In the following examples "FTP Client" software refers to a package specially written to be an FTP client; FTP "Command Line" software is just a command line in a terminal session or at a prompt invoked by typing the command "ftp". Any Web browser may also be used for FTP downloads, and Netscape versions 2 and up can also perform uploads.

NB. Our servers are Unix-based and password, file and directory (folder) names are case sensitive, i.e. "welcome.txt" is not the same as "WELCOME.TXT".

Anonymous download from Demon's FTP server

Anonymous download examples

The following are example downloads of the file "welcome.txt" from our FTP server "ftp.demon.co.uk". Please consult:

ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/demon/doc/ftp.txt

if you need further information for your particular FTP software type or an introduction to anonymous downloads.

NB. It is not necessary for Demon-connected customers to enter a full email address as a password to our FTP server i.e. you can use "myname@" instead of "myname@hostname.demon.co.uk". For the more technically minded, this is because it can do a reverse domain name lookup and work out the 'hostname.demon.co.uk' part for itself.

Example anonymous download via FTP Client software

Once you have connected and started your FTP software, you will need to complete these session setup details (these are already set for Turnpike/WS-FTP users):

Session/Profile Name:

Anything you find appropriate, 'Demon', for example:
Host Name 'ftp.demon.co.uk'
Host Type This should be set to 'Unix'
Login Name, Username or User ID 'anonymous' or 'ftp'
Password Your email address, i.e. 'myname@hostname.demon.co.uk'
Remote (Initial) Directory none, if you wish to "browse" to find the file, or '/pub/doc/demon' to get straight there
Local (Initial) Directory none (you will usually get to choose as you download the file), or any directory you prefer for downloads to your hard disk e.g. "/download"

You should then connect to the server and if you are successful, a directory listing will appear. If you have not specified the /pub/doc/demon directory already, simply double-click on each (i.e. 'pub', 'doc', 'demon').

The welcome.txt file is a Text file so you should set your software to ASCII or Text transfer mode. (Similarly if this was a binary file type, you would choose binary transfer mode). You then just need to select the file and copy it using your "Copy" or "<-" button (or menu option), or just drag and drop the file if your software allows you to. You may then quit or disconnect and read the file.

Using your Web browser for FTP

This is perhaps the easiest way to retrieve the file: all browsers are configured for anonymous download by default.

Once you have connected to the Internet and started your Web browser, enter the following into the 'Location', 'Address' or 'URL' field at the top of the window:

ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/

You then simply need to click 'pub', 'doc', 'demon' to get to the correct directory. If you simply click 'welcome.txt' most browsers will usually display the file (.txt text files are a format they can handle). In most browsers you can force a file to download rather than be displayed - just click with your right-hand mouse button (PC) or click and hold (Mac), then choose to save the file. You will be prompted to choose the local folder for it on your hard disk. The transfer mode is not configurable via a browser and defaults to whatever the browser chooses for that MIME or file type.

You can achieve all of this in one step by entering:

ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/demon/doc/welcome.txt

as the 'Location'. Indeed this form of reference is how the file could be linked from an HTML page.

It is also possible to use your Web browser to upload information. When utilising your Web browser in this way you will be presented with a drag and drop interface similar to Windows Explorer. For example, if you wanted to upload to your homepage you would enter the following line in the address bar of your browser:
ftp://<hostname>:<password>@homepages.demon.co.uk/

via FTP Command Line software

This is the hardest of the three methods to retrieve the file; you will need to type a few lines of instructions to find and get it. Please read the "FTP Commands" section of the document

ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/demon/doc/ftp.txt

for a list of useful FTP commands.

Once you have connected to the Internet, you will need to do the following in a terminal session or at the prompt:-

type: ftp ftp.demon.co.uk

You will see something like this:

Connected to disabuse.demon.co.uk.
[welcome message] 220 disabuse.demon.co.uk FTP server (date:time) ready.
User (disabuse.demon.co.uk:):

type: anonymous (or 'ftp')
331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password.
Password:

type: myname@hostname.demon.co.uk

You will not see this password on your screen, but you should see something like "230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply." If you see "Login failed" or "Login incorrect" and are returned to the prompt just type 'user anonymous' or 'user ftp' to try again.

type: cd /pub/doc/demon

.. to Change Directory to the one containing the welcome.txt file. Alternatively, you can enter this as 'cd /pub', 'cd doc', 'cd demon' to reach the same directory in a stepwise manner. The server should return '250 CWD command successful'. If you get lost, some helpful commands are 'cd ..', 'pwd' and 'ls'. Use 'lcd (dirname)' to choose where the file is to be placed.

