22.3. Connecting from the Road

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22.2. FTP

FTP sites (file transfer protocol) store pieces of software that can be accessed from the Internet. If you've heard of FTP at all, it was probably under one of two circumstances ”either you've downloaded software from an Internet FTP site, or you've created and maintained your own Web site.

22.2.1. Uploading and Downloading from FTP Sites

Hooking into an FTP site generally requires an FTP client program that runs on the kind of computer you use (Mac, Windows, or whatever). On Mac OS X, popular FTP client programs include the shareware programs Fetch, Interarchy, and Captain FTP, and the free RBrowser Lite (which is available from the "Missing CD" page at www.missingmanuals.com).

Using these programs, Web designers, for example, can view a list of all the text and graphics documents, sitting there on an Internet-connected computer somewhere, that make up their Web pages.

When they want to update one of those pages, they add it to this list; to delete a Web page, they remove it from this list.

22.2.2. Just Downloading from FTP Sites

If you're just going to look at and download files (but not upload or delete any), you don't even need a special FTP program like Fetch. You can get to the files much more directly using one of these two methods :

  • Any old Web browser will work. Open Firefox, for example, and type ftp://ftp.apple.com (or whatever the address is) into the address bar. A dialog box asks for an account name and password, if they're required. Once you're in, you see a list of everything on the FTP server, displayed much like the list shown in Figure 22-2.


    Note: Safari works slightly differently. Instead of presenting a list of files, it switches to the Finder and presents the contents of the FTP site as a window full of standard file icons.

    Figure 22-3. Top: To access your Mac OS X machine from across the Internet, fire up RBrowser Lite and use the address ftp://111.222.33.4 (or whatever your IP address is). Be sure the first pop-up menu says FTP, not Public FTP ” otherwise , you won't be offered the chance to type in your account name and password.
    Bottom: Once you're looking at an FTP server's contents, you can drag files from your desktop into the list. Copy them to your Mac by dragging them out of the list onto your desktop, or open them by double-clicking.


  • Using the Finder's Go Connect to Server command, you can mount read-only FTP volumes right on your desktop, much like a public iDisk.

    In the Connect to Server dialog box, just enter the address of the FTP server you would like to mount ”ftp://ftp.apple.com, for example. You'll soon see the ftp.apple.com icon appear on your desktop, looking just like your other disks. Open it up and drag out whatever you want to download.

22.2.3. Becoming an FTP Server

Thanks to Mac OS X and its Wonder Unix, you can also turn your own Mac into an FTP site. Once again, the key is the Sharing pane of System Preferences; this time, just turn on the FTP Access checkbox.

Once again, the key to your own Mac is its IP address, as shown at the bottom of the System Preferences pane. At this point, you, or other people you trust, can connect to your FTP server by running an FTP program like RBrowser (see Figure 22-3) or just typing ftp://111.222.33.4 into their Web browsers.

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Mac OS X. The Missing Manual
Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual (Missing Manuals)
ISBN: 0596153287
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 506
Authors: David Pogue

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