| Using FTP to access your Webspace
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- What is FTP? File Transfer Protocol: an Internet service that allows you to connect to a remote computer & copy files from one computer to the other, i.e. upload and download files.
- An example of using FTP would be updating your Website, by using FTP to upload HTML files from your computer, to your webspace on a remote server.
- A popular software product that enables you to use FTP to update your Website, by uploading files, is
WS_FTP. You can download the free WS_FTP LE version from FTPplanet.com. See also WS_FTP at Vicnet, or for Mac, try Fetch.
- Another free FTP software program you could try is FileZilla
- By using FTP, rather than My Files or Group Files [the built-in mc² file management system], you have the ability to upload multiple files & folders simultaneously, rather than individually, one-by-one.
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Using FTP, you will be able to access your Personal Webspace: My Files [Victorians only], or your Group Webspace: Group Files [if you are an owner]
- You should not use FTP to access the "web" directory:
http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/your_webspace_name/web/
This area is reserved for the database-driven Webpage Generator to store its files.
- The best way to alter the webpages stored in the "web" area is to use the Webpage Generator [via My Webpage in My Office, or Group Webpage in your group].
- If you create your own HTML files, rather than using the "web" folder, you can store your HTML files in the root directory [top level] of your webspace, or in another folder/directory, if you wish.
- If you create your own HTML files, see also: Information for Website Builders. This includes help with Images and links to other useful websites, such as
Dreamweaver [a popular Website building software program]
- Note that the index.html file in your Group Webspace is reserved, as it is the location of the Group Info page for your group. If you overwrite it in error, you can regenerate your Group Info page by going to Group Settings and click on Save Changes [even if you don't make any changes, it will rebuild the page].
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If you want to upload a series of images to your webspace via a webcam, see the mc² webcam page.
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Settings for your FTP client
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To access your Personal Webspace:
- Host Name/Address: mc2.vicnet.net.au
- User ID: your_login, i.e. the same login name you use to log into mc²
- Password: your_password, i.e. the same password you use to log into mc²
Note: passwords are case sensitive
- view screen shot example
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To access your Group Webspace:
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Screen Shot of WS_FTP Settings to access Personal Webspace
Screen Shot of WS_FTP Settings to access Group Webspace
Group Settings / Advanced Settings
Only Group Owners have FTP access to their
Group Webspace. To find out the
login and
password for your group, you need to go to
Group Settings, then scroll to the bottom of the Group Settings page and click on the
Advanced Settings button you see there. You will then be able to identify the group login, as well as request &/or change the group ftp password:
Group Settings / Advanced Settings Screen Shot:
On the Advanced Settings page for a group you can:
- Activate or Deactivate FTP access for the group
- Get the password emailed to you
- Change the existing password
When accessing the Group Webspace via FTP, be aware of the following:
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You need to log in as the Group - if you use your own personal login & password, you will be logging into your Personal Webspace: My Files.
- Only Owners can get the group FTP details:
Go to group in question
Click on Group Settings
Click on Advanced Settings at the bottom of the page
- When a group is first created, the group FTP password is randomly generated, so you will initially need to have the password emailed to you.
- The mc2 server address used to connect to via FTP is: mc2.vicnet.net.au. Do not add "home" or "ftp" or your group webspace name to this URL.
FTP Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- I uploaded some files using FTP but can't see them in MyFiles/GroupFiles, whats going on?
Assuming the file uploaded correctly, the most likely cause is that they uploaded into the "Web" or "Photo's" directory. The Web (and soon to be the photo's directory) are hidden from the My/GroupFiles areas.
- I uploaded a file using FTP but when I got into My/Group Files and use the "Edit Me" button, the changes don't save properly. How can I fix this?
When you upload the file using FTP you need to alter the permissions on the file if you wish to edit the file. If you want to change the permissions on a file (in ws_ftp) do the following:
- Select the file and right click on it
- Select the option chmod (UNIX)
- Tick Other -> Write
- Click OK
Note: this is only if you want to edit the file in My/Group Files, if you don't change the permissions you can still copy, move or delete the file.
- I can't access my webspace via FTP when I use a firewall - is the firewall the problem?
Firewalls can often be the cause of the problems like this, you need to allow Port 21 to be open as it's the ftp port. If you want to be sure whether or not it's the firewall causing the problem, try turning the firewall off for a few minutes just to test this. If it works then you know it's the firewall causing the problem and you'd need to allow port 21 traffic.
- How do I access my Vicnet Webspace?
To upload via FTP to Vicnet follow the instructions at: www.vicnet.net.au/help/windows/wsftp
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
View settings for your FTP client
