SYST10049 Setup Tasks

First, you need to configure your FTP Client to connect to the web server so you can upload and manage your project files. The instructions below use FileZilla, but they should be similar for other FTP clients.

Setting Up the FTP Connection

FileZilla is one of several FTP clients you can use to upload (publish) files to your web space on the dev.fast server. You can also upload files using cPanel, but using FileZilla is much faster and easier.

One disadvantage is the initial setup to work with the dev.fast server: Sheridan's network/software uses SSO (Single Sign On) for its authenticaion - you can use your Sheridan credentials to log into any part of the system. This is very convenient: previously, students would have to create a separate password just for the dev.fast server. Using SSO means you only have to remember your Sheridan login information (login name, email address, UPN, and the password). However, in order to allow FileZilla to allow connections to the dev.fast server, you will have to create a SSH (Secure Socket Shell, or just Secure Shell) cryptographic key. This key will make sure that the FileZilla connection coming from a computer to your dev.fast server account is actually you, and not someone else - it's an extra layer of security that is required in order to allow a non-Sheridan application to connect to one of the Sheridan network resources.

Create the SSH Key

TL;DR: First, we'll create the SSH key and give it to FileZilla. This key consists of a public key and a private key. The public key is used to encrypt data before that data is sent to the receiver. the receiver uses the private key to decrypt the data. When a client and server start to communicate, they need to agree on and exchange these keys before any messages or data are exchanged. So you will use a cPanel tool to generate a public and private key pair for you. Then when you connect to cPanel using FileZilla, any data it receives from the dev.fast server will be encrypted using the public key, and it will decrypt the data with the private key (and vice versa).

1. If you're not already logged in, go to https://cpanel.dev.fast.sheridanc.on.ca/ (opens in a new tab/window) and scroll down to the "LOG IN VIA SHERIDAN" button. Click "Log in via Sheridan" and enter your Sheridan credentials (your UPN and Sheridan password) and do the verification if necessary.
2. If you're logged in, you should see the main landing page:
   

   

3. Scroll down the page: you'll see various tools with icons separated into categories or sections. Find the category/section called Security and click on the tool labeled SSH Access.
   

   

4. Click on the button titled "Manage SSH Keys"
   

   

5. Now you can create your SSH Key: click on the button with the text "+ Generate a New Key".
   

   

6. Now you will need to enter a key name: you could call it whatever you like but it is suggested you use cpanel_key so you can easily find or recognize it at a later date, and it will make troubleshooting easier.
7. Enter and confirm a password for your private key. For the rest of the instructