Using Filezilla FTP Client to Connect to Aggie Horticulture Texas A&M University instituted a new network security policy effective September 1, 2005 that mandated the use of secure FTP connections for clients outside the University firewall. The Aggie Horticulture Network responded to this mandate by implementing FTP over explicit SSL (secure socket layer) using the Filezilla FTP server. An excellent FTP client application is available also from Filezilla. The purpose of this tutorial is to guide you through the process of obtaining and setting up the Filezilla client on your computer. This will allow you continued access to the Web sites you maintain on Aggie Horticulture.
Revised 15 August 2005
Filezilla FTP client is available from the SourceForge.net Web site and it is FREE. The Filezilla homepage is at:
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/
Click images to enlarge in new window
If using WindowsXP, download the 32 bit Win binary exe file. After the installer file downloads to your computer, run the installer responding to the prompts to determine the install location and whether you want to always run the program in the secure mode. This mode does not store any passwords and is designed for public computers. If installing on a computer for which you are the primary user, the default is to allow passwords to be stored.
Following installation, click on the "site manager" item from the "file" selection on the top menu bar. The site manager allows you to store the connection parameters for the different FTP servers you use. You may name your site session anything you choose, however, you must pay particular attention to the parameters which you set.
Enter or select the following parameters for your Aggie Horticulture session preferences:
| Host | aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu |
| Port | 990 |
| Servertype | FTP over SSL (explicit encryption) |
| Login | Normal |
| User | your assigned login ID |
| Password | your assigned password |
| Storing the password saves time, but you should not store the password if you are not the primary user of the computer. | |
Click on the "advanced settings" button. Click on the button beside the "default local" blank to set your local directory. The default local directory is the directory on your computer in which you store the files for your Web site (usually as a subdirectory(folder) within your My Documents folder. Filezilla will open up to this directory when you login. This will save you a HUGE amount of time. Do not put anything into the default remote blank. Your login will automatically log you in to the root directory of your Web site.
Click the button to indicate that you will use "passive mode" for FTP transfers. Click OK, and then Save and Exit on the window beneath it to save your session preferences.
From the tool bar, select the connect arrow and highlight your site.
Upon connecting to Aggie Horticulture, you will be asked to accept the security certificate. This is a "self signed" certificate indicating it was created by the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M Univeersity and it lists dan-lineberger@tamu.edu as the contact. You must accept the Aggie Horticulture certificate to begin the FTP session.
The FTP session window has several sections (panes). The pane just beneath the toolbar "message log" which displays the "computer talk" within the session. This pane can be hidden normally by unchecking it in the view menu item, but it is useful to troubleshoot any problems you have connecting.
The pane across the bottom of the window is the "transfer queue" and it indicates the progress of file uploads and downloads. Again, this may be hidden if you prefer.
The panes on the middle left represent the folders on your local computer, and the pane on the right represents the folders on your remote site (Aggie Horticulture in this example) but only appears when you have an active connection.
You may turn the various panes on or off while a session is in progress, by checking or unchecking the menu items under the "view" tab on the top menu bar.
To have your session begin with your set layout preferences, you have to edit the session settings. To do this, go to the "edit" tab on the top menu bar and select "settings."
Once in the settings window, you can set preferences for most of the program parameters. The section which controls the layout that you see during your session is under the "interface settings" tab. Here you can choose to hide or show the different window panes, remember the window size, etc. Click OK when finished to save these settings and edit the window.
The illustration at right presents a "minimalist" or "compact" view of an FTP session with Aggie Horticulture. The left pane contains the folders on the local computer, and the right pane contains the folders on the remote (Aggie Horticulture) FTP server.
Files are downloaded to your local computer by either right clicking on the file name in the right hand pane (remoted site), or by left clicking and holding on the file while dragging it into the left pane (local site). Remember that you must have the folder open in your left pane (local site) into which you want the file transferred.
Files are uploaded to your Aggie Horticulture Web site by either right clicking on the file name in the left hand pane (local site), or by left clicking and holding on the file while dragging it into the right pane (remote site). Remember that you must have the folder open in your right pane (remote site) into which you want the file transferred.
Terminate your active FTP session by selecting "disconnect" from the file tab on the top menu bar, or by clicking on the red x in the tool bar.