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Auto FTP Manager
v4.12
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How to Configure
Commonly Performed FTP
Tasks |
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Auto FTP Manager is
a powerful, flexible
tool that can be used to
automate file transfers
and synchronization.
This article shows you
the proper settings for
some common situations
so that you can save time while setting up the
program. |
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We'll set up Auto FTP
Manager for the
following tasks: |
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These are all jobs for an
Auto FTP Manager
Automated Transfer
Profile.
Automated Transfer
Profiles let you perform intelligent transfers
automatically. |
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Web Page Updates |
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Most web developers keep
a copy of the entire web
site on their own PC.
That way, they can make
changes and test the new
pages before going
"live" on the server.
If you edit multiple
files, you then have to
upload all the changed
files to the right
folders on the server.
Uploading every
file would be slow and
waste time and
bandwidth. In this
example, we will see the
settings to upload only
the changed files to the
server, automatically. |
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First of all, here's the
scenario. You
are working on the site
mysite.net.
You keep a copy of all
the files from that site
on your hard disk, in
the folder C:\Edit pages. |
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Here's the procedure: |
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1. |
Click the New Profile
button in the tool
bar. Choose to
create an Automated
Transfer profile and
click Next. |
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2. |
On the "Specify
PC Folder or Network
Drive Details" screen, click
Browse and
locate the C:\Edit pages
folder. This
tells Auto FTP
Manager where to
upload from.
Click Next. |
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3. |
Make sure
FTP Server is
selected and click
Next. |
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4. |
On the "Specify
FTP
Connection
Details"
screen, enter
mysite.net
as the FTP Address.
Give the User Name,
Password and
Port
number. |
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5. |
Once you've entered the
FTP connection details,
click the Test
Connection
button. If the
connection is
successful, you're ready
to "Select FTP Folder". If you do not specify a
folder, Auto FTP Manager
will select the root
folder, by default. When you click the
Browse
button, Auto FTP
Manager will connect to
the server and get a
list of folders. Navigate to the location
of the web site
files. For instance, on
servers running Apache
this is often /var/www. On servers running
Microsoft's IIS, it's
C:\inetpub\.
Click Next. |
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6. |
The Automated
Transfer settings
are critical.
See Figure
1. You will always be
editing the files on
your own computer,
then uploading the
changed files.
Therefore, you need
to select "Transfer
file from comp 11:
Edit
pages
To mysite.net".
(Comp 11
will be
replaced by
your own
computer's
name.) |
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7. |
Since you
only need to
upload the
edited files
from your PC
to the
server, do not
select the
second
option that
transfers
files from
the server
to your PC.
Don't
select
"Synchronize"
either
because you
do not want
to make both
the folders
identical. To rephrase
what this
window says:
"If any file in the
chosen folder on my
hard disk (or any
subfolders
of it) is
not present
on the
server or is
newer than the file
of the same name on
the server, copy my
file to the server,
if necessary, wiping
out the file of the
same name already
there.
Never copy a file
from the server to
my hard drive."
Click Next. |
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8. |
Name the
profile. Let's call
it "Web
Update". You can choose
to immediately run
your profile if
desired by selecting
Start
Automated
Transfer for
this profile.
Click
Finish.
The computer
will scan
the server,
compare
modification
dates and
times with
the files on
your
computer,
and
determine
which ones
need to be
uploaded.
Click Continue File
Transfer and away
you go. |
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Figure 1 |
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Now, whenever you finish
a set of edits to the
web site, you can just
right-click on the "Web
Update" profile and
choose Start Transfer. |
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Daily Backup of
Critical Files |
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There are certain files
that you can't live
without. Some
information is too
important to leave on
only one computer that
might crash, leading to
the loss of data forever. You can
use Auto FTP Manager to
copy these files to a
server on a regular
basis, so the latest one
will always be available
even if your hard disk
becomes an
ex-storage device.
For instance, if you're
a writer, you probably
want your unfinished
(and finished!) work
backed up. You
could lose days, weeks,
or months of work in a
disk failure, if all
your manuscripts are in
the same place. |
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The procedure to do the
backups starts just like
the steps above.
Carry out all eight steps
in the
Web Page Updates
procedure to create an
Automated Transfer
Profile. For the
first folder, select the
folder you store your
work in on your hard
disk (say, C:Work-In-Progress)
and let the second
folder be on a
server of your choice. |
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Now, the one difference:
we'll have this backup
run automatically.
Before clicking Finish,
click on the
Configure button for
"Schedule". You
can decide how often do
you want the backups.
For most files, I back
up once per day.
Pick a time when the
computer will be turned
on! If you don't
have a fast Internet
connection, you might
want to schedule the
backup to happen during
your lunchtime or when
you aren't around.
See Figure 2 for an
example setting. |
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Figure 2 |
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Receiving File
Updates |
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Suppose you use a
software package that
gets frequent updates.
The updates might be to
one of the programs, to
a help document, to a
manual, or to a template
file. With Auto
FTP manager you can
maintain a local copy of
the whole package, on
your own computer or on
a networked drive,
automatically. In
fact, it's exactly like
the procedure above for
Daily Backup, with
one change. That
change is, you have Auto
FTP Manager copy from
the server to your local
drive, not the other
way. See Figure 3
for an example
configuration. |
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Figure 3 |
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Keeping Two Systems
Synchronized |
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Often, you will need to
keep two systems
synchronized. In
Auto FTP Manager, that
means that if you change
either system, the other
one is modified to
match. One common
reason to synchronize
two systems: if
two project team are
simultaneously working
at different locations
and the changes made by
both have to be uploaded
to an FTP server. Team A
as well as Team B have
to upload the new files
they have created to the
server and also download
the files created by the
other team to their
local folder. |
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The way this works is
that files present only
in the local folder
(where Team A or Team B
add/edit files) get
transferred to the FTP
server. Similarly,
unique files present on
the FTP server get
transferred to the local
folder. This results in
both folders being
identical. For files
that are common (have
the same name), conflict
resolution has to be
used. |
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As you have already
figured out, you can
synchronize the two
systems by checking the
"Synchronize" checkbox.
If you check
Synchronize, the other
two transfer options are
automatically checked. |
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Figure 4 |
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By using the examples
shown here as guides,
you will be able to
configure Auto FTP
Manager to handle all
your the file-transfer
tasks. |
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