Obtaining and Using SmartFTP

Obtaining SmartFTP

SmartFTP should already be installed on the CSC machines. If so, you will see the icon on the desktop. You can download SmartFTP from the relevant CSC Download Page. N.B. This program only works on PCs. If you are a Macintosh user, there is a program called Fetch3.0.3 with similar functionality. This can also be downloaded from the CSC location.

Uploading with SmartFTP

For the time being, you need only worry about uploading your pages to the server. In this case we will attempt to upload the numbers page to the server from your local directory. To perform the transfer carry out the following steps:

Locate the smartFTP icon on your desktop and double click it.
Connect to your local machine
- Find the local browser icon (a small screen just under the help menu) and click it. Two windows will appear.
- In the leftmost window you can see icons to the left of which is a small "+". If you click on the "+", it will become a "-" and the contents will be displayed. If you click again the
- Using this method, descend into the hierarchy until you reach the directory containing the file you want to transfer.
- Click on the directory (not the "+"): the contents should appear in the right hand window.
Connect to the remote ftp server
- In the address field put the address of the server. If you are uploading to your webspace, put staff.um.edu.mt/your-usernname.
- Fill in the login field with your username.
- Fill in the password with your password. This is your email password, not the one you use to access the machine in front of you.
- Click the "connect" icon (the leftmost screen-like icon on the toolbar just under the FTP menu). You should see a connection sequence taking place. Eventually, the two windows appear (i.e. as for the local browser)
- Click on public_html so that its contents is displayed in the right hand window.
Transfer the file
- Drag the file you want to transfer from the local browser (RH window) to the server directory (RH) window. The file should be transferred there.
- Connect your browser to the address
  http://staff.um.edu.mt/username/filename
- Anyone in the world browsing that address will see that file!

Downloading with FTP

The procedure for downloading is exactly the same, except for the last step: instead of selecting a local file and dragging it to the server, you select a remote file and drag it to the local window.
The punto forte of smartftp is that it can also be used for transferring directories and all their contents from one machine to the other. The procedure is the same, except that a directory rather than a file is selected and dragged.

Mike Rosner (mros@cs.um.edu.mt)
Last modified: Fri Feb 26 12:22:32 1999