Sharing Files With Anonymous 'ftp'

UW Home > UWIN > Computing and Networking > Unix

Using the Web to Share Files with Others

Scenario (6): You wish to make the list of files in a directory and the files therein available to anyone who knows a certain ID and password (supplied by you)

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"

Set Permissions to Restrict Access to Those Who Know An ID/Password.

Think up an ID and Password that differ from your UW NetID/password (for this example we will choose "abc/xyz" as the ID/password).

Login to Homer          : Type "q" and then "s" to get to Unix
Move to public_html     : cd public_html
Move to sub-directory   : cd Anonftp
Create an .htaccess file: use the pico editor to create a small file:
                          Type "pico .htaccess"  and add the text:
                          AuthType Basic
                          AuthUserFile .htpasswd           
                          AuthName My Files         
                          require user abc   
                          CTRL-x                 To exit Pico
Create a password       : htpasswd -c .htpasswd xyz

For a full discussion of controlling access and more options, see: Controlling Access to Web Pages

Your Actions For Each File To Be Made Accessible: You need to transfer each file to 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 the ID/password combination that you have provided (in this example it is "abc/xyz") can see a list of files in your Web directory and can view or download any of them to their PC.

In any browser they type the URL : staff.washington.edu/johndoe/Anonftp
The Web browser prompts them with: a window named "My Files" (in this
                                   case), and asks for
                                   User name: [        ]
                                   Password:  [        ]
They type in the correct values  : User name: [ abc ]
                                   Password:  [ xyz ]
                                   and click [OK]
They double click on a file      : (to view the file)
They right click and select
     Save Target As...           : (to save it to their PC)
                                   Note: this assumes they are using
                                   Internet Explorer; other Web browsers
                                   may word the save command differently