FTP (Client) Guides

FTP Client Guides
Please keep posts in here for questions and/or comments related to the guides or clients themselves--general chatter should probably go somewhere else, for clarity.

Guides Available
- FlashFXP
- gFTP
- WS_FTP
- SmartFTP (tenseiken) - Post 2

Guide: FlashFXP
Version assumed is 3.0. They should all be the same, menu-wise. If not, I apologise.

This is a guide for FlashFXP, my client of choice on Windows.

Once you grab the installer from their site, run it and install it as you like--the default options should suffice for most, and they are what I assume you use. Upon completion, run FlashFXP, and you ought be presented with an FTP window and a Restore Queue dialogue. Cancel that dialogue window, but leave FlashFXP itself open.

Hit Options > Preferences (or just F6, alternatively) to bring up the Configure FlashFXP dialogue. Be sure to change the Connect Retry Delay option to 60 seconds, as many of the FTPs around here require it. Additionally, you can increase the Connect Retry Count option above the default if you like--this is how many times FlashFXP will try to connect before it quits.

Next, hit the Options tab. While all changes in here are optional, there are a couple things which I suggest be changed. Exit During Transfer and Exit With Non-Empty Queue in the Confirmations section should both be enabled. This is to stop FlashFXP from dying if you accidentally hit the Close button on the window.

Everything in the Sounds, Advanced, and Transfer tabs are acceptable at default settings. If you require use of a proxy server, enter the details required in the Proxy/Firewall/Ident tab (you should know what to do there).

We are now done with the required configuration of FlashFXP. If you want to automate it more, look below, if not, skip a couple paragraphs.

To automate it, hit Options > File Exist Rules, and a grid similar to what is below should appear:

Destination | Downloading | Uploading | FXP (Site-to-Site)
------------+-------------+-----------+-------------------
Smaller     | [Select]    | [Select]  | [Select]
------------+-------------+-----------+-------------------
Same        | [Select]    | [Select]  | [Select]
------------+-------------+-----------+-------------------
Larger      | [Select]    | [Select]  | [Select]

I suggest the Smaller, Downloading to Auto Resume; Same, Downloading to Auto Skip; Larger, Downloading to Ask. If it's not selected, select the On Ask, wait [SELECT] seconds then overwrite option, as this will keep the client from stalling out.

Now for connecting to our servers. Hit F8. You can input typical information at this time (like host, port, and user), so do that. HOWEVER, look at the Toggles tab first. In here we can set a lot of server-specific information, which you are free to do with as you see fit. Use Passive Mode is the most important option in here--set it accordingly to the server you are connecting to (some require Passive Mode, some Active Mode (PORT)).

Let us now assume you got in--your FTP window will have four panes. According to the Cartesian coordinate grid. The top-right square is I, top-left is II, bottom-left is III, and bottom-right is IV.

I: Remote Pane
- This is the FTP server's files.
II: Local Pane
- This represents your computer's file system.
III: Queue Pane
- This shows what files have been selected for transfer, and status.
IV: Status Pane[/b]
- This shows all the commands and status your FTP client and the FTP have sent back and forth. If it's saying "Connection failed", make sure you see the reason above it.

Notice how both I and II have files displayed? You can drag-and-drop files either way to transfer up to the FTP or down to your machine. Alternatively, you can right-click a file and hit Transfer or Transfer As... to get/put files.

Guide: gFTP
This assumes any version of gFTP using GTK2--version 2.0.18 is the standard with most distros.

Fire up gFTP, and fetch the connection details for the FTP you want to connect to. In this case, we shall assume the below details:

Host: 123.456.789.255
Port: 2155
Transfer Mode: PASV (Passive)
User: name
Pass: word

Once gFTP is up, hit Bookmarks > Edit Bookmarks, and a small dialogue should pop up. I'm guessing there's a huge list of defaults--you may leave those if you like, but I usually prune them off. Right-click in the list, and hit New Item. You will be presented with a great deal of options seperated under tabs--below, each tab and its options are explained. If the name of the option is coloured yellow, it is REQUIRED. If it's green, it is optional.

