br />1. Type ftp://ftp.xyz.com<br />2. Press Enter<br />3. A password dialog box should appear like the one below. I used my domain as an example. Fill in your user name and password if needed.<br />4. Click the Log On or OK button depending on your browser.<br />19.3 Adding the User Information in the Address Bar<br />There are also ways to skip the browser dialog that prompts for the User Name and Password. While this does save you a step, I find it's easy to make mistakes.<br />To connect to a FTP server requiring a username with Firefox, <br />1. Open Firefox<br />2. In the locator bar, type ftp://username: password@ftp.xyz.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it <br />For example, if my User name was jess12 and my password was bosox67, the FTP browser syntax would be:<br />ftp://jess12: bosox67@ftp.xyz.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it <br />In some cases, the User name includes a domain name such as jess12@xyz.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . In these situations, you would type:<br />ftp:// jess12@xyz.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it : bosox67@ftp.xyz.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it <br />To connect to a FTP server with a User name with IE 6, <br />1. Open Internet Explorer<br />2. In the address bar, type the ftp address such as ftp://ftp.xyz.com<br />3. Dismiss any error dialogs if needed.<br />4. From the File menu, select Login As <br />5. In the Log On As dialog, type your username and password.<br />6. Click Log On.<br />If you plan on connecting to FTP servers on a regular basis, I would suggest getting a good FTP client. They make the task of uploading or moving files much easier than a web browser. But for the occasional FTP connection, your web browser will work fine.<br />