The NCAR/CISL FTP Server

Purpose of the server, and how to use it

• The server ftp.ucar.edu is a platform for UCAR persons to place files for sharing with anyone via ftp file transfer or via downloading from the web. In this note, a UCAR person is defined as any person with a valid NCAR scientist and project number.
• UCAR persons who wish to put files on the server must file a request for an account at CISL Customer Support. After receiving an account, they may then logon to the server with command ftp ftp.ucar.edu, and put files in their /$LOGIN directory or in a /pub directory to which they have been given permission.
• Anyone may get files from the server in directory /pub. There are two ways to do this:
  • They may logon to the server from the command line using ftp as "anonymous". They will be prompted for a password; we recommend the user enter their valid email address for the password.
  • They can point their browser to ftp://ftp.ucar.edu to view the public area and download any files that are accessible to anonymous users.
• Non-UCAR persons may not put files on the server, for security reasons.
• Anyone may log onto the server and enter command help to see the full list of ftp commands available on it. If you need help on a specific ftp command (e.g. mget), enter command help mget.

A few recommendations when using the server

• UCAR persons who put files on ftp.ucar.edu should convey the full path names of the files to the persons who wish to get them, and ask them to get them as soon as possible since there is no guarantee on how long files will reside on the server.
• UCAR persons who put files on the server should remove them after their purpose has been served.
• If you are transferring files to/from our NCAR/CISL supercomputers, and if these files do not require sharing with others via ftp, please use the roy and salo servers rather than ftp.ucar.edu, as per information on this web page: File transfer to the supercomputers from outside the security perimeter.

To get more help

If you are a UCAR person needing an account on the ftp.ucar.edu server or if you have questions about using the server, or about this document, please contact us by any of the methods shown here: CISL Customer Support.