Bookmark
Description: Name to save the bookmark with. We'll use Blah_Test for our example.
Hostname: Host of the server. In our example, this is 123.456.789.255.
Port: If the port you need to enter is 21, this can be left blank. In our example, you set it to 2155.
Protocol: Leave this at FTP (the default).
Remote Directory: Leave this blank.
Local Directory: This can be set to whatever you like. It's where gFTP opens by default locally.
Username: User to connect with. Our example's is name.
Password: Password to use. Our example's is word.
Account: Leave it empty.
Log in as ANONYMOUS: Disable this.

General
Remote Character Sets: Don't worry about this--if you need it, you'll know how to use it.
Remote LC_TIME: You can safely ignore this.
Cache TTL: How long do you want to cache directory lists and such? This is in seconds.
Overwrite by Default: Overwrite or resume transfers that die halfway?
Preserve file permissions: Keep the same mode as the files on the server? Downloading from GFF's FTPs, this can be safely enabled as the FTPs are pretty well publically moderated. Be careful about it if you're downloading files from someone you do not trust!
Preserve file time: Keep the same file time as that on the server? Enable or disable as you like.
Refresh after each file transfer: Refresh the local file listing after each transfer completes--this can be enabled, but it's generally unnecessary.
Sort directories first: Put directories ahead of files in the list (sorted alphabetically)? If disabled, everything gets sorted in one huge group.
Show hidden files: Show dotfiles (.filename) or no? This is enabled by default, and it's likely not relevant to GFF's FTPs.

Network
Network timeout: Leave it at the default unless you need to toy with this (how long to wait for the network to reply before dying).
Connect retries: How many times do you want to retry to connect to the server before dying? Set to 0 to retry indefinitely.
Retry sleep time: Set to 60 or you risk eating a ban from the majority of GFF's servers! This is how many seconds to wait between retries.
Max KB/S: If you want to limit how fast gFTP downloads, set this, otherwise it can be left blank.
Transfer Block Size: When transferring files, gFTP will transfer things in chunks. This defines how big each chunk is. It should be a multiple of 1024, and the default of 20480 should be fine for everyone.
Enable IPv6 Support: Leave it at the default (enabled) unless it poses a problem for you.

FTP
Email address: When connecting anonymously, this will be sent as the password.
Ignore PASV address: This may be needed if the FTP you're attempting to connect to is behind a router and you're getting weird errors while using PASV mode. You may also need to switch to PORT mode (see the next option).
Passive file transfers: If the FTP requires PASV mode, enable this. If it requires Active (PORT) mode, disable it.
Resolve Remote Symlinks: Leaving this enabled is generally fine--it's there to help following symbolic links, and while very few (if any) of GFF's FTPs should require it, it won't hurt to have on.
Transfer files in ASCII mode: If sending text from Windows->Linux or the other way, enable this. If you're downloading binary data (like executables or MP3s) you'll want this off.

HTTP
Use HTTP/1.1: Unimportant for us--the default's fine.

SSH
Need SSH User/Pass: Not important for GFF FTPs, though you might need it elsewhere. This defines whether or not SSH connections need a user/pass, and is generally safe to leave on.

Once all that's done, hit Save twice (once in this window, the other in the Bookmarks manager), and then hit File > Options. You will see a lot of options here repeated from the bookmark we defined earlier--the bookmark overrides these, as these are just the default for when you do not connect by means of a bookmark. Define them as you will, as we are only going over the unique options.

View program: Program used when you hit "View" on a file. This can be left empty, generally.
Edit program: Program used when you hit "Edit" on a file. For GFF's FTPs, this is unimportant, as you will not likely ever edit things on another's server.
Startup directory: Similar to "Local Directory", just that it's where the program goes on startup.
Max log window size: The default's fine, but this is how many bytes of text the log window will show at a time.
Append file transfers: Leave this enabled.
Do one transfer at a time: Do not disable this when connecting to GFF FTPs! Most FTP owners only want you connecting once, and disabling this will probably earn you a ban.
Start file transfers: Disable this--this tells gFTP to not automatically start a new transfer that gets queued. You'll have to start them manually, but it stops the client from trying to download two things at once if you drag more into the queue after a transfer has begun.

