FTP through safari

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Me and my friend want to send files back and forth from my ftp server. When I type in my ftp address in safari (or finder>connect to server) and I login I see the server and its files but it wont allow me to modify them or upload anything. How do I let it, let me upload stuff?

hopefully without any 3rd party software

thanks
 
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I think you can use Terminal but you would have to be very cluey with Unix Speak!
 
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Actually, using Terminal for FTP is not that tough. And you don't need to install any software, it is all there already.

To establish an FTP session to the site in question, just issue this command:

ftp site-name

You may be prompted for a username/password, just like any other FTP client.

To upload a file, just issue this command:

put name-of-the-file-on-your-mac

To download a file, just issue this command:

get name-of-the-file-on-the-ftp-server

Thats it. It is really easy. The only issue you may run into (and you run into this on ALL ftp clients by the way) is the infamous Passive mode, which I freely admit I don't understand.

To test if things are set up right, after you have connected to your site, issue this command:

ls

This lists the contents of the site. If nothing happens, you have fallen victim to incompatible passive settings. Kill this session (CTL-C usually does it, or just kill the Terminal window entirely) and start again. This time, after you are logged in, issue one of the following commands. They all do the same thing, but the command name varies from FTP server to FTP server. So, one of:

epsv
passive
pasv

Try "ls" again. When you are getting a directory listing back, you have sucessfully switched to a compatible passive mode. Now carry on.

Easy, easy easy. Try it, you'll like it. There is a WORLD of power hidden in the much ignored Terminal command set. If you take any time to investigate, you will be amazed at what you can do there.
 
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You could also get Fetch which is a totally awesome FTP prog.

http://fetchftp.com/

It costs money... but you can sign up for a student license and get a key for free. Its what I did :) I think you need to use a student email adress, though.
 
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You can also use Filezilla WHICH IS FREE!!!!!! But some more details on how to use the terminal in detail for ftp would be nice.
 
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I'm following the instructions to put the file into the FTP server, but it throws back this:

usage: put local-file [remote-file]

Am I doing something wrong? Maybe it's because I'm specifying the extension of the file (.tif) and I shouldnt? I know what my local and remote directories are, but I don't know if I need to include them in the prompt. I'm totally new at this but it seems very useful. Thanks for your help.
 
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A good easy-to-use client is FireFTP, although you'll need Firefox to run this. I too was looking for something for Safari when I launched my website a year ago but found this little add-on for Firefox to be the best bet in terms of ease of use. (I'm not normally a Firefox guy, as I prefer Safari for surfing, but do like it for the FTP addon capabilities).
 
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I'm following the instructions to put the file into the FTP server, but it throws back this:

usage: put local-file [remote-file]

Am I doing something wrong? Maybe it's because I'm specifying the extension of the file (.tif) and I shouldnt? I know what my local and remote directories are, but I don't know if I need to include them in the prompt. I'm totally new at this but it seems very useful. Thanks for your help.
I know it's been a while since you asked this but just so you have some clarification (and for anyone else interested):

Not knowing exactly where you executed the ftp command, here are few things to consider:
1. If you have a lot of files to transfer from one directory, execute the ftp command from this same directory otherwise you will have to specify the path to the file(s).
2. Unless you are renaming a file, you should be fine using just 'put filename'
3. If you are specifying a full pathname to your local file than I would specify the filename as you want it to appear on the remote site so: 'put path/filename filename' (of course, if you want it to go into a different directory than where you landed on the ftp login on the remote host, specify the full path and filename).
4. You can always drag a file from your desktop (for example) to the ftp window to upload: a) type 'put ' [notice the space after 'put'] b)drag the file to the ftp window c) specify the new name for the remote after the path/filename on the ftp command [you'll also need space between local file and remote file names].

By the way, you do need to specify the file's extension: if your file is named filename.tiff be sure the '.tiff' part is included else ftp will not find it.

If you're uploading/downloading many files, consider using mput/mget. You can use a wildcard character (for example, if you wanted to upload all files with a .tiff extension from the folder where you launched ftp: 'mput *.tiff' ).

Finally, should you decide to use sftp instead of ftp, the basic commands work the same for the most part.

I hope this helps ...
 
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Actually, using Terminal for FTP is not that tough. And you don't need to install any software, it is all there already.

To establish an FTP session to the site in question, just issue this command:

ftp site-name

You may be prompted for a username/password, just like any other FTP client.

To upload a file, just issue this command:

put name-of-the-file-on-your-mac

To download a file, just issue this command:

get name-of-the-file-on-the-ftp-server

Thats it. It is really easy. The only issue you may run into (and you run into this on ALL ftp clients by the way) is the infamous Passive mode, which I freely admit I don't understand.

To test if things are set up right, after you have connected to your site, issue this command:

ls

This lists the contents of the site. If nothing happens, you have fallen victim to incompatible passive settings. Kill this session (CTL-C usually does it, or just kill the Terminal window entirely) and start again. This time, after you are logged in, issue one of the following commands. They all do the same thing, but the command name varies from FTP server to FTP server. So, one of:

epsv
passive
pasv

Try "ls" again. When you are getting a directory listing back, you have sucessfully switched to a compatible passive mode. Now carry on.

Easy, easy easy. Try it, you'll like it. There is a WORLD of power hidden in the much ignored Terminal command set. If you take any time to investigate, you will be amazed at what you can do there.

Thanks, I have to admit that the 'Terminal' is a bit intimidated, also I am new (back after many frustrate years in the dark side of windows) in Mac but slowly am getting just to it, the other handicap I have is bean 64 but i am trying to dive into it.
I will try your suggestion in the Terminal, once a year I get the 'ftp link' from a friend server in Europe, but because I use Mac and his server is PC compatible,(normally in PC laptop I click and start download not password or user name) but when I try your suggestion in Mac ask me for USER and PASSWORD.
Is another way to get around to it? ware I click on the Link and start download?

Thanks

Olmo47 :\
 
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Whats wrong with using 3rd party software for FTP?

In my opinion, nothing. Some people still want to live in 1990 when it comes to using their computers...
 
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got it, thanks
 

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