How do I download a folder that is at ftp://download.example.com

Question

Going to that link shows me the folder and I can save the constituent files one by one...but How do I use an ftp client (like winscp for example) or something else to access the folder and just copy the whole thing. I don't have any username and/or password just that (public) ftp address.

Answer 1

How are you currently trying to access the FTP site? Try using a FTP client such as FileZilla, which is free, or CuteFTP which has a cost but is another good one.

Answer 2

I use wget:

wget -r 'ftp://download.siteXYZ.com/directory/'

The -r stands for recursive. See man wget for details.

Answer 3

You can use the built-in ftp client (since you mention winSCP I'm assuming you are on the windows platform).

ftp -s ftpscript.txt ftp://download.siteXYZ.com

create a file with the name ftpscript.txt which contains following code:

bin
cd /yourfolder
mget *
bye

You can see more about how that works here.

You can do similar scripting with winSCP.

winscp.exe /console /script=winscpscript.txt

create a file with the name winscpscript.txt which contains following code:

option batch on
open ftp://download.siteXYZ.com
get /yourfolder/*
close
exit

You can see more about how that works here.

Answer 4

Just type "\download.siteXYZ.com" in "Run Prompt" and it should take to you this directory with the windows explorer.

Answer 5

FTP programs should have "anonymous login" for instance my linux program called "GNOME Commander" has possibility to login to public FTP. I believe this feature is among all programs.

Answer 6

Apparently with Winscp..one can just do :username--> anonymous and leave the password field blank and then proceed as normal. This is similar to what Pavek said but someone else might find the details I've provided useful. Of the windows solutions suggested, this seems to be the simplest.

Thanks everyone.