Anonymous FTP to bama

Many organizations run FTP accounts that allow you to log in "anonymously" to leave or retrieve information. We have an anonymous FTP account on bama for incoming information. You may use it to let coworkers at other institutions transfer files to you when those files are much too large to be e-mailed.

We are running the anonymous FTP account in a secure mode. Your colleagues can leave files for you but the files must be picked up by you when you directly log into bama. You cannot FTP in yourself and retrieve the file. This method has been chosen so that our FTP site is not used to distribute software downloaded by others without our knowledge.

Neither anonymous FTP users nor users on bama will be able to list files which are in the incoming directory. To retrieve a file you must know its name. The instructions below stress the need to keep a record of the name of the transferred file.

Files placed in anonymous FTP will be available for 5 days before being deleted.

If you have information you would like to have placed in the FTP area for pickup by others, place the file(s) on your own bama account, then contact the HelpDesk at 348-HELP or Help.Desk@ua.edu. Please let the consultant know where the file(s) is/are located, and the name(s).

To Leave a File on bama

These instructions are intended for off-campus colleagues of University of Alabama faculty, staff, or students. This is the only way to place a file in the anonymous FTP account, which may then be picked up by someone with a bama account.

  1. Connect to bama.ua.edu using any FTP program.
  2. Log in with the account name of "anonymous" and your email address as the password.
  3. Change directories on bama to the one named "incoming".
  4. Transfer the file to bama (using ascii or binary as appropriate), giving it a unique, descriptive name. Keep a record of this file name as you or your colleague will not be able to see the file in the directory after it is loaded on bama.

To Pick up a File Left on bama

You must log in directly to bama using a SSH or telnet program to pick up a file. However, your access might be set to a non-interactive level, like "ftp-only" or "remote". You will receive an error message when you try to connect to bama if you do not have an interactive shell. If this occurs, please change to an interactive shell like "ksh." The change will take place immediately. Please change your shell back to a higher security mode (like ftp-only or remote) if you do not need to continue telnetting to your account after you are done retrieving the file.

You must know the file name your colleague used. Please contact the HelpDesk at 348-HELP if this file name is lost.

  1. Use an SSH or telnet program to log in to bama. You may download one of these programs from the Software Download Library if you do not already have one installed.
  2. On bama, change directories in your account to where you want to put your copy of the file.
  3. Copy your colleague's file to that directory with the command
    cp /work/ftp/incoming/filename .
    where filename is the name your colleague used for the file. Don't forget the last space and period in the command; this indicates you want to copy the file to your current directory.
  4. You may either use the file while on your bama account, or you may transfer the file from your bama account to another machine using FTP.