Personal Anonymous FTP

Your personal anonymous FTP directory allows anyone to drop off and pick up files from you on LavaNet's FTP server. Only you have read access to the incoming (drop off) directory so others cannot see the file names.

Contents 1 How someone can drop off a file for you 2 How you can check for dropped off files 3 How to leave files for someone to pick up 4 How someone can pick up files

How someone can drop off a file for you

The exact procedure varies depending on the FTP program he is using so the following is fairly general.

He/She should anonymous FTP to ftp.lava.net. This means he/she runs an FTP program then logs in using the username anonymous. He uses his email address for the password.

   login: anonymous
   Password: user@another.net

   Next he changes to your personal anonymous FTP directory

   cd /users/<your username>/incoming

If he/she is using a point-and-click FTP program like Fetch or WS-FTP he/she can change directories by clicking on them instead of typing the cd command.

Next he transfers the file(s). Only ASCII files should be sent in text or ASCII mode. All other files should be sent in binary mode. If in doubt, use binary mode.

Warning: He/She will not see the file name(s) in his FTP program. He/She must depend on messages from his/her FTP program to determine whether the transfer completed successfully or not.

How you can check for dropped off files

FTP to ftp.lava.net but login as yourself. If you are using Fetch or WS-FTP, use the session profile LavaNet (Personal). Do not use anonymous FTP. Change directory to

   ~ftp/users/<your username>/incoming

You should see the file names. Use the commands appropriate to your FTP program to download the files. Be sure to use binary or ASCII mode as needed.

How to leave files for someone to pick up

FTP to ftp.lava.net but login as yourself. If you are using Fetch or WS-FTP, use the session profile LavaNet (Personal). Do not use anonymous FTP. Change directory to

   ~ftp/users/<your username>/incoming

You should see the file names. Use the commands appropriate to your FTP program to upload the files. Be sure to use binary or ASCII mode as needed.

Send an email to the person with a list of the file names. He won't be able to see the file names so he must be told the exact file names.

If you are sending multiple files, you should consider archiving them into a single file using ZIP or StuffIt so the downloader needs to only download one file. Of course, the downloader must have the correct program to extract the files from the archive file.

How someone can pick up files

The exact procedure varies depending on the FTP program he is using so the following is fairly general.

He/She should anonymous FTP to ftp.lava.net. This means he/she runs an FTP program, then log in using the username anonymous. He/She should use his email address for the password.

   login: anonymous
   Password: user@another.net

   Next he/she changes to your personal anonymous FTP directory

   cd /users/<your username>/incoming

If he/she is using a point-and-click FTP program like Fetch or WS-FTP he/she can change directories by clicking on them instead of typing the cd command.

Next he/she transfers the file(s). Only ASCII files should be sent in text or ASCII mode. All other files should be sent in binary mode. If in doubt, use binary mode.

Warning: He/She will not see the file name(s) in his FTP program. He/She will have to depend on messages from his/her FTP program to determine whether the transfer completed successfully or not.