ftp from the Command-Line: tres 80's


The *very* first thing to do is make sure you have a live internet connection. If you're on a modem, dial up through your ISP. Then you can leave that app in the 'background.' The only thing you need it for is to get your phone line connected.

Next, get a pseudo-DOS prompt in your Win-32 system (yours may be in accessories, but is usually on the program flyout of the start menu) -->

Now, from the C:> prompt, type ftp, and press ENTER. You should see an ftp prompt, as shown here. If you get an unrecognized command error, command-line ftp is not built in to your OS. Try looking at Gear for alternatives.

In ftp, you can always get a list of the legal commands by typing '?' and pressing ENTER. Beyond that, the help isn't very. Entering a question mark together with a command gets you a one sentence description, but that's usually not much help ('? mput' for instance, says 'send multiple files'). Since this is meant to be a very bare-bones tutorial until you're more comfortable with your account, I'm going to use only the basic commands needed.


Now to log in to your ftp account. The command is 'open,' and then you are prompted for the ftp site you want to open (or you can enter it as one command - 'open mycomic.keenspace.com'). Enter your site, of course (but *not* with www or http - this is *not* your visible site, nor is it http (hypertext transfer protocol). Just mycomic.keenspace.com is fine - all lowercase.

You'll be prompted for a user ID, and then a password - remember that both are case-sensitive. 'BoxJam' is not the same as 'boxjam' is not the same as 'BOXJAM'.

Note - In the case that your connection 'hangs' when you try to connect to your ftp site, try ftp.keenspace.com - the admins often make that site available if something is wonky with the regular ones.



Now we're getting somewhere! ->


Keenspace is a free webhosting and site automation service for webcomics.