Local Hosts
I really don't have a clue what this tab does, but I've not had need to use it to connect to GFF's FTPs. Someone care to help me figure out what the world this is for?

Alright, we're done. OK out to the main window, then hit Bookmarks, and find your newly created bookmark. Press it, and you'll connect to the FTP! Or at least try to--if it's busy, gFTP should do its thing and wait the time you told it to, then try again all on its own.

Guide: WS_FTP
This assumes the most recent version.

Once you've gotten the installer, run it, and let it do everything it needs to. I'd suggest against installing "Pre-Configured" sites, as for working on GFF, this is useless. Once again, Auto-Launching it at the end is wise.

Close the dialog that pops up, then hit Options > Program Options. In here, under General, enter some fake email address, or your real one if you want to give it out.

Now go to the Transfers section. Under Number of retries for failed transfers, I'd suggest changing this to 10 or something, just so it retries more than twice. Maximum number of concurrent transfers MUST be set to 1! If you do not, it will try to connect multiple times to the same server, and invariably get you banned. Number of parts used on multiple transfers should be 1 as well. I would also suggest against using Automatically resume transfers when application starts, as you may want to connect on your own.

SSL has some interesting settings, such as forcing a local port range (for firewall compatability, I'm thinking... someone should clarify this), and forcing a PORT IP. But you shouldn't need to mess with these much, if at all.

OK out of this, then go File > Connect...
Now you should see a folder hierarchy. Click on MySites, then hit the Create Site button to the right, and then give it a name. Hit Next. For Host Address, this would be something like site.dyndns.org. Hit Next. User ID and Password to enter you'll find under the FTP thread itself (in GFF). As the program states, "Very few FTP servers require the Account field", so leave it blank. Hit Next, once again.

Now you should see a Server Type dropdown menu. You can leave this as FTP, as I do not think any GFF servers use the other types. Though, keep this setting in mind if it is not working right. Port would be the number you see at the very end of an FTP URL, or you'll find it in the thread as well.

Now you can hit Finish, and be done with this. You are also able to connect now. File Transfers work in the same way as FlashFXP -- Drag & Drop. So you'd drag a file from the right pane to the left to download, vice versa to upload.

This client I do NOT reccomend, however. I never found any option to set a reconnect delay, or any sort of connection time delay, for that matter. But it's all a matter of choice, so have fun with them.

-----

At this point, you should be able to go about your business, though I must stress this: follow the FTP owner's rules. If you have a guide of your own for an alternative client, feel free to post it so we can keep them all in one area.

Happy FTPing.

Most amazing jew boots

As before, I'll be posting my SmartFTP client tutorial here in Duminas' thread.
______________________________________

SmartFTP is my client of choice, and I recommend using it to log into my FTP, since it is what I test my FTP with. Following is a wordy, but step-by-step guide to using SmartFTP and an introduction to some of its best features. For the purposes of this guide, I'm going to assume that you just downloaded SmartFTP from here and have finished installing it. So, open the program.

When you first run it after installing, you'll see a preferences dialog. Click on connection. Change 'retry delay' to 60 seconds. This will prevent SmartFTP from hammering. You may also want to change the number of retries to something like 50 or so. Take note of the data connection section. You'll see a box where you can select PASV or PORT; set it to PASV and make sure the box beside 'Force Server IP for PASV Mode' is checked. Click OK. The way you get back to these settings is Tools -> Settings. Remember that because you might need to change your data connection mode later. Okay, that's pretty much all the setup you need. Let's connect to an FTP now.

