Setting up Anonymous FTP

Anonymous ftp to and from the faculty Suns is only supported on ftp.cs.rutgers.edu. For the research cluster, anonymous ftp is only supported on ftp.research.rutgers.edu.

Making files available for anonymous ftp

Anonymous ftp users can only look at files and directories under ~ftp. To leave files which can be seen by anonymous ftp users, you must first create a directory for yourself as follows (let's assume your name is smith):

    % cd ~ftp/pub           # connect to public directory under ~ftp
    % mkdir smith           # make the directory
    % chmod 755 smith       # make it world-readable

Now you can tell your correspondents that they can pick up files left in pub/smith via anonymous ftp. Please check frequently to see that you are not leaving files for anonymous ftp which are no longer needed.

Note: You should not leave files world-read/writable under ~ftp. If you need to receive files via anonymous ftp, see below. Please check frequently to see that you are not leaving files for anonymous ftp which are no longer needed.

Receiving files via anonymous ftp

First, create a directory in ~ftp/pub for yourself as outlined above. Then create a subdirectory in that directory for incoming files:

    % cd ~ftp/pub/smith     # connect to your public ftp directory
    % mkdir incoming        # make one to hide your incoming directory
    % chmod 711 incoming    # protect it so only you read it
    % cd incoming           # connect to this directory
    % mkdir secret          # this is the directory to receive files
    % chmod 777 secret      # protect it so the world can write to it

Now you can tell your correspondents that they can leave files in pub/smith/incoming/secret via anonymous ftp. The name of the world-writable directory should *not* be "secret". Whatever name you choose for that directory is effectively the password of your incoming ftp, so don't publicize it to other than those from whom you expect files. Change its name occasionally. And please check frequently to pick up any files left for you.

Note: It is possible for people dropping off directories full of files to leave things so you cannot remove them all. In that case, copy what you want out of the directories and mv the directories to ~ftp/delete and it will be deleted within 24 hours.

If you have long term need to share files by ftp with users who do not have local accounts, it is possible to enable passworded access to areas in the ~ftp area. This requires coordination with your sysadmin to set up and is described in the ftpaccess(5) man page.

This page last updated October 1, 2004.