How to use MSC's anonymous FTP Server

There are many different FTP (File Transfer Protocol) clients available. The 'ftp' command line client typically comes installed on the O/S for all systems. Additionally, there are several third party applications available.

This document describes how to connect to the MSC FTP Server (ftp.mscsoftware.com) , where to find files you may download, and where to "put" files you wish to upload.

For most of this discussion, we will assume connection from a UNIX/Linux command line ftp client.

On Windows: 

You can use your web browser (or the Windows file explorer) to download files by using a specific URL sent by MSC.  This will often look something like:

ftp://ftp.mscsoftware.com/pub/outgoing/filename.ext

Note:  You cannot browse the MSC FTP site (either on a window, or performing a directory listing on command line).  This is in the interest of our customers' security (even filenames are customer information).

You may need to right-click and "Save as" for the file if is a registered extension (such as .ZIP or .TAR), or some machines may simply try to open the file directly.

If you are looking to upload files, you can generally "drag" them to the following location that you open:

ftp://ftp.mscsoftware.com/pub/incoming

As mentioned above, you will not be able to see the file you have copied over.  Likewise, you cannot tell if a file of the same name already exists.  Often, if you are working with a support representative, they may create a separate subdirectory under 'incoming' for you to copy all your files to.

From Command Line:

1) How to Connect to ftp.mscsoftware.com

From a client machine (with access to the Internet) type:

	ftp ftp.mscsoftware.com

For the login, enter:

	anonymous

You will then see:

	331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password.
	Password:

At the password prompt, enter your complete email address:

	myname@mydomain.com

2) Where to put or upload files.

Complete 1) above. You are now in the default level of the ftp directory. Please change directory to /pub/incoming by typing:

	cd /pub/incoming

To "put" or upload a file, you need to specify the file type (binary or ascii) and then move the file. To start this process, type:

	bin (for binary files eg *.tar, *.Z *.gz)

or

	asc (for ascii or text files)

Then to begin the upload, type:

  
	put <filename>

NOTE.
During this process, it will be necessary to contact your MSC technical support representative to notify them that a file has been uploaded or "put" on the MSC ftp server. It is a good idea to provide this person with the descriptive filename that was chosen.

3) Where to find files you may download.

Complete 1) above. You are now in the ftp directory. Please change directory to /pub/outgoing or /pub/msc-products by typing:

	cd /pub/outgoing
	or
	cd /pub/msc-products

And, as mentioned above, the directories cannot be searched (dir or ls) outside of MSC.  This is to protect our customers' privacy of file transfers.

Downloading or "get"ing files via ftp requires that you know something about the file type before you download it. Two file types are used: ASCII and BINARY.
To download a BINARY file, type:

	bin
	get <filename>

To download an ASCII file, type:

	asc
	get <filename>