Configuring File Transfer Clients to work with SSH Tunnels

Fetch and WS_FTP are no longer recommended file transfer clients for Web publishers at UT Austin. We recommend using either SSH or Fugu. The information below, describing how to configure Fetch and WS_FTP to work with SSH tunnels, is provided for people who feel that they still need to use either Fetch or WS_FTP to transfer files. Do not use Fetch or WS_FTP to upload files unless you set up an SSH tunnel first.

For Dreamweaver users, we recommend upgrading to Dreamweaver MX 2004, which supports secure file transfer. If you are using an earlier version, you can configure Dreamweaver to work through an SSH tunnel. See below for more information about using Dreamweaver to transfer files securely.

Windows - WS_FTP

1. First establish the SSH tunnel to your Web host as described previously.
2. After the tunnel is established, start WS_FTP.
3. If the Session Properties dialog box does not open, click the Connect button to open it.
4. Enter a name for this profile, something that you can remember.
5. Enter 127.0.0.1 for the Host name.
6. Enter your UTS login name for User ID.
7. Click the Startup tab and enter your publishing directory on the Web server in the Initial Remote Site Folder field. For Web Central this will be /usr/pub/www/yourdirectory
8. Click OK and enter your password when prompted.
9. You should be able to transfer files back and forth now using WS_FTP. Remember that the data in those files will not be encrypted, but your username and password that you sent when you logged in will be.
10. When your are finished uploading files, quit WS_FTP and your SSH client to close the tunnel.

Macintosh - Fetch

1. First establish the SSH tunnel with Fugu to your Web host as described previously.
2. After the tunnel is established, start Fetch.
3. From the Fetch menu choose Preferences.
4. In the Preferences dialog box, click Firewall.
5. Make sure the PASV checkbox is checked.
6. Enter 127.0.0.1 for the Proxy host field and enter 1024 (or whatever port you used as the Local Port when you configured Fugu) in the port field.
7. Click OK.

You should now be able to transfer files with Fetch. Your username and password will be encrypted, but the data being transferred will not.

Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver MX 2004 uses SecureFTP and does not require you to set up a tunnel. Make sure you click the Use Secure FTP check box in the Remote FTP info section of the Manage sites dialog box. Dreamweaver MX does not use secure FTP so Dreamweaver users need to upgrade to Dreamweaver MX 2004. The instructions for configuring previous versions of Dreamweaver to work with a tunnel do not function properly with our server configuration.

Quitting

When you are finished transferring files, you should close both your file transfer program and the application used to create the SSH tunnel.