FTP Site Tab, Choose Location/Open Web Site Dialog Box

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This dialog box helps you create the URL and specify authentication information when you want to open or create a Web site using File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The dialog box is titled differently depending on whether you are creating or opening a Web site:

  • If you are creating a new remote Web site, the dialog box is titled Choose Location.

  • If you are opening an existing Web site, the dialog box is titled Open Web Site.

To access this dialog box when opening a Web site

  1. In Microsoft Visual Web Developer, click File, and then click Open Web Site.

    The Open Web Site dialog box appears.

  2. Click the FTP Site tab.

To access this dialog box when creating a Web site

  1. In Visual Web Developer, click File, and then click New Web Site.

    The New Web Site dialog box appears.

  2. Click Browse, and then click the FTP Site tab.

The site to open must be available on an FTP server and you must have the following:

  • The name of the FTP server where you want to open the Web site.

  • The name of a folder on the FTP server where you have permission to create and write files.

  • Read and write permissions for the FTP directory on the server. Write is only necessary if you need to modify any files.

You might also need:

  • A user name and password for the server.

  • The port number used to access the FTP server. This is typically port 21.

You can get the preceding information from the FTP server administrator.

Note

This dialog box does not prompt you for a browse location (an HTTP URL) for the files in your FTP directory, because that information is not part of the information required to connect to an FTP server. If you want to test your FTP Web site from within Visual Web Developer, the FTP server must also be configured as a Web server running ASP.NET 2.0. You can then configure your Web site with the HTTP URL to run and to view the files on the FTP server. Visual Web Developer will prompt you to browse for a URL if one is not set and you attempt to preview or debug a page. For details, see How to: Specify the Web Server for Web Projects in Visual Studio.

Tasks

Walkthrough: Editing Web Sites with FTP in Visual Studio

UI Elements

  • Server
    Specifies the FTP server name. This can optionally include a port number in the following format:

    ftp://server:port/directory

  • Port
    Specifies the port that Visual Web Developer will use to communicate with the FTP server. The default is 21, which is the port most commonly used for FTP communications. You should change this port number only if the FTP server administrator indicates that the server listens on a different port. If you used a port number in the Server field, you can leave the Port field empty.

  • Directory
    Specifies the folder name on the server that you want to connect to.

  • Passive Mode
    Specifies that the FTP connection should be established using passive mode, where the client (Visual Web Developer) initiates connections for both the command port and the data port. This setting is useful when there is a firewall between the Visual Web Developer client and the FTP server; in those cases, active mode typically fails because the server cannot initialize a connection back to the client to open a data port.

  • Anonymous Login
    Specifies that you will establish a connection to the server that requires no authentication credentials. If the FTP server requires you to log on, clear this check box.

    Note

    If you do not provide required credentials when specifying the login information for the FTP Web site, Visual Web Developer prompts you for them when you attempt to connect. Visual Web Developer never attempts to connect to an FTP server anonymously unless you explicitly specify anonymous login.

  • Username
    The user name for logging on to the FTP server. Note that this user name might not be the same as your Windows user name.

    Note

    Your user name and password are sent unencrypted over an FTP connection. The user name and password are not cached. If you close Visual Web Developer and reopen it, you will need to supply the user name and password when connecting to the FTP server again.

  • Password
    The password for logging on to the FTP server. Note that this password might not be the same as your Windows password.

    Note

    Your user name and password are sent unencrypted over an FTP connection. The user name and password are not cached. If you close Visual Web Developer and reopen it, you will need to supply the user name and password when connecting to the FTP server again.

  • Open
    Click Open to construct the URL of the FTP server and return to the New Web Site dialog box or to open the Web site.

See Also

FTP-Deployed Web Site Projects
Types of Web Site Projects in Visual Studio