Authorized UCAR persons and NCAR personnel (individuals who have valid NCAR scientist and project numbers) can use the UCAR FTP server to share files with anyone who needs to download them if no secure method is available.

This server should not be used for data storage.

If you need an ftp.ucar.edu account, submit a request here.

Page contents

Uploading files

Log in to ftp.ucar.edu with your FTP client (see image) or by entering the following on your command line.

ftp ftp.ucar.edu

You will be in your own personal directory (/pub/cisl/username, for example) and can upload files only to that directory or subdirectories that you create. Execute the usual FTP commands* to put the files in your login directory or a subdirectory.

Notify the intended recipient of the full path name to make the files easy to locate.

Ask the recipient to download the files. Remove them from the server once the recipient has downloaded them.

Keep in mind that anyone can access files kept on the server in a public folder.

Do not store sensitive or critical data there.

Downloading files

You do not need an account to download public files from the FTP server.

Use one of the following methods if you do not have an account.

Browser access

Use your browser to access ftp://ftp.ucar.edu. Find the appropriate /pub subdirectory, select the files, and copy them to your local machine.

Command line FTP

Start by entering the following on your command line.

ftp ftp.ucar.edu

Log in as “anonymous,” then use your email address as your password.

User ftp.ucar.edu:none: anonymous
331 Please specify the password. 
Password: [email address] 230 Login successful. 
ftp>

At that point, simply change to the appropriate directory and use FTP commands* to copy the necessary files to your local machine.

Enter quit to log out.

*FTP commands: For a list of available FTP commands, enter the command help after logging in. For basic information about an individual command, specify the command, as in help mput.