To set the transfer mode to Text or ASCII do the following:

type: asc (the equivalent for a Binary file transfer is 'bin')

The server will return '200 Type set to A' or '200 Type set to I' for ASCII text, or binary (Image) mode respectively. You can also toggle an indicator of the file transfer progress on/off using the command 'hash' - it simply causes #-symbols to accumulate on the screen).

To retrieve the file:-

type: get welcome.txt

You should see something like this:
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for welcome.txt(39010 bytes)
[delay or #-symbol indicator, followed by...]
226 Transfer complete.
39978 bytes received in xxx seconds (xxx Kbytes/sec.)

To end the session:

type: quit

.. and the FTP session will disconnect. (Note that you will have to close your Internet connection in the usual way if you would like to be completely disconnected from the Internet).

FTP to Demon Customers' Homepages

The major difference between this type of FTP session and an anonymous download session is that you will almost always be UPLOADING files to your website.

You will need the following information:

Host Name
The server for customer's Homepages, 'homepages.demon.co.uk'
Host Type
This should be set to 'Unix'
Login Name, Username or User ID
This must be your chosen hostname. i.e. 'sample' for 'sample.demon.co.uk' Password
This must be the password set up on your dial-up account. This will have been set the first time you connected.

Remote (Initial) Directory Leave this blank - you are automatically started from your website on the server.

Local (Initial) Directory
You will usually want this set to the directory where you have your Homepages files stored on your own machine.

Full details for ftp-ing files to the Homepages server can be found on the Web at:

Setup

Please read this page if you have any problems.

FTP to Demon Commercial Web Space

This is the Commercial Web service you can purchase at competitive rates, separate from any Homepages space you may have. Full details on our commercial Web Space and Customers' Homepages can be found on our sales site at:

Products

Again you will almost always be UPLOADING files to your Commercial website. You will need the following information:

Host Name

This will vary depending on when your Web space was set up and what type of commercial Web Hosting you have.

For the majority of our commercial websites this setting is: uk-upload.demon.co.uk

Some older sites will just use: www.your-domain-name

Some of the very early commercial web accounts do not have their own domain names. They upload to: www.demon.co.uk

Please consult your setup confirmation for full details.

If you are unsure of any of these details for your site, then please contact:

websupport@demon.net or
telephone 0845 272 2555

Host Type

This should be set to 'Unix'.

Login Name, Username or User ID
This must be the name you chose when you ordered your Commercial Web Space. Please note, it does not necessarily have anything to do with your dial-up account's hostname or your email name.

Password
This must be the password you set up when you ordered your Commercial Web Space. (This should be different from any password used for other of our services).

Remote (Initial) Directory
Leave this blank to allow you to choose a directory when connected. If you are merely uploading new HTML files you could set this to "docs".

Local (Initial) Directory
You will usually want this set to the directory where you have your Commercial Web Space files stored on your own machine.

If you are unsure of any of these details for your site, please contact the Commercial Web Support team on 020 8371 1243, or email www@demon.net

Web pages are served from your "docs" directory.

Other FTP services

Batch FTP

This is a service to our customers that allows you to request a file on a remote host via email. The file is then ftp'd to a directory on our FTP server, from where you can then download it. This has advantages for you: slow links can be avoided; getting files recommended by others can be done "offline" without you having to remember complex FTP site names and directory paths, as these can be simply copied into the body of a mail message. For more information please consult the file:

ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/demon/doc/Batchftp.txt

or email support@demon.net with the Subject 'send batchftp'

Uploading to Demon's FTP site

If you have a program which you feel could be of general use, this can be included on our FTP server. The upload must be legal and able to be freely distributed. We reserve the right not to accept such files at their sole discretion. Further details are available at:

Upload

NB. This is not a private FTP service and is entirely separate from the Homepages and Commercial Web Services.

Accurate at the time of writing (01/1997) E&OE

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Further information

Introduction