The first step of connecting to an FTP is reading the first post of the FTP op's thread completely. Make sure you are familiar with the op's rules--I cannot stress enough how important this is. You MUST read and obey the rules. Now then, the FTP server ops in the Gamingforce forums will provide you with 4 pieces of information you'll need to paste into the bar at the top of SmartFTP. We'll use my server as an example, but note that my FTP now runs on a whitelist system, so you won't be able to log in unless you first PM your IP address to me. You can always use the look account though, simply use the password "look". Anyway, my address is tenseiken.mine.nu, so you copy that and paste it into the address bar. Next, make sure "anonymous" is not checked. To log into my FTP server, you must use your gamingforce nick as your username, so I would type "tenseiken" into the username box since that's my gamingforce nick. The password for my download account is "download". My server is on port 21, so type that into the port box. Hit enter and SmartFTP will attempt to connect. Now pay attention to the log. If it says no connection can be made, or the host does not exist, my server is offline so you might as well quit now. If it says 'there are already 8 users connected' or 'too many users connected', then that's exactly what it means and I don't personally care if you retry once every 60 seconds. SmartFTP will do this for you if you don't close the window.

Let's assume that you were able to log in. If the log says 'user logged in' but you don't see any files listed, then that means my server did not accept the list data mode you chose (PASV if you followed my setup instructions). If you see some folders and files, skip ahead in the guide a bit. Close the remote connection window, go to the connection settings again and switch to active or PORT mode. Also, it's probably a good idea to select 'Manual' in the 'PORT IP Mode' box if you are on a router. If you do that, you should then paste your WAN IP address (you can get it from WhatIsMyIP.com) into the box directly below that one. If you aren't on a router, I recommend selecting 'Auto' for the 'PORT IP Mode' box. Okay, now you should attempt to log in again. This time you should see a list of folders, i.e. 'MP3 Directory', 'MPC Directory', etc. Let's go to 'MP3 Directory'. Now on the right, you'll see a list of all the contents of the 'MP3 Directory' folder. Let's open the 'Game' folder, and then 'Actraiser Symphonic Suite' by double clicking on it. Now you see a list of the MP3s in the Actraiser folder. Want to download them? On the left, click on 'Game' again. You're back out to a list of all the folders within the 'Game' folder again. Right click on 'Actraiser Symphonic Suite' on the right side. A context menu appears. Point to 'download', then 'direct' then 'select folder'. Use the folder browse dialog to go to the folder you want to download to and hit OK. The download will begin immediately. Note that while downloading you are not able to browse the rest of my files. Sucks, right? Let's go over SmartFTP's session queue.

Now, when you chose 'download', you probably noticed some other options, i.e. session queue and global queue. Cancel your download of Actraiser (assuming you started it) with the abort button at the top (red circle with an x in it). Now, right click the actraiser folder again, point to download, session queue, and select folder. Select your folder and hit OK. Now let's do the same thing with Arc the Lad 2. After you've done it with Arc 2, look right below the log window and you'll see two tabs, one says 'Log', one says 'Session Queue'. Click on session queue. Where the log was will now turn into a list of the two folders you chose to download. Right click the first one and click transfer. The download will start and keep going until it finishes (or you get disconnected). The benefits of session queue is that you can set several things to download and start the download when you're ready. Let's go over one last thing, the global queue.

Cancel your session queue downloads with the abort button and delete them from the list (highlight, press delete). Click the log tab again. Now, right click on actraiser, point to download, then global queue, then click select folder. Select a folder and hit OK. Do this again with Arc 2. Now, down at the bottom you'll see 4 tabs. Queue source, global queue, connections, and speed. Click the global queue tab. You'll see that the two folders you chose to download via global queue are there. Now close the remote window and log out of my server. Click the 'play' button to start the download. The global queue will attempt to log into my server and download the folders you chose. If it can't log in, it will use the retry delay and attempt number you specified in connections. The benefit of this is if you keep getting knocked off a server, this will automatically retry. Also, if the server is busy, you can login with the look account, choose to download a few folders via global queue, then right click on the items in the global queue list, click properties, and you'll see two text boxes. The first one, source, will have something like ftp://look:look@tenseiken.mine.nu:21/*thing you want to download*. Click the 'Select URL' button beside the source text box. If you change the username and password from the one for the look account to the one for the download account, the queue will try to use the download account to download rather than the look account. This is really nice to have when a server is very busy.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Ah, it's been so long since I whipped out SmartFtp for some GFF VGM downloading. Torrents have consumed much of my time since GFF went down in early February. Of course I haven't exactly been downloading lots of VGM for a while anyways...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

This was really helpful, thanks

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?