File Transfer Protocol
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- Overview of File Transfer Protocol
- What do I need in order to connect to my site via FTP?
- How do I connect to my account via FTP software?
- What are the files and directories I see when I log in?
- Where do I upload all of the files pertaining to my website?
- How long can I remain idle without being logged out automatically?
- Is my FTP activity logged?
- How many simultaneous connections can I have at once?
- How many total users can be logged in at once under a single login?
- Can I use my domain name or must I use my IP address as the hostname for FTP?
- How quickly do I have to successfully authenticate before being logged out?
- Why can't I move out of my root directory?
- Overview of Extra FTP Accounts
- How do I create extra FTP accounts on my account?
- How long does it take for a new FTP account to be accessible?
- How do I restrict the access of my extra FTP accounts?
- How do I change the login on an extra FTP account?
- How do I change the password on an extra FTP account?
- How do I delete an extra FTP account?
- What security concerns should I have about this feature?
- What other FTP clients can I use on my account?
- Where can I obtain other FTP client applications?
1. Overview of File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the preferred protocol, or language used in order to transfer large files remotely from client to server or visa versa. It is the preferred protocol because it transfers both ASCII and Binary files faster than any other protocol available.
FTP service is available for all virtual server clients 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. ABHost.Net configures a FTP server for each separate client. Below is the welcome message you will receive upon successful authentication:
Connected to 216.57.xxx.xxx port 21
220 yourdomain.com FTP Server ready.
USER username
331 User username okay, need password.
PASS (hidden)
230 Restricted user logged in.
As a client, you are restricted to your account and cannot move outside of "/" your document root directory. Your home directory "/" is where you are logged into when you initially create an FTP connection. The files in your home directory are files needed for your account and should not be altered.
In your "logs" directory (/public_html/logs/) is where you can find your access, agent, referral, error, and transfer log. These are the log files generated by either the webserver (Apache) or the FTP server so you can monitor activity on your account. These same files are also used in order to track your bandwidth consumption.
The most important directory is your "/public_html/" directory, which is where all of your files pertaining to your website reside. When someone accesses yourdomain.com, they are simply requesting the files and directories that reside in your /public_html/ directory.
Therefore, you should upload files pertaining to your website via FTP to your /public_html/ directory. Any files that you do not want anyone to have access to via the web should be placed in "/" (above public_html) or below your public_html directory in a private directory that contains an .htaccess file that requires authentication to gain access to the directory. You can copy the .htaccess file that is in /public_html/logs/ to another directory that you wish only the admin user to gain access to.
If you wish to have more than one FTP account associated with your account, you will need to create the additional FTP accounts via the Web Control Panel. You are allowed only 10 total FTP connections at once. This is to prevent any one user from creating an unreasonable number of FTP connections.
2. What do I need in order to connect to my site via FTP?
In order to connect to your website via FTP, you will need some sort of FTP client software. FTP client software comes with many different features and prices, but ABHost.Net recommends the use of WS_FTP, Cute FTP or Absolute FTP.
You will also need to know your login (also referred to as your "userid" or "username"), your account password, and the IP address assigned to your account or your domain name if it is active on the ABHost.Net servers.
3. How do I connect to my account via FTP software?
FTP software, including WS_FTP, Cute FTP, Absolute FTP, and many others should only require three things:
1. The hostname (your domain name) or your IP Address to connect.
2. The login or username associated with your account.
3. The password for the account.
Once you have this information, you can use any FTP client to log into your account.
4. What are the files and directories I see when I log in?
Upon logging into your account, you are restricted to only your account and cannot move outside of your account. When you log in, you are in what is known as the "root" of your account. In here there are miscellaneous files and directories, all of which are important but none of which should be altered or renamed. In short, do not bother these files.
The only files and directories that you should care about are the "public_html" directory and the "logs" directory.
The "public_html" directory is where all of your files pertaining to your website should reside. Uploading files into the "root" of your account will mean that no one will be able to access them via the web unless you configure your account to function in this manner.
You can also make any directory in you web space a password protected ftp directory. Again this is accomplished with the Web Control Panel.
In the near future we will be adding the FTP logs to the Web Control Panel.
5. Where do I upload all of the files pertaining to my website?
You need to upload files pertaining to your website to your "/public_html/" directory inside the root of your account. Files uploaded below your public_html directory, such as in the root of your account ( / ).
6. How long can I remain idle without being logged out automatically?
You may remain logged into your account with less than 15 minutes of idle time. Once you have been logged in for 15 minutes idle, the FTP server will automatically log you out of the system. Once this occurs you will need to reestablish your FTP connection to resume activity.
7. Is my FTP activity logged?
Yes, all FTP activity is monitored and recorded. In the near future we will be adding the FTP logs to the Web Control Panel.
8. How many simultaneous connections can I have at once?
Any single user, as determined by having the same IP address, cannot have more than 10 simultaneous connections at once. This includes simultaneous connections under different userids from extra FTP accounts created, and even under different accounts on the same webserver. The reasoning behind this is to prevent any one person from taking an unreasonable number of FTP connections away from the server.
