FileZilla User Guide
One of the hurdles we have in our business is the frequent need to transfer large files to each other. Email is not equipped to handle this very well (the technology for email is pretty old and was only designed to send small text messages back and forth).
Because of this, the File Transfer Protocol was brought about. This protocol is designed solely for the uploading and downloading of all types of files. It’s likely that you’ve used FTP without even knowing it, as some websites use this protocol for their software downloads.
Due to the proliferation of FTP, web browser manufacturers used to include very basic FTP functionality in their web browser, however due to security issues they have one by one dropped support for viewing FTP sites in the web browser.
It is for this reason we recommend using an actual FTP client program. It can be downloaded from https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?show_all=1. Choose the most recent recommended setup for your machine, which for most users will be Windows (64bit x86).
This guide will show you how to use the FileZilla client like a pro.
Occasional FTP Access
Sometimes you just need to connect to a site a vendor sent you to, or for some other reason are only connecting to the site for a one-off upload or download of some files. In cases like this, you can use the Quickconnect bar at the top of FileZilla:
With this bar you can enter the information you were given (hostname, username and password) and click Quickconnect. This will connect you to the site, allowing you to navigate and do what you need to do (see Operation below). Also, once you’ve connected to a site using Quickconnect, that site will be available by clicking on the drop-down arrow to the right of the Quickconnect button. For some users this is all the FileZilla they’ll need.
Regular FTP Access
For users who are frequently managing content on FTP sites, it’s better to use the Site Manager. Since all of our FTP sites are hosted on the same server (blueprint.christmanco.com) the Quickconnect list can get to be a bit unwieldy. Enter the Site Manager.
To access the Site Manager, click File and select Site Manager. You will then be presented with a window like this:
Click the New Site button to set up a new FTP site to connect to.
Give your site a name so you can easily identify it. What you type doesn’t matter much, it’s just what the site will be named here in Site Manager.
Once you’ve named the site, you’ll be able to enter the pertinent information in the right-hand side of the Site Manager. This information will have been given to you by Christman IT and will include the Host (which for our sites should always be blueprint.christmanco.com), the Username and the Password. Be aware that in order to enter the Username and Password, you will need to change the Logon Type from Anonymous to Normal.
Please note that we typically give you two accounts when we set up an FTP site: One that you give to subcontractors and vendors, and one that is used for administering the site. Christman staff will use the admin credentials. The only difference between the user and admin credentials is that the admin credentials can delete folders and files.Once you’ve entered all your information you can click OK to simply exit the Site Manager or Connect to connect to the server now.
Once connected to the server for the first time, you’ll be presented with the main FileZilla window.
Field 1 is the server log field. Here you’ll see the commands FileZilla is sending to the server as well as the server’s response to those commands. If you can’t connect to the server, the error will be in this window.
Field 2 is the Local site, which is your computer and other resources available from it. Here is where you’ll browse to the location you’ve stored the files that you wish to upload to the site.
Field 3 is the Remote site, which is the FTP site you just connected to. By default, it is empty. Unless specifically requested otherwise, both user and admin credentials will log into the same folder, meaning that whatever you can see, they can see as well.
Field 4 is the queue window. When you’ve selected files to transfer from one site to the other and added them to the queue or dragged/dropped them, this is where they’ll show up. You’ll see tabs at the bottom to also show you what transfers failed (if any) and what transfers succeeded.Below is an example of what FileZilla looks like in action. I set up a test site and logged in with the username tutorial, navigated to a subfolder of my H: drive and queued up some files to transfer to the FTP site. The transfer can be done either by dragging/dropping the files from the left window to the right, or selecting the files, right-clicking on them and selecting Upload (or Download if you’re transferring from the remote site).
In the window's title you'll see the name of the site I entered in Site Manager (XYZ Project) as well as what user I'm logged in as (tutorial@blueprint.christmanco.com. This is a nice at-a-glance indication of what site you’ve connected to and with what user.
At the very bottom you'll see a small queue window showing which files I've queued up, as well as a progress bar (this image shows a slow upload; the files I was uploading were really small, so I throttled my speed down to give me time to take a picture). In the bottom right corner of the window, you’ll see the total remaining queue to give you an idea of how much longer it’ll take to complete the transfers.
**NOTE** To transfer files later you can right-click and select “Add files to queue”, in which case they won’t start transferring until you click the button in the toolbar at the top that has the letter Q with a red arrow underneath (this toggles the processing of the queue on/off)One of the primary advantages of using an FTP client like this in order to access an FTP site is you can create folders like normal when using an FTP Client. For example, I can right-click in the Remote Site window and select Create directory, type a name and hit Enter and there it will be.
Please note that we typically give you two accounts when we set up an FTP site: One that you give to subcontractors and vendors, and one that is used for administering the site. Christman staff will use the admin credentials. The only difference between the user and admin credentials is that the admin credentials can delete folders and files.
Field 1 is the server log field. Here you’ll see the commands FileZilla is sending to the server as well as the server’s response to those commands. If you can’t connect to the server, the error will be in this window.
In the window's title you'll see the name of the site I entered in Site Manager (XYZ Project) as well as what user I'm logged in as (tutorial@blueprint.christmanco.com. This is a nice at-a-glance indication of what site you’ve connected to and with what user.
If you have any issues using FileZilla, please put in a Helpdesk ticket.