Managing FTP Servers

Click the ‘FTP Servers’ tab. FTP Servers in DocHaven can be created, edited or recycled, but never deleted.

There is no limit to the number of FTP Servers that can be created, but it is best to keep the number as small as manageable, ideally just one. One FTP server can support hundreds of users and store millions of projects. A great amount of care must be exercised when changing the FTP Servers since they are the link between MySQL and the projects.

If you want to set up your own server, HMS has been thoroughly tested with PureFTP for encrypted and unencrypted FTP transfers, multiple users and directories. The built-in Macintosh FTP server does not support FTPS transfers.



031Server

Server ID
  • This is the unique ID number for the FTP server. It is referenced in the Web Content.

Name
  • Type your name for the FTP Server into ‘Name’. This is a description only and can contain any text.

URL (TCP/IP address or 'My Documents')
  • Type the FTP Server’s TCP/IP address into ‘URL’. For example:
  • accessing an FTP Server running on the Macintosh itself enter ‘127.0.0.1’ or ‘localhost’,
  • accessing an FTP Server running on an internet site type a URL like ‘192.168.2.100’ or ‘ftp.mybusiness.org’, or
  • to store the Project in your local Documents folder type 'My Documents' into URL. The other TCP/IP fields will grey since they are unnecessary.

Port Number
  • Type the port number that DocHaven will use to access the FTP server in ‘Port’. The FTP protocol normally uses port 21 (or 20).

User Name & Password
  • Type the username and password for the FTP Server into ‘User Name’ and ‘Password’. The password will appear as dots for security purposes.

Directory
  • Type the sub-folder directory in which to store the compressed files in ‘Directory’. If left blank, DocHaven will copy the files to the user directory (i.e. ‘/Users/myloginname/’).
  • If the directory starts with a slash (e.g. ‘/’ or ‘/DHFTPServer’) then the files will be stored in a folder starting at the root level.
  • To choose an alternative hard drive use the format ‘/Volumes/Drive_Name/…’.
  • The recommended alternative is to use a simple name with no spaces (such as ‘DHFTPServer’ or ‘Dochaven/ DHFTPServer’).
  • If any folders don’t exist at the time of copying a file, DocHaven will create them.

Timeout
  • Type the number of seconds (e.g. 20) DocHaven will attempt to connect to the FTP Server before timing out and giving an error message.

Secure FTP
  • If checked, the FTP transfer will log in and transfer in an encrypted mode, otherwise it will attempt to transfer in an unencrypted method.

Send Buffer
  • Type the number of bytes to be used as a buffer when sending projects to the FTP Server. For fast local networks a larger number can be used (e.g. 32767) whereas for slower or unreliable networks such as access over the Internet a smaller number (e.g. 2048) should be used.

Transfer Type, Passive Mode and Text Encoding
  • Click ‘Transfer Type’ to set the format of the FTP transfer to Binary.
  • Click ‘Passive Mode’ to set whether the FTP Server determines the TCP/IP port it will use to transfer files. Setting passive mode to true means the FTP Server chooses the port number, whereas setting passive mode to false forces the FTP Server to use the port that DocHaven chooses. Many FTP servers only support Passive Mode as true.
  • Click ‘Text Encoding’ to set how the FTP transfer handles complex file names and contents. The normal setting is MacOS X/Unix. Since most transfers will be the zip file the encoding is not an issue. It is only an issue if Projects are transferred uncompressed or you use the Web Content feature.

Notes
  • Type any issues about the server in ‘Notes’.

Testing an FTP Server
  • Click the 'Test' button to attempt to connect to the server with the current settings. While useful, it is not an exhaustive test.
Moving Users and Servers
  • DocHaven stores the compressed projects within folders on the FTP server. DocHaven will create a folder (e.g. ‘Server0001’) for each FTP Server ID you define. Within this server directory DocHaven will create one new directory per User ID (e.g. ‘User0000000001’) when they put away their first project. Within these User directories DocHaven stores the project files (e.g. 0000000001-0001.zip).
  • Should an administrator in an emergency ever need to locate a whole FTP Server or every project owned by a user or even an individual version of a project the logical format makes this very easy to accomplish.
  • This is useful if you ever want to move an FTP Server or a user account to another server or manually check if any user is storing an excessive number of files.
  • You can drag and drop ‘Server0001’ and ‘User0000000001’ folders from one location to another, but ensure you update their Server and FTP details to reflect the changes.

Decommissioning an FTP Server
  • If you decommission an FTP server, but don’t want to recycle the FTP Server ID on all the users, they uncheck ‘Server Active’. This will indicate to DocHaven not to accept any requests for this FTP Server. You may use this while running periodic maintenance on a server or during network outages.