Controlling Access To Your Files

This page provides quick tips on making your files available (and unavailable) through the WWW and FTP.

Through the WWW

Files intended to be distributed through the WWW must be stored in or under the "www" directory located in your home directory. To temporarily render a file inaccessible through the WWW, move it to another directory not located under the "www" directory. Instructions on setting up password protected access to file through the WWW are available for those who wish to have more extensive control.

Please note that all files located under the "www" directory, regardless of how their permissions are set for access through FTP, are accessible through the WWW.

Through FTP

If you do not understand permissions, please see our tutorial on Making Files Available through FTP.

To prevent access to files and directories through FTP, change the permissions to 600 for files (a file listing will show "-rw-------") and 700 for directories ("drwx------"). Files transferred through FTP to WebCom will have their permissions set to 600 by default. Newly created directories will have their permissions set to 755 (with the exception of certain administrative directories created by WebCom staff). To make files accessible to others, you will need to change their permissions to 644 ("-rw-r--r--"). If you change your mind about making a directory inaccessible, you will need to change them back to 755 ("drwxr-xr-x").