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FTP

If you were to use a cloud computing service such as Google Compute Engine of the Google Cloud Platform, you will be constantly transferring files between your local computer and the remote server. An FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client such as FileZilla proves handy here. It can be downloaded to the local computer for free.

To enable FTP on a remote Windows server, install FileZilla Server.

To enable FTP on a remote Linux server:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install vsftpd sudo service vsftpd status sudo ufw allow OpenSSH sudo ufw allow 20/tcp sudo ufw allow 21/tcp sudo ufw enable sudo ufw status

where the last few lines configure the firewall. Then edit the configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/vsftpd.conf

and uncomment the following lines by removing the # sign in front:

write_enable=YES chroot_local_user=YES local_umask=022

To securely transfer files over SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol), change to YES the following option:

ssl_enable=YES

and add:

rsa_cert_file=/etc/ssl/private/vsftpd.pem rsa_private_key_file=/etc/ssl/private/vsftpd.pem allow_anon_ssl=NO force_local_data_ssl=YES force_local_logins_ssl=YES ssl_tlsv1=YESssl_sslv2=NO ssl_sslv3=NO require_ssl_reuse=NO ssl_ciphers=HIGH

To generate the private key (.../vsftpd.pem), enter the command:

sudo openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048
-keyout /etc/ssl/private/vsftpd.pem
-out /etc/ssl/private/vsftpd.pem<

Finally, restart vsftpd:

sudo systemctl restart vsftpd

Some cloud service providers such as Google Compute Engine require you to setup the external IP and firewall rules on their interface too.

It is also possible to automate the transfer of files with scripts.

For instance, to upload files from Windows, locally create a batch file ftp_mysite.bat:

echo open 175.141.54.183 > temp.txt echo username>> temp.txt echo password>> temp.txt echo prompt >> temp.txt echo mput * >> temp.txt echo quit>> temp.txt ftp -s:temp.txt del temp.txt

For details on how to use the FTP command, enter 'ftp' then enter 'help' on the FTP prompt to list all the possible FTP commands. To get an explanation on a particular FTP command such as 'get', enter 'help get'.To upload from Linux:

# ./transfer_my_site HOST=ftp.example.com USER=ftpuser PASSWORD=P@ssw0rd ftp -inv $HOST <<EOFuser $USER $PASSWORD cd /path/to/file mput *.html bye EOF

Then make the script executable and test it:

chmod 700 transfer_my_site ./transfer_my_site