Using the FTPFiles Remote Access Service
FTPFiles allows you to access files stored on Drew's Causeway file storage service ( your network drives, such as F:\ and K:\) using a standard FTP client, including the FTP client built into the Internet Explorer web-browser and the FTP site management features built into Macromedia Dreamweaver.
(Use Netstorage and WebDav as alternatives to FTPFiles)
Getting started with FTPFiles
To begin using FTPFiles, you must enable FTP access for your network account. This process will assign you a temporary password to be used with FTP for this session only. The temporary password is necessary for security reasons because unlike Drew's other web services, FTP exchanges passwords in clear text.
To enable FTP access for your account:
Open the URL https://files.drew.edu/ in your web browser.
If your are not already logged in to uLogin, you will be prompted to enter your username and password.
You will see a screen like the one below indicating that FTP access to your account is currently disabled. Click Enable FTP Access to begin using FTP services.
Once you click Enable FTP Access, you will be presented with the information needed to configure your FTP client to connect to Drew's server.
Use the supplied connection information to configure your FTP client to access Drew's FTP server. Please note that the password given to you is temporary and will only last for this FTP session. When you have concluded your FTP session, you are strongly encourage to revisit the FTPFiles web site at https://files.drew.edu/ and click Disable FTP Access to disable FTP access to your account. If you do not click Disable FTP Access, FTP will be automatically disabled 15 minutes after your FTP client disconnects from the server.
The only FTP clients which Drew supports are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Macromedia Dreamweaver. Read below to find out more about using IE and Dreamweaver with FTPFiles.
Using FTP from Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer has a folder view for FTP that makes working with FTP sites as easy as browsing files stored on your computer. Accessing FTPFiles from Internet Explorer is easy. Simply browse to the FTPfiles site at https://files.drew.edu/ within Internet Explorer and click the ftp:// link that is displayed after having clicked Enable FTP Access. Internet Explorer will open with a view of your network drives.
All of your standard network drives will appear, including an additional link to your My Documents folder on your personal F: network drive.
It is not recommended that you attempt to open files directly from the FTP site. Please copy files that you want to open to your computer's hard drive first.
You may copy and move files just as you would on your local hard drive using drag-and-drop techniques as well as Cut, Copy, and Paste. For more information on managing files, please refer to the documentation on giving network rights.
It is not possible to set NetWare trustee rights using FTPFiles. If you need to set NetWare trustee rights from off-campus, please use the Webfiles service instead.
Using FTPFiles with Dreamweaver MX Site Management
This document explains how to set up a remote site in Dreamweaver MX for FTP access. It is not a comprehensive guide to Dreamweaver site management. For that, please refer to the Dreamweaver MX documentation.
After selecting to define a new site in Dreamweaver, follow the following steps in the site definition wizard to set up your site.
Enter a name by which you would like to refer to the site and click Next.
Select No, I do not want to use a server technology and click Next.
Select Edit local copies on my machine, then upload to a server when ready (recommended). You will need to create a folder on your local hard drive (C:) to hold the site files. Click the folder button and select the folder that you created for this purpose.
Select FTP in the drop-down box labeled How do you connect to your remote server?. For the hostname of the server, enter ftp.drew.edu. Enter your Drew network username in the box labeled What is your FTP Login. Enter the temporary password you were given when you enabled FTP access above into the box labeled What is your FTP Password.
In the box labeled What folder on the server do you want to store your files in, enter the path to your web site. See below for the correct path to enter:
For your personal web site on your F: drive:
/drive_F/www
For your department's web site on your G: drive:
/drive_G/www
For another department's site that you have access to:
/drive_O/deptname/www
For a student group site that you have access to:
/drive_U/groups/groupname/www
Select if you would like to enable file check in and check out and then click Next.
Confirm your selections and click Done.
Once you have defined your site, you may retrieve and upload files to it using the Get and Put commands in Dreamweaver. You may also use the site synchronization feature to update the local and remote sites with the latest versions of pages. For more information on Dreamweaver site management, refer to the Dreamweaver MX documentation.
WebDAV/FTP vs. Webfiles
WebDAV and FTPFiles are intended to complement, rather than replace NetStorage (Webfiles). Netstorage is recommended for most remote access applications involving access to individual files and documents. WebDAV and FTPFiles are recommended for advanced users who need to transfer entire folders between home and Drew, or wish to move, copy, or delete large numbers of files stored on Drew's servers from home. In addition, FTPFiles is recommended for users using Dreamweaver to manage Drew web sites from off-campus.
The following list summarizes recommended applications for Netstorage and FTPFiles:
I want to...
We recommend..
Download a few documents from Drew to work on at home, make changes, and then upload back to Drew.
Netstorage
Set NetWare trustee rights on folders from off-campus.
Netstorage
Work from off-campus computers that do not have Microsoft Internet Explorer or another FTP program that I am familiar with.
Netstorage
Access Drew files from conferences, libraries, internet cafes, and other public workstations.
Netstorage
Work on entire folders of documents and other media from off-campus.
WebDAV
Reorganize, copy, or delete large numbers of files on my network drives from off-campus.
WebDAV
Work on Drew web sites from off-campus using Dreamweaver.
FTPFiles
Access my Drew network files using an FTP program I am familiar with.
FTPFiles
