niinet.net FTP FAQ

What is FTP?

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allows a person to transfer files between two computers, generally connected via the Internet. When using FTP, you use a program, called a 'client' to connect to a machine that holds the files, a 'server'.
How do I use FTP?
The easiest way to FTP files across the Internet is to use an FTP utility. Popular graphical FTP clients are WS-FTP and CuteFTP for Windows, and Fetch for Macintosh. After you connect to niinet.net, you can directly access the directory containing your files. You will be able to see the files in your directory, delete them, rename them, download them and upload new files.

How do I use FTP if I AM NOT a niinet.net domain hosting client?
Follow the below procedures:

FTP client configuration:

  1. Set your FTP client to connect to: ftp.niinet.net.
  2. Set your user name to <username>@niinet.net (your user name).
  3. Set your password to your niinet.net password.
  4. Connect to the niinet.net FTP server. (You should be presented with a list of the files in your niinet.net directory.)
  5. Note: If you are on a network behind a firewall, you must set your client to passive transfer mode. If you get failed data channel errors, this is likely the cause.

Using FTP without a special utility:
If you are using Windows 95 or later, you can access a text-based command-line FTP utility from a DOS prompt. To do this, perform the following steps:

  1. In Windows 95/98/NT, from the Start menu, select Programs, then select MS-DOS Prompt.
  2. In Windows ME and 2000, from the Start menu, select Programs, then Accessories, then Command Prompt.
  3. Enter ftp ftp.niinet.net.
  4. Enter your niinet.net user name.
  5. Enter your niinet.net password.
  6. You are now at the ftp> prompt.
  7. Note: If you are on a network behind a firewall, Windows does NOT support the FTP passive command. You should download one of the popular FTP clients listed below.

Where do I put my files?

Once connected via FTP to your home directory, change directory to public_html/docs. This is where to store your HTML files. Put your cgi scripts in public_html/cgi-bin.

How do I view my files?

After transferring the files to you home directory, you can view your files through a standard Web browser.

Access your web space at http://www.niinet.net/~yourusername.

How do I use FTP if I AM a niinet.net domain hosting client?
Follow the below procedures:

FTP client configuration:

  1. Set your FTP client to connect to: ftp.yourdomainname.xxx.
  2. Set your user name to <username (your user name).
  3. Set your password to the password provided to you for ftp purposes.
  4. Connect to the FTP server. (You should be presented with a list of the files in your home directory.)
  5. Note: If you are on a network behind a firewall, you must set your client to passive transfer mode. If you get failed data channel errors, this is likely the cause.

Using FTP without a special utility:
All *NIX and *BSD operating systems support command line FTP. If you are using Windows 95 or later, you can access a text-based command-line FTP utility from a DOS prompt. To do this, perform the following steps:

  1. In Windows 95/98/NT, from the Start menu, select Programs, then select MS-DOS Prompt.
  2. In Windows ME and 2000, from the Start menu, select Programs, then Accessories, then Command Prompt.
  3. Enter ftp ftp.yourdomainname.xxx.
  4. Enter your user name.
  5. Enter your password.
  6. You are now at the ftp> prompt.
  7. Note: If you are on a network behind a firewall, Windows does NOT support the FTP passive command using command line FTP. You should download one of the popular FTP clients listed below.

Where is my WWW directory?

After connecting to ftp.yourdomainname.xxx via FTP or an FTP Program, you will be in your home directory, e.g. /home/username.

Change the directory to public_html. In this directory you will notice there are three sub-directories:

    • cgi-bin – this is where your cgi scripts go
    • docs – this is where your html files go
    • logs – this is where you can keep website logs, access logs, error logs, etc.

For uploading basic html web pages, such as your index.html file, you will need to change to the following directory on the remote system.

/home/username/public_html/docs/

Once you have transferred your html documents, you can access your webspace by the URL http://www.yourdomainname.xxx

How do I use FTP commands?

After connecting to the niinet.net FTP server and logging in, you can now manage the files in your web site using standard FTP commands. Here are the basic commands you’ll need.

ascii Switch to ascii mode. Ascii mode is the default mode and used for transferring text files.

bin Switch to binary mode. For transferring binary files like .ZIP files, .Z files and the like.

cd Change the directory on the remote computer.

dir List the files in the current directory on the remote computer.

ls Same as dir, but shows less information sometimes.

get Copy a file form the remote computer to yours.

hash Puts a ‘#’ on the screen for every <number> of bytes transferred. <number> is 1024 in some cases, 2048 in others but is between 1024 and 4096 in most cases. Check the ftp help function for more info on the number for your client program.

help Gives help on the use of the commands within the ftp program.

lcd Change the directory on your computer (the ‘l’ is for local).

lpwd Shows the present working directory (pwd) on your computer (the ‘l’ is for local). Note: this may not work on all machines. On a Unix machine, try !pwd if lpwd doesn’t work.

mget Copy multiple files from the remote computer to yours.

pwd Shows the present working directory (pwd) on the remote computer.

quit Exit FTP.

How do I transfer my files?

Transfer your files exactly as you want them named. Be sure to transfer all non-text files (i.e. GIF, JPG, ZIP, etc.) using the binary or raw data option. Be sure not to choose the MacBinary option.

HTML and other text files may be transferred using the ASCII (text) option or in binary mode.

Note: If you try to upload more data than you have subscribed to, the FTP procedure will fail. Whenever a transfer fails, pay close attention to the error messages. Your FTP utility should display the message.
How do I update, change and delete my files?
You can upload, download, update and change your page by resubmitting the files via FTP or by editing them with your publishing tool.

Which publishing tools use FTP?
Many HTML publishing tools use FTP. Some commonly available Windows and Macintosh programs that work with the niinet.net FTP service are listed below.

Windows Publishing Tools:

Macintosh Publishing Tools:

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