Your best friend for file transfer.

Fetch application logoFetch

FTP Between Two Macs (2 posts)

  • Started 18 years ago by stan
  • Latest reply 18 years ago from Scott McGuire
  • stan Member

    I am new to macs and new to FTP...so forgive me if my question is too basic...

    I have a friend with a mac on the same operating system (10.3) and I would like to be able to ftp files to him and allow him to do the same. We have changed our FTP settings (in preferences) to allow access to our machines - we have also allowed sharing. In addition, I have loaded fetch to try to get the connection established. The other user has also set up an account on his Mac for me. However, I find that when I try to connect to his machine (via an ip address - which I think is actually his airport address - he went to a website to find his ip) I get an error saying that the connection is not allowed. I am sure that I am missing something basic, but, I thought I would ask.

    Posted 18 years ago #

  • Scott McGuire Administrator

    Hi,

    The problem is that with your current setup, you are really trying to connect to your friend's Airport base station instead of his Macintosh, and of course the Airport base station isn't an FTP server.

    To get this to work, you need to do two things - use SFTP, and have your friend tell his Airport base station to forward port 22 to his Macintosh, so that when an SFTP connection comes into the base station, it knows to just send that connection on to your friend's Macintosh, instead of trying to handle it yourself.

    You can enable SFTP sharing by turning on "Remote Login" in the System Preferences Sharing panel, and you can make an SFTP connection by choosing "SFTP" from the "Connect using" pop-up menu in the Fetch New Connection dialog.

    If your friend does not know how to set up his Airport to forward ports, we can provide assistance.

    Another alternative would to just use an intermediate server that you both have access to instead - for instance, if your Internet provider gives you space for a webpage, you could just upload files for your friend there, you could send him the address (URL) to get those files, and he could download them; you could password-protect the files if they contain private information. And your friend could do the same for you. It might be a simpler set up, and you wouldn't have to use your Macs as servers. Or, if you have .Mac accounts, you can share files using your iDisk, although FTP and Fetch would not be involved in that case.

    Thanks,

    Scott McGuire
    Fetch Softworks

    Posted 18 years ago #

Reply

  • Or nickname, if you prefer.
  • This will be kept confidential.
  • This is to ensure that you’re a person, not a spambot.