Sharing Files With Anonymous 'ftp'

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Using the Web to Share Files with Others

Scenario (5): You already have a UW Website and wish to make files in a certain directory available only to those people who know the exact name of a file

Your Setup Actions (actions to be performed only once):

Let us suppose that the files you wish to share are to be located in a sub-directory named "Anonftp". You create this as follows:

Login to Homer        : Type "q", and then type "s" to get to Unix
Move to public_html   : cd public_html
List the files there  : ls -l        (that is "ell", not "one")
Create the directory  : mkdir Anonftp
Logout of Homer       : logout, followed by "l"

Create a file named "index.html" with your name in it, e.g. <html>John Doe</html>:

Login to Homer        : Type "q", and then type "s" to get to Unix
Move to "public_html" : cd public_html
Move to sub-directory : cd Anonftp
Create "index.html"   : pico index.html
                        Type:  <html>John Doe</html>
                        Press: CTRL-x                       
                        Type:  y  (type "y" for "yes")           
                        Press: [Return] or [Enter] (to save the file)
Logout of Homer       : logout, followed by "l"

The file named "index.html" hides all other files in the public_html directory so they can only be seen if a person knows the exact name of a file.

Your Actions For Each File To Be Made Accessible: You need to transfer each file to the "Anonftp" sub-directory in the "public_html" Web directory on Homer, and then set the right permissions to make them available.

Let us suppose that your UW NetID is "johndoe", and you currently have an MS WORD file named "my.doc" that you wish to make available. You do this:

Use SSH Secure FTP    : Click the SSH Secure FTP icon on your PC, and
                        in the window that opens up, connect to
                        Homer. Your PC files appear in the left
                        window and your Homer files are in the right
                        window. In the Homer window double click on
                        "public_html", navigate to the sub-directory
                        "Anonftp", and drag "my.doc" to the folder
                        "Anonftp".
Insure/set permissions: While still in SSH Secure FTP, in the Homer
                        window navigate to "Anonftp", double click
                        on it to open it, locate "my.doc" and
                        right-click on it, and click on "Properties".
                        Read  permission should be set for Owner,
                        Group, and Other. If not, set them.

Your Actions To Remove A File In Your Archive:

Use SSH Secure FTP    : Click the SSH Secure FTP icon on your PC and
                        connect to Homer. In the Homer window, navigate to
                        the "Anonftp" folder in "public_html", locate
                        "my.doc", right-click on it, and select "Delete"

Actions To View Or Retrieve A File In Your Archive: Anyone in the world who knows your Web page address and knows the name of a file can either view it or save it to their PC as follows:

In any browser type in the URL: staff.washington.edu/johndoe/Anonftp/my.doc
Click on File > Save As...    : to transfer and save it on their
                                PC (this assumes they are using
                                Internet Explorer; other Web browsers
                                may use a different "save" command)