Anonymous FTP is a way for users of the Internet to transfer files to each other. If a site is running an anonymous FTP server, then any user on the Internet may connect to that server and freely download files that are in the anonymous FTP directories. Some sites also allow anonymous users to deposit files on their servers. Usually there is also some form of security involved to protect from malicious users. PRIMUS has an anonymous FTP server and we also allow our SLIP/PPP or Shell members to have space in the anonymous FTP directories. To connect to the PRIMUS anonymous FTP server, use an FTP client or WWW client to connect to ftp.primushost.com (shell.primushost.com customers see this page for more info).

The anonymous FTP directories are setup in a tree fashion, just like most computer file systems. When a user first connects, he/she is usually in the root or top directory. From here, the user can see several subdirectories.

There are only two that will be of real interest to an anonymous FTP user: pub and members. The pub subdirectory contains other directories and files that PRIMUS makes public to the Internet community.

Anyone is welcome to download files from pub. The members subdirectory contains more subdirectories -- one for each of the PRIMUS members who wished to have anonymous FTP space on the PRIMUS server. Here, PRIMUS members make their own files available to the Internet community. It is this section of the PRIMUS anonymous FTP server that concerns this document.

How to Get Anonymous FTP Space

If you are a member of PRIMUS with a SLIP/PPP or a Shell account, you can get Anonymous FTP space on the PRIMUS server. You must request it from PRIMUS customer service. We will setup a subdirectory in the members directory which will be owned by you. You may then place any files you wish there within your quota limit.

To complete the request, we need a few pieces of information. First, we need a name for your directory. The directory name can be anything you wish (case-sensitive) but we will use your username as the directory name if you do not specify one. You will also be provided with an 'incoming' directory, which allows anonymous FTP users to send files to you. See below for more info on this.

Email your request to support@primushost.com or call us at 781-586-6100. Be sure to include the info we need from above.

How to place files in your FTP space

There are two basic ways to place files in your FTP space: via the UNIX shell or via an FTP client. First, the Shell: We create a link in your home directory called public_ftp to your anonymous FTP directory. So you can get there directly by doing a cd public_ftp on the command line. You can also copy or move files to your FTP space with the cp or mv commands. For example:

cp myfile public_ftp  
mv myfile public_ftp

will copy or move the file myfile from your home directory to your anonymous FTP area, respectively. WARNING; you must make sure the permissions are set correctly on the file(s) or anonyous FTP users to PRIMUS will not be able to download your file(s). Use the chmod command to set the correct permissions. eg:

chmod 644 myfile
or
chmod go+r myfile

will both make the file 'myfile' readable by everyone else. Just for your info, when you create a file on the PRIMUS system, it is only accesible by you, the owner, by default. The above chmod commands change the default so anyone can access that file, via FTP.

For your information, the full path to your FTP area is:

/home/ftp/members/dirname

where dirname is the directory name you choose. The path to your FTP area when a user is connected to ftp.primushost.com is

/members/dirname

The other way to get files into your FTP area is by using an FTP client. Set-up your client to connect to your shell host (shell.primushost.com, shell2.primushost.com, or shel3l.primushost.com; shell.primushost.com customers see this page for more info) and login as yourself rather than anonymous. By yourself we mean use your username and password rather than the usename anonymous and your email address as the password.

By doing this, you have permission to remove, delete and rename files, which are not available with an anonymous session. By default, after you connect, you will be placed in your home directory. Some FTP clients allow you to specify the initial directory before you connect.

If your client has this feature, you can put public_ftp in that field and you will be placed in your anonymous area automatically. Otherwise double-click or cd to 'public_ftp' to get into your anonymous FTP area. Then you may send any files you wish and they will be available via anonymous FTP to ftp.primushost.com.

Generally you do not have to worry about permissions because most FTP clients will set the permissions correctly as you download. However, if your files are still not available, then let us know and we will help you.

The Incoming Directory

You may have the need for other Internet users to send you files via FTP. We will add a new directory to the /incoming directory tree with the same name as your FTP area (usually your username).

So for a user to place files there, he/she connects to ftp.primushost.com and goes to the directory /incoming/dirname; where dirname is the name of your FTP directory. The permissions are setup so the user can place files there, but once they are uploaded, he/she will not be able to access them. So anyone can drop off files for you at their convience.

Later, a process will run, which will detect that a file has arrived for you and it will move the file(s) to a subdirectory in your home directory called incoming. This subdirectory will be created automatically if it does not already exist. Currently this process runs every 15 minutes during the day and once an hour in the evening.

NOTE: The incoming directory itself is not under your disk quota, but once the files are moved to your home directory, they will be. Please make sure if someone will be dropping off a file for you that you will have enough disk space to handle it. You may also want to check out the incoming subdirectory occasionally to see if you have received anything new.

The incoming directory can be useful if you need to receive large files, binary or text, and email is not an option. Also, some email readers (Eudora and Air Mail as examples) occasionally have problems with very large email messages. The incoming directory can solve that problem.

Final Words

This document is not intended to give a lesson on FTP, but rather explain an optional service to PRIMUS customers. To review, if you are a PRIMUS SLIP/PPP or Shell customer and would like to have anonymous FTP space on ftp.primushost.com, then please email us at support@primushost.com or call us at 781-586-6100. By sure to include the directory name you would like and also let us know if you will need the 'incoming' directory option. You may add the incoming directory later if you do not need it right away. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.