Once you have created HTML, graphic, and other files for your web pages, you transfer them from your computer to a web server. The people.bu.edu server hosts personal and group pages, and the central server (www.bu.edu) hosts pages for academic and administrative departments.

Windows and Mac have different file transfer protocol (FTP) programs for uploading files from a computer to a server.
Windows users should use Dreamweaver or FileZilla — a free FTP client. Mac users should use Dreamweaver or Cyberduck, which is free.

Uploading Files using Dreamweaver

  1. Define a local site using the value below for the corresponding question:

    Host name / SFTP address of server:

    webdev.bu.edu

    Folder on the server:

    For sites on www.bu.edu, use /web/yoursite

    For sites on other domains, use /web/example.bu.edu/yoursite

    FTP Login:

    Enter your @bu.edu email address

    FTP Password:

    Enter your Kerberos password.

    Connection Type:

    Use Secure FTP (SFTP) only.

    Updating Login/Password:
    If you’ve changed your BU (Kerberos) password for any reason, you’ll need to update Dreamweaver with the new password:

    1. In Dreamweaver, go to Site> Manage Site. Double click on your website name.
    2. Here you will see your site definition that you set up when you started your site.
    3. Click next 3 times.
    4. Make sure your FTP login is set to your BU username.
    5. Next you will see “What is my FTP password?”  Type in your new password and click “Test Connection.”  You should get the following message: “Adobe Dreamweaver connected to your Web server successfully.” If not, please re-type your password and try again.
    6. Once connected click next, next, done.  Now you should be able to publish changes to your website.

Uploading Files with an SFTP Client

  1. Open your SFTP client. We recommend FileZilla for Windows and Cyberduck for Mac OS X.
  2. In the Host or Hostname field, fill in webdev.bu.edu
  3. In the Username field, type your BU login name (the portion of your email address that appears before the @ sign.)
  4. On the Open Connection screen in Cyberduck, use the option outlined below. For FileZilla users, enter 22 in the Port field to switch to SFTP. Use Secure FTP (SFTP) only.
  5. In the Password field, type your Kerberos password.
  6. In the Directory or Remote site field, type your Web directory path. For sites on www.bu.edu use /web/sitename. For sites on other domains, use /web/example.bu.edu/sitename
  7. Click OK or Quickconnect.
  8. All SFTP clients allow you to click and drag files to and from a location on your computer to the remote server. Simply select the file you’d like to move and drag it to a new location.
  9. Once the files have been uploaded, check your files on the Web.