Transferring files via FTP

FTP to a Windows or Linux login machine: The only ftp client available to the login machines is sftp, part of the full SSH client described in the Access section.

• When you sftp to a login machine, you will be at your Windows home directory on H: or your Linux home directory /home/nfs/ctcfsrvn/m/<your_userid>. Verify that you are where you want the files to be before transferring files.

• Set the proper mode before transferring files
  • Use ascii mode for text files including html, source files, etc. If sftp is in ascii mode, which is the default mode when you start sftp from the command line, and you transfer text files, it will adjust the text convention for you. So you should use ascii mode for text files, including html file, source files, etc.
  • Use binary mode for others, such as graphics files, postscript, and tar files. Default mode is ascii, so be careful if you're transferring a binary file. If you're in ascii mode, sftp will put extra stuff in there, and the binary file will get garbled.
  • Use binary mode for tar files even if they contain text (extract using an unzip utility; on the workshop laptops and collaboratory machines, it is built into XP; just right-click on the zip file.)

• Note: To use sftp, you will need to know the host name or ip address of the machine you are opening a connection to. If you are not sure, log on to the machine and issue a query at the command line. For example, on Windows you could issue hostname or ipconfig in the command prompt window.  On Linux issue hostname.

Your Turn 

Copy any file from your home/office machine to H:\users\your_userid\  using sftp: