File Transfer using dropbox.dartmouth.edu

Anonymous FTP file transfer using dropbox.dartmouth.edu

The server dropbox.dartmouth.edu can be used for the exchange of files between Dartmouth College people and other Internet users. Users outside the College can connect using any FTP client, user anonymous, and deposit files in the directory called incoming, and College users can retrieve them. College users can deposit files in outgoing, and outside users can retrieve them if they know the exact file names. Nobody can list the contents of either directory. Effectively the filename itself becomes the password for retrieval.

All files are deleted automatically after a few days. Transferring very large files may prevent others from using these directories. Seek other means for very large files. 30 GB of disk space is provided for combined incoming and outgoing drop boxes (as of 07/05).

Illegal use of this facility is prohibited.

Warning: Files placed in this directory are NOT secure. Sensitive or confidential data can be encrypted using a separate tool, with the decryption key sent to the recipient by a more secure mechanism.

Questions about this service should be sent to "help @ Dartmouth.EDU"

Incoming

You can use this directory to transfer files from computers outside Dartmouth to computers at Dartmouth. Outside users should use the ftp PUT command (or equivalent menu selection in a graphical client) to place files here. Then they should tell their Dartmouth associate what the file names are. The Dartmouth user can then retrieve the file with the ftp GET command. A simple way to do this is to send email with the URL in the form ftp://dropbox.dartmouth.edu/incoming/myfilename, and the recipient can simply paste the URL into a browser.

Outgoing

You can use this directory to transfer files from computers at Dartmouth to computers outside Dartmouth. Dartmouth users should use the ftp PUT command (or equivalent menu selection in a graphical client) to place files here. Then they should tell their outside associate what the file names are. The outside user can then retrieve the file with the GET command. A simple way to do this is to send email with the URL in the form ftp://dropbox.dartmouth.edu/outgoing/myfilename, and the recipient can simply paste the URL into a browser.

Caveats

The free space available on the server can be very volatile. The status page shows the current free space. While this system is easy to use and requires no accounts or passwords to be created, there are some disadvantages:

Mysterious upload errors if the disk is filled by uploading too much
No control over the file after uploading. You have to wait until the system removes it automatically
Permissions errors if you accidentally pick a file name that is already there. Using non-trivial filenames helps here.
Some FTP client user interfaces will modify the filename as presented to the user, usually simplifying it by dropping an extension suffix indicating the file type. For example, "Report-Oct-2003.ppt" may be displayed without the ".ppt". The full filename is uploaded to the server however, and so the full filename must be used when you try to retrieve the file. Most Microsoft Windows GUI FTP clients operate this way, following the file manager preference to "hide extensions".
Problems with some FTP clients on Microsoft Windows.
Some FTP clients for windows (including the command-line ftp delivered as a standard part of Windows) will appear to upload "my_long_filename.dat", and it appears on the other end as something like "MY~L~~FE.DAT", but you don't get to see that. To avoid that issue, if you must use Windows, test that you can successfully download the file yourself, or rename the file using a DOS-style 8.3 filename.

There is also a mechanism in place for getting a regular account on the campus web server (see www.dartmouth.edu/~apply), and then request that a link to anonymous FTP space be made -- that gets you a directory (with a fixed space quota) under the /people directory, that you can control fully. That can only be used for downloads by colleagues, not uploads. You must use your username and password to place files there.

See also using Gateway.dartmouth.edu as a file transfer staging area for sftp transfers.

Last Updated: 2005/07/08 RB

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