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Northern Illinois University

Everything Technology Handbook

Using File Transfer PROTOCOL (FTP)

You can access your files saved on the NIU network drive (H: drive) directly when you are in a computer lab.

If you are not in a computer lab (i.e., a residence hall room or off campus), you will need to copy the files from your H: drive onto your computer and then copy them back when you are finished. You need a secure File Transfer Protocol (FTP) utility to do this over the Internet.

There is a free utility available for FTP called CoreFTP LiteTM. Use this ITS supported product or another secure utility. You can get CoreFTP Lite by visiting go.et.niu.edu/CoreFTP

You will need the following information to use FTP:

  • Host name: ftp.niu.edu
  • User name: your full-context Z-ID, which looks like “.zxxxxxy.y.students.niu” (without the quotes; there is a “.” before the “z”)
  • Password: The eight-character password associated with your Z-ID

More information can be found at go.et.niu.edu/ftp

If you need assistance, contact the ITS Helpdesk at helpdesk@niu.edu or 753-8100.

In the residence halls, contact the ResTech Helpdesk at restech@niu.edu or 753-6267.

Using FTP Via Internet Explorer

As an alternate method to using Core FTP lite, students can use a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser to access FTP.

In the address field enter: ftp://ftp.niu.edu Using File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

The Internet Explorer window will open an authentication dialogue:

NOTE: The full context name begins with a “.” and follows the format .z123456.6.students.niu

Troubleshooting Tip: Firewall and/or FTP client need to have “Passive FTP” enabled.

Using FTP to Connect to Your H: Drive

NIU students can access their user volume from off-campus via FTP. The advantage to storing files on your user volume is that these files are accessible to you whenever you are logged into the NIU network. Via FTP, these files can be accessed from off campus as well.

Student H: drives have a 50 Megabyte limit on the total size of files that can be stored.

FTP is used to either “get” files from another computer and store them on your local computer or “put” files that are on your local computer onto the remote computer. You must have access to a FTP client program and an active connection to the Internet.

MVSBatch is an FTP connection program created, maintained, distributed, and supported by the Department of Computer Science. If mvs.cso.niu.edu is responding to FTP commands, all support questions for MVSBatch should be directed to Computer Science.