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This article discusses FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

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What is FTP?

FilehTransfer Protocol (FTP) is a protocol that enables you to transfer files between your hosting account and another computer. FTP establishes a connection between a server (in this case, your account on a hosting.com server) and a client (your local computer). To make your website files accessible to the public, you use an FTP client to upload them to your hosting account on the server. You can also download files from your hosting account to your local computer. The original FTP protocol does not encrypt data sent between the server and the client. Instead, we strongly recommend you use one of the following protocols to transfer files:
  • SFTP (Secure Shell File Transfer Protocol) is available for all of our hosting accounts. As its name implies, SFTP uses the underlying SSH (Secure Shell) protocol to encrypt file transfers. To transfer files using SFTP, you use the same username and password that you use to access SSH or cPanel.
  • FTPS (FTP Secure) is available for all of our cPanel-based hosting accounts. Like SFTP, FTPS adds a layer of security to file transfers. Instead of using SSH however, FTPS uses TLS (Transport Layer Security). TLS is the same protocol used to provide secure connections in your web browser. To transfer files using FTPS, you use a regular FTP username and password. You do not have to use your SSH password.
Anonymous FTP is not available on any hosting.com product. This is not a shared hosting limitation, and buying a managed VPS or dedicated server does not change it. Anonymous write access is a well-established route for abuse and malware distribution, so it is not offered.To give someone access to files, create an authenticated FTP account scoped to a single directory, or use SFTP. On an unmanaged server you have root and can configure whatever you like, but anonymous access you set up yourself is not supported by us.

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Using an FTP client

Please see this article for information about how to connect to your server using FTP.

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More information

For more information about FTP, please visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Transfer_Protocol.