Michael Hooker Microscopy Facility (MHMF.ORG)

FTP Connectivity

FTP access for file transfer is currently only available to those who have explicitly requested an ftp account with Michael Chua.

The FTP site is at microscopy.unc.edu or mhmicroscopy.med.unc.edu.  Files may be uploaded or downloaded using a general purpose ftp client program, including Internet Explorer,  Netscape Navigator,  ws-ftp, or  ftp.exe (provided with Windows and run from a DOS command box) or WinSCP.  For many users the default ftp site appears blank and is read only.  Files may be transferred to or from a specific user directory. Anonymous connections are not permitted, even for read only mode access.   See Michael for more information.

Access requires a username and password which may not be the same as your mhmicroscopy domain account (the account used to log onto the facility computers).  Since the ftp account is not in sync with the domain account changes in mhmicroscopy domain passwords will not change the ftp site password.  In fact for security reasons the ftp password chosen should not be the same as the mhmicroscopy domain password or any other password used at UNC. Currently ftp account passwords do not expire.  These characters should not be used in passwords:  @  :  /  |  \  since they will not work with Internet Explorer  or  Netscape  or  Firefox

Some ftp site subdirectories have a large disk space allotment and allow the transfer of very large files, while other directories are limited in size.  File space is not part of the mhmicroscopy domain shared files space.

Connection Examples:

How to access the FTP site using "MyComputer":

• Add this url ftp://username@microscopy.unc.edu/ to the address bar of a MyComputer window
• Enter username and password when prompted
• Change to your user directory if necessary
• Files may be dragged to or dragged from the directory

My Computer with ftp site url in address box.	Prompt for username and password.	Files ready for down load.

How to access the FTP site using DOS/Windows ftp.exe from a command prompt window:

• Open a commend prompt box (Start --> run  +  open: cmd )
• c:> ftp  microscopy.unc.edu
• enter username and password as prompted
• It may be necessary to do:  cd /users/yourdirectory
• binary   -  (chooses correct transfer mode)
• prompt  -  (terms off confirmation requests)
• lcd c:\localdirectory  - (sets local directory to receive or send file to/from, e.g. c:\temp)
• put  myfile   - (places "myfile" from c:\localdirectry into ftp site.  Wildcards such as * or ? are permitted)
• get yourfile  - (get "yourfile" from ftp site and places it into c:\localdirectory)

Sample ftp session.

N.B. for security reasons this information is incomplete.  See Michael for complete details and advice.

Note that in the future access may be provided through SSH for better security.  The FTP server will be phased out once an SSH server is in operation.

For secure connection use VPN.  VPN must be used always in order to maintain security of passwords.  VPN is only available to UNC employees, students and requires either an Onyen account or a School of Medicine account.

Last updated 02/08/2008

		Copyright 2001-08  Dr. M. Chua, Office of Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
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