FTP Client: Configure Common FTP Tasks
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.
We'll set up Auto FTP Manager for the following tasks:
These are all jobs for an Auto FTP Manager
Automated Transfer Profile. Automated Transfer Profiles let you perform intelligent transfers automatically.
Web Page Updates
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.
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.
Here's the procedure:
- Click the New Profile button in the tool bar. Choose to create an Automated Transfer profile and click Next.
- 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.
- Make sure FTP Server is selected and click Next.
- On the "Specify FTP Connection Details" screen, enter mysite.net as the FTP Address. Give the User Name, Password and Port number.
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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.
Figure 1
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.
Daily Backup of Critical
Files
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
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.
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.
Figure 2
Receiving File Updates
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.
Figure 3
Keeping Two Systems
Synchronized
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.
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.
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.
Figure 4
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.