9. How many total users can be logged in at once under a single login?
10 users can be logged in under the same userid. This might happen where you have an account and have created extra FTP accounts. All of those users who you have given FTP access to will take away from your available total anytime they log in. So your connections could be used by only a few people using multiple connections or it could be different people under the same login with different FTP accounts which you setup.
10. Can I use my domain name or must I use my IP address as the hostname for FTP?
Using your IP address (216.57.xxx.xxx) is the equivalent of your hostname. When you are transferring your domain to us, you can still connect to your site via FTP right away if you use the IP number, while your domain name will not work until the transfer process is completed (up to 48+ hours).
Using your IP address also gets rid of unnecessary DNS traffic and can lighten the load on the servers. It is best to just use your IP address for that reason alone but your domain name works fine.
11. How quickly do I have to successfully authenticate before being logged out?
From the time you establish a connection to the FTP server, you have 30 seconds to enter your login and password correctly. If during this time no login and password is entered or there is an incorrect login/password combination entered, you must reconnect and try again
12. Why can't I move out of my root directory?
There is no reason why you need to move outside of your account, and thus you are restricted to your area on the server. FTP is used for the transfer of files to and from your web space & there is no reason to have access out side of your user space.
13. Overview of Extra FTP Accounts
You can create unlimited FTP accounts. This includes your master FTP account that was assigned with your new account, plus additional accounts which you can configure. Each one of the additional FTP accounts can be setup in real-time, allowing you to "restrict" access to a particular directory on your account.
Extra FTP accounts should only be used for its intended purpose. That is, allowing a group of developers work on the website with access to their areas of the website only. It is important to know that the client is responsible for the content uploaded to their account, even content uploaded by those with FTP access to their account. In other words, do not give FTP access to your account unless you know the person and trust their judgment.
14. How do I create extra FTP accounts on my account?
Through the Web Control Panel, create additional FTP accounts by going to "FTP Configuration", then to "Create a new ftp user". From here you will need to select if the new ftp account needs or does not need a password, enter a login name, enter a password, and restrict/select the area (directory) for this FTP account to be confined. Now click the "Update FTP user information" button and you are done.
15. How long does it take for a new FTP account to be accessible?
Once you fill out the login, password, and restricted area for the FTP account and press the "Update FTP user information" button, the FTP account is created automatically. You can now begin using this FTP account.
16. How do I restrict the access of my extra FTP accounts?
Wen creating a new FTP user you will see the field entitled "Home Directory", by selecting a directory from the list you are confining the new FTP user to that directory and any directory contained within it. It is important that you understand what purpose the Home Directory serves. You can restrict any of your extra FTP accounts ability to move around within your account. By restricting their access to a particular directory, they can only upload, download, remove, and edit files and directories within their own restricted area.
The restricted area is expressed as a pathname, with "/" being your root directory. If you wanted to restrict a particular FTP account with the login "Ken" to the directory "catalog" in your public_html directory. You would first make a directory named "catalog". Then you would select /public_html/catalog from the list of directories in the "Home Directory" list. In this example, when Ken FTPs into the account, he is restricted to the directory "catalog" and cannot move above this directory (such as moving into the public_html).
Important Note: Making an extra FTP account with "/" as their restricted area gives them access to your entire website. They could remove your entire site at anytime, so use good judgment when determining your FTP account restricted areas.
17. How do I change the login on an extra FTP account?
Select " Configure your ftp site" then select "Examine or modify the ftp user with username 'whatever'". Then enter the new login in the field "Username" and select "Update FTP user information".
18. How do I change the password on an extra FTP account?
Select " Configure your ftp site" then select "FTP username". Then select "Change Password" and enter the new password. Now select "Update FTP user Password" and you are done.
19. How do I delete an extra FTP account?
Select " Configure your ftp site" then select the check box in front of the account you want to delete. Then click the button "Delete Selected Entries" and the FTP account will be immediately deleted.
20. What security concerns should I have about this feature?
Handing out your extra FTP accounts to anyone who wants access to your virtual FTP server is a poor decision and would most likely lead to problems. Care should be exercised when giving our FTP access. You should make sure the user has good intentions and really needs access.
Security is not an issue until you start making FTP accounts with "/" as the restricted area, as these FTP users can delete your entire website at anytime. This is not really an issue of security anymore than it is good decision making. We strongly urge you to keep the extra FTP accounts to a minimum, only give access to those who need it for legitimate reasons and good intentions, and make sure their restricted area does not contain any data you would want altered.
21. What other FTP clients can I use on my account?
You may use any FTP client you wish. Use of FTP is certainly not restricted to our recommended software. There are dozens of high quality FTP clients to choose from, all of which have their benefits and downsides. Some of the other popular FTP clients include Absolute FTP, Cute FTP, Transmit.
22. Where can I obtain other FTP client applications?
Tucows.com has a very large selection with good reviews of FTP clients for the major OS's.
Shareware.com has a large number of free FTP clients.
Download.com also has a good variety of FTP clients.
Pure-mac.com just for Mac users.
