How to upload files to a web server using FTP or SFTP/SSH

Knowing how to transfer files from point A, mostly your computer, to point B, some other server on the web, is a good tool to have in your pocket. This guide will show you what program you'll need, the information you need to have in order to make a connection, and how to ultimately start a file transfer process using either FTP or SFTP/SSH to copy files from you to a web server.

###

Step 1

First, we need to download a program that will help us accomplish our task.

1.1)  Download FileZilla

Go to filezilla-project.org and click on the Download FileZilla Client button. On the new page we'll find a download link. If you are running Windows, you'll want to click on the first dowload link, which ends with .exe and has "recommended" in parethesis. At the time of this writing this would be FileZilla_3.5.2_win32-setup.exe. Go ahead and save the file somewhere on your desktop. After step 1.2 we can delete this file, so being on your desktop, it'll be easy to find later.

1.2) Install FileZilla

To view your desktop and minimize all windows on your screen, press [WIN]+[M]. Now that the file is downloaded, double-click on the red FZ icon on your desktop to run the FileZilla setup. Click on Run in the new window that popped up. If the User Account Control window displays, click on Yes. Click on I Agree followed by multiple Next button clicks (we don't need to change any settings) and finally on Install. Then click on Next one more time and on Finish.

By the way, you can now delete the setup file, which is called something like FileZilla_X.X.X_win32-setup.exe. Select it and press the [DEL] on your keyboard and confirm the deletion with Yes.

1.3) Open FileZilla

FileZilla should now have opened, because we left that option checked at the end of the setup, which said to open FileZilla on completion. If not, there will be a new icon FZ icon on your desktop. Go ahead and double click on it.

Step 2

Now we need our connection information to the server. If you're uploading files to your own website, this information will be provided by your host. If a friend asked you to upload files to their server, they should have provided you with this information. At the very least, you'll need 3 pieces of information:

1. Host, which is a URL or IP address, e.g. microeffects.com or 207.58.133.38.
2. Username
3. Password

In the industry, if you only receive those 3 pieces of information, it is assumed that you are connecting via the FTP protocol on port 21. It is quite possible that you could be connecting via FTP on another port, for example, port 14678, however, most of the time people don't change the default and the default is 21. On the other hand, you might be connecting via SFTP/SSH, which by default runs on port 22. FileZilla knows what the default ports are for each protocol, so it would just ask you whether you are connecting via FTP or SFTP.

In essence, you'll need those 3 pieces of information and perhaps also the protocol and port, if different.

2.1) Open Site Manager

Site Manager is basically a place where you can store multiple connection data (host, username, and password). If you had 10 friends, each one with a server, you wouldn't want to enter 10 different connections more than once, so Site Manager can save them. There are 3 ways to open the Site Manager. I'll give you all 3 and you can decide what you'll be able to remember.

1. Go to File > Site Manager... in the top menu bar.
2. Hit [CTRL]+[S] on your keyboard.
3. Click on the first icon (not the arrow next to it) in the toolbar right under the File menu.

2.2) Create a new site and enter your connection information

Click on the New Site button. It will add an entry called "New site" on the left and it's highlighted, expecting you to rename this entry to something that makes sense to you. This could be the host e.g. domain.com, which is what I do to manage websites, or it could be your friend's name. Go ahead and type whatever you want and then press [Enter]. If you missed entering a custom name, no problem. Make sure it's still selected on the left and hit [F2] (rename) on your keyboard and you'll get back to where you can edit that name.

Now on the right side we'll enter your connection data. In host you'll enter the host. Leave the port after that blank if it's the default (21), but if it's different, enter it there. Then from the drop-down box below, chose what protocol it is. If it wasn't specified by your host or friend, leave it at FTP. Next chose the logon type from the drop-down, which will be Normal 99% of the time. Now enter your username in User and your password in Password. Now that all the important information has been filled out, press OK.

2.3) Connect to your site

This is the easiest part. The first icon in the toolbar towards the very top, underneath the word File in the menu bar, has an icon and a little downward pointing triangle after it. Click on the arrow and you'll see your newly created site, so go ahead and click on it. If the information was valid, you should now see a directory on the right side. If the connection failed, there will be a message of why towards the top, right below the toolbar icons. If you need to edit the connection data, maybe because you typed the wrong password, you can open the Site Manager again -- [CTRL]+[S] -- and click on your site on the left to edit its connection data on the right. Press OK when done.

Step 3

Now we're ready to transfer files.

3.1) Initiate file transfer from your computer to the server

On your screen you should have two directories of folders and files. The left side is representing files and folders on your computer and the right side is the web server we just connected to. You can navigate to any file or folder on the left (and on the right) and once you find the files you want to transfer, you basically click and drag the files over to the directory on the right. You can also right-click on the whitespace there to create a new directory if you want to organize files.

As a side tip, the directories work just like a Windows file directory, which means you can rename things with the [F2] key and you can even select multiple files by holding down [CTRL] and clicking on the files or folders you want to copy.

3.2) Check the status of the transfer

Below the two directories where your folder and files are, is another white box that extends all the way from the left to the right. In that box will be a list of every single file you initiated for transfer. Next to the file names is a status bar indicating the progress of that file. It's common that 2-3 files will transfer simutaneously whereas the other files will be queued for transfer until one files completes. Even further down below the box are 3 tabs: Queued files, Failed transfers, and Successful transfers. You can click on those tabs to verify that everything was transfered as it should have.

3.3) Disconnect from the server

You can either just close FileZilla all together (red X towards top right) or you can click on the icon with the "x" on it in the toolbar (currently the 9th icon) to disconnect from the currently visible server. Currently visible doesn't mean much if you're only connected to one server, however, you could now click on that down arrow again and connect to a second server. Tabs would appear above the two directories and you could alternative between servers. Whichever tab you're on, clicking on the "x" icon disconnects from that currently visible server.

###

If you have any problems or questions, feel free to leave comments below (must be logged in).