A new service for providing both unauthenticated (anonymous) and authenticated (for those users with Rensselaer RCS accounts) File Transfer Protocol (FTP) access is now available through the RCS server ftp.rpi.edu. RCS remote access machines no longer provide FTP service.
Rensselaer's unauthenticated FTP service allows members of the Rensselaer community, if they so choose, to share and/or receive files in the campuswide AFS filesystem with other users, including those not at Rensselaer, via FTP. Rensselaer users can register the directories they wish to make available; for example, they could create a public_ftp directory within their home directory and then register it.
When unauthenticated users FTP to ftp.rpi.edu, they automatically get placed in a specific RCS directory. The README file in this directory contains a list of the server's registered FTP directories.
Please note that this server provides no public world-writeable or read-only area. Unauthenticated users are also restricted as to where they can change directories, and in what they can do once in those directories. Again, the README file provides a complete list of directories that are available to unauthenticated users.
Rensselaer's authenticated FTP service allows members of the Rensselaer community to access the service using an RCS userid/password. In contrast to unauthenticated users, authenticated FTP users have the same file access privileges as they would by logging into an RCS workstation or a remote access server.
To register a directory, type anon_ftp_reg at an RCS UNIX prompt. The system will prompt you to identify the directory (or directories) in which you wish to register. Those which you register will appear in the list of registered directories the next day. (Please note that users can register only those directories to which they have write access.)
If you have any further questions about using FTP, please contact the consultants at the ACS Help Desk, or direct electronic mail to consult@rpi.edu.