Console FTP Clients

Getting Started

1. Open a Console Window
   To use a console FTP client you will first need access to a "command prompt". This can be gained by opening a console window.
   • Windows 95/98/NT
     Look in the "Start->Program" menu for "MS-DOS prompt" or "Command Prompt". You can also open a console window by selecting "Start->Run" and entering the executable path "c:/windows/command/command.com" or "c:/winnt/system32/cmd.exe", depending on your version of Windows.
   • UNIX
     Most UNIX environments use console windows and command prompts quite extensively and UNIX users are already comfortable using them (or should be). When you Telnet or SSH to your VPS you are effectively open a command prompt remotely on your VPS. So you can, in effect, use FTP from a command prompt on your VPS to download a file from another remote host directly to your Virtual Server.
     
     For example, you may want to download software from XYZ, Inc. (ftp.xyz.com) and install the software on your VPS. Instead of downloading the software from XYZ, Inc. to your office computer and then uploading it from your office computer to your VPS (which can be quite slow on a 28.8), you can telnet to your VPS and FTP the software from XYZ, Inc. directly to your VPS (using high speed DS3's).
2. Connect to a Remote FTP Site
   To open an FTP session with a remote FTP site at a command prompt simply type "ftp [remote host]", where [remote host] is the site you are attempting to contact (i.e. ftp.xyz.com). This is where is gets fun because you know can see what's going on "behind the scenes" when you were using a graphical FTP client. When you open an FTP session with a remote host, you will more than likely be prompted for a username and password pair (sounds logical enough).
3. Navigate
   After you have successfully logged into the remote ftp site, you can Navigate around using the "cd" command to change your current working directory on the remote site. Type "ls" or "dir" to list the files in your current working directory on the remote site.
4. Upload Files
   To upload from your local machine (or the machine from which you initiated the FTP session) to the remote host, you use the command "put". For example, to upload a file in your local working directory named "index.html" to your current working directory on the remote site, you would type "put index.html test.html". This will transfer the file "index.html" to the remote host and store it under the name "test.html". If you would like to store the local file as the same name on the remote host simply type something like "put index.html index.html" or simply "put index.html". To upload multiple files, use the command "mput" using wildcards such as "mput *.html". You may want to turn off the confirm prompt by typing the command "prompt" before you upload multiple files.
5. Download Files
   To download content from a remote host (or the machine to which you opened the FTP session) to your local machine, you use the command "get". For example, to download a file to your local working directory named "test.html" from your current working directory on the remote site, you would type "get test.html index.html". This will transfer the file "test.html" from the remote host and store it under the name "index.html" on your local computer. To download multiple files, use the command "mget" using wildcards such as "mget *.html". You may want to turn off the confirm prompt by typing the command "prompt" before you download multiple files.

NOTE: Be sure you transfer all text files, such as HTML and CGI script source code, in ASCII format! All image files (.gif, .jpg, etc.) must be transferred in BINARY format.

Commands