FileZilla is a popular open source FTP/SFTP client with versions for Windows, Mac OSX and many desktop distributions of Linux.
To get your copy, pop along to the FileZilla project at http://filezilla-project.org/ and look for the Download or Download FileZilla Client links.
Download the appropriate file for your operating system. The screenshots in this guide are from the Windows version, but the Mac version is essentially identical.
Step 1 - Installing FileZilla
Installing FileZilla for Windows Users
The installation file for Windows will be named something like FileZilla_3.6.0.2_win32-setup.exe
Once you have downloaded the file, open it and follow the instructions - accepting the default options should be fine. The installer will place FileZilla in the Start menu and also place an icon on the Desktop.
Installing Filezilla for Mac Users
The installation file for Mac users (Intel based Macs) will be named something like FileZilla_3.6.0.2_i686-apple-darwin9.app.tar.bz2 - Installing FileZilla is not as pretty as most Mac applications, but then it's free, so who's complaining.
Once you have downloaded the file just double click it in Finder, and it should decompress and place a copy of FileZilla.app in the same folder. Then, open another Finder window, and locate theApplications folder. Then, simply drag the FileZilla.app file into the Applications folder. Job done!
Step 2 - Setting up FileZilla to connect to your account
From Filezilla's File menu, select Site Manager...
This will open the Site Manager window. The Site Manager is where you can configure and save profiles for each of your websites. A new installation of FileZilla will look a bit empty.
Let's add your first website. Click the New Site button and type in a name for your new Site. Don't worry if you make a mistake, you can always change it later. In the example below we added a Site called My Krystal Account.
Then, on the General Tab enter:
- Host - either your domain name or your Home Server name.
- Port -
- Protocol - you can use FTP or SFTP. We strongly recommend you choose SFTP because, unlike FTP, all usernames, passwords and data are encrypted.
- Logon Type - Normal
- User - your cPanel username
- Password - your cPanel password
Without clicking on anything else, click on the Advanced tab:
- Defult local directory - Browse to where you keep the website files for this project. FileZilla will automatically show you this directory when it connects to your site.
- Default remote directory - This should be in the form /home/username/public_html/ (replacing 'username' with your cPanel username.)
Without clicking on anything else, click on the Transfer Settings tab:
- Limit number of simultaneous connections - Tick this box
- Maximum number of connections - 10
We don't need to meddle with the Charset tab, so now you can now click OK
Step 3 - Avoiding an instant firewall lockout
FTP came into being when the internet was still a bit hit and miss, so most FTP clients can be configured to retry a connection if it cannot connect the first time. FileZilla is no different.
However, if you have accidentally configured an incorrect username/password combination, then FileZilla will happily hammer away, trying to reconnect automatically again and again. This will usually end up getting your IP address blocked. So let's turn off this "feature".
Go to the Edit menu, and choose Settings...
Then, in the Connection page, set the Maximum number of retries to 0 (zero), and then click OK.
