WinSCP

WinSCP

Mark Tuttle

December 1, 2008

Before you can edit pages on our web server, you must install and configure an ftp client that can synchronize local and remote folders on the basis of timestaps.  There are many ftp clients out there, but the best windows-based client is winscp.  Please use winscp because we know it works and we know how to configure it correctly.  We don’t have time to provide help and advice if everyone uses a different client.

This document assumes you have the username and password needed to access the web site.  See me if you need them. In this document we will write USERNAME and PASSWORD where you should use them.

Install winscp

Please install the latest version of winscp.  Even if you have an old copy of winscp installed, follow the directions below to upgrade to the latest version (no need to uninstall the old version first).  Most important, our web server uses ftp, and winscp did not support ftp until verison 4.

  1. Go to winscp.net, click on “Download” in the menu banner running across the top of the page, click on “Installation package” for the latest version (the version nearest the top of the page), and save the installation program to disk.
  2. Launch the installation program to install winscp, and accept all the defaults as given.
  3. Launch winscp to configure winscp, and accept all the defaults as given.

Configure winscp

We need to configure the winscp connection to our web server.

First, create a local folder to hold a local copy of the files on our web server.  We will use the name c:\pacc, but you can name the folder whatever you like.

Second, launch winscp and do the following

  1. Create the PACC connection (starting at the WinSCP Login dialog box)
    1. Click “New”
    2. Enter the following information
      1. Host name: www.pacc-ucc.org
      2. User name: USERNAME
      3. Password: PASSWORD
      4. File protocol: FTP
    3. Click “Save”.
    4. In the “Save session as” dialog box, use “PACC” as the session name and check “save password” and click “OK”.
  2. Configure the PACC connection (starting at the WinSCP Login dialog box)
    1. Select “PACC” in the center panel
    2. Click “Edit” in the right panel
    3. Select “Environment” in the left panel
      1. Set “Timezone offset” to -5
    4. Select “Directories” in the left panel
      1. Enter the following information
        1. Remote directory: /www/www
        2. Local directory: c:pacc
    5. Select “Connection” in the left panel
      1. Check “passive mode”
    6. Click “Save” and “OK”
  3. Configure the file transfer preferences (starting at the WinSCP Login dialog box)
    1. Select “Preferences” in the left panel
    2. Click “Preferences” in the main panel
    3. Select “Transfer” in the left panel
    4. In the “Other” section, next to “Exclude mask,” enter “_vti*; _private; desktop.ini; .htaccess; .htpasswd; .svn; *~; #*” without the quotation marks.
    5. Click “OK”.
    6. Click “Save” and “OK”

Downloading the web site

Now you need to make your local copy of the web site

  1. Launch winscp.
  2. Double click on “PACC”
  3. Click on Commands -> Synchronize
  4. In the “Target directory” section, select “Local”
  5. Click “OK”
  6. Review the list of files that will be downloaded, and click “OK”

Congratulations.  You are ready to go.

Modifying the web site

Please use the following procedure when you want to make a change to the web site:

  1. Run the synchronize command to copy changed files from the web server to your computer. Follow the instructions for “Downloading the web site above” and make certain the “target directory” is “local”.  This will copy changed files to your local machine.
  2. Modify the files as desired.
  3. Run the synchronize procedure to copy changed files from your computer to the web server.  Again, follow the instructions for “Downloading the web site above” but this time make certain the “target directory” is “remote”.  This will copy changes files to the web server.