How to connect to FTP servers on macOS using modern apps – AppleInsider

File Transfer Protocol is an older network protocol for transferring files to network servers. Here’s how to use it on your Mac.

We’ve already covered the terminal-based SCP protocol, which allows you to copy files securely over a network.

How to Use SSH for Secure Connections in macOS talked about SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), which is considered more secure because it uses public key infrastructure (PKI) to exchange key information for authentication.

How to use SFTP and rsync for file transfers on macOS explained how to use SFTP and rsync – a UNIX backup and restore tool.

There is another older protocol called File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which allows you to transfer files to and from web servers.

FTP is widely considered obsolete (and insecure) because it exchanges both connection and file information in plain text, which is a security risk. Anyone outside your network (or a threat actor inside) can listen in on an FTP communications session to steal passwords and data.

FTP can be secured using SSL/TLS (FTPS) web encryption, but even this is no longer considered good practice.

If you still need to connect to an old-fashioned FTP server, there are several apps for macOS you can use. Third-party GUI FTP applications and integrated command line (CLI) ftp The tool in the macOS terminal is available.

You can also connect to some FTP servers in the macOS Finder.

Until recently, FTP was included in most web browsers using the ftp:// URL prefix, but many modern browsers, including Firefox, have dropped support for the FTP protocol.

FTP history

FTP servers are integrated with popular web servers, such as Apache from the Apache Foundation and others. The FTP server daemon runs in the background on the server, listening for incoming connections and file transfer requests.

The original FTP specification was published in RFC 11 in April 1971. Before TCP/IP and the Internet were popularized, FTP ran on top of ARPANET’s Network Control Protocol (NCP).

ARPANET was the precursor to the modern Internet developed by the Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In fact, the Internet came about because the Department of Defense wanted a military-grade communications network that could survive a nuclear attack.

The official launch of the modern Internet standard TCP/IP began on January 1, 1983, when the entire ARPANET moved from NCP to TCP/IP.

This was before graphical user interfaces, and most FTP was done on UNIX text terminals using the CLI. ftp command, which still exists in macOS today.

Connection with FTP

When an FTP client makes a request, the server checks the authentication details and, if valid, allows the user to log in. Once logged in, users can view directory contents, download and delete files.

Usually a username and password are sent to the server, but in many FTP clients it is possible to configure PKI keys to check the connection.

The keys are much more secure because, unless someone has stolen the user’s private key from their computer, it is almost impossible to decrypt PKI keys because they are heavily encrypted.

In GUI FTP clients, you log in either by providing your public key file on your Mac or by entering a username and password in the application’s authorization pane.

We’ll cover different GUI clients in a moment.

CLI command

You can see how to use the CLI version of FTP in the Terminal app by running Terminal from the /Utilities folder and then typing man ftp and pressing return.

FTP uploads using the CLI are sent to the current working directory on your Mac in Terminal unless you specify another destination.

You can display the current working directory or password in Terminal using the pwd order.

The CLI also allows you to specify the source server, a destination location, and the files or folders to download. If you download a folder, its entire contents are downloaded unless you specify otherwise.

Third-party FTP clients for Mac

GUI FTP clients have been around on Macs since the early 1990s. At the time, Apple offered its own FTP client application called Cyberdogreleased around the time the internet became mainstream.

Today, some of these same FTP clients still exist. Most Mac FTP application providers have left the industry due to its increasing obsolescence, but a few remain.

In order of popularity, the main current Mac FTP clients are:

1. Transmit by Panic ($45, free demo)

https://panic.com/transmit/

2. FileZilla (free, plus a paid Pro version)
3. Recover ($29, free demo)
4. Cyberduck ($10 with free demo)
5. Binary Nights Forklift
6. CloudMounter ($29 single, $99 team)
7. Terminus (SFTP)
8. Commander One

There are a multitude of other client applications available today, both downloadable from the web and the Mac App Store.

Transmit, FileZilla, Forklift and CloudMounter are all available on the Mac App Store as well as on the publisher’s sites.

Transmit, Cyberduck and CloudMounter can also connect to a variety of cloud file storage services. They support Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, Google Drive, Dropbox, Backblaze and others.

Cyberduck and CloudMounter support various other cloud services such as OpenStack Swift, Box and Files.com.

Cyberduck also offers an optional component that allows you to mount any FTP server or directory as a network drive on the macOS desktop. Once connected, you can browse, download, and upload files to a remote server as if they were a local disk.

You can also do this in the macOS Finder in some cases (as we’ll see below).

Mountain Duck provides additional functionality over simple Finder logins.

Transmit and Fetch are considered the two original FTP clients in the Mac GUI because they appeared in the 1990s on Apple’s Mac OS 9 when the Internet became popular. Fetch is actually released 1989when macOS was called System 7.

Transmit and Fetch are great apps, but in our opinion, Transmit is the gold standard. It also offers the most refined and seamless user experience.

FileZilla is considered the free standard for FTP on Mac and Windows. It has many features, but the user interface is considered a little less polished than other Mac FTP applications. FileZilla is also open source.

A nice feature of FileZilla is the detailed connection log pane when you log in (which you can hide or show). When your Mac connects to the remote server, this pane displays a detailed connection log.

If something goes wrong while logging in, you can see exactly what the problem is in the log pane.

ForkLift can also act as a dual-pane local file browser so you can view both local files on your Mac and remote FTP servers in the same window.

Terminus is an SFTP application, but also has a terminal-style command line interface using SSH.

Commander One is an FTP client that also has a dual-pane file browser.

Connecting to FTP in Finder

In the macOS Finder, you connect to an FTP server using the Go->Connect to server menu item in the Finder menu bar at the top of the screen. Enter an FTP server name or address using the ftp:// protocol.

For example:

If the server is accessible, you will receive a confirmation alert. Click on Connect.

If something goes wrong, you will see an alert that the server is unreachable. In this case, check your login information and try again.

The server will send you an alert asking for a name and password, or if you want to log in as a guest. Most FTP servers do not allow guests, but some do.

If you want to log in as a guest, click the button Guest radio button. Otherwise, click Registered user and enter your name and password.

Guest access generally does not require a name or password to log in.

Click on Connect:

If all goes well, you will be connected. The FTP server will be mounted as a disk icon on the Finder desktop and a new Finder window will open for the volume.

Mounted FTP volumes look like local disk icons on the desktop, except they have a metallic silver icon indicating multiple users.

Some FTP servers allow anonymous logins – those in which generic credentials are used, instead of a real name and password. On these servers, it is common to enter “anonymous” as the user and your email address as the password.

Anonymous FTP servers generally accept any email address, so you can create one if you want. This formality is not required to connect.

Some anonymous FTP servers only allow file uploads, with special “inbound” or “downloaded” folders set with write permissions allowing users to upload new files for the server administrator to view.

If a folder on the server can be downloaded, the small lock icon in the lower left corner of the window will be missing. In the image above, the directory is read-only, as indicated by the small pencil with a line through it in the lower left corner.

Once connected, you can upload and transfer files and folders to a server’s directory by simply dragging files and folders in and out of the window to your Mac’s desktop. A standard file copy progress window will appear as files are transferred.

FTP is an older protocol, but many web servers still use it. It’s good to know the different ways to connect in case you need to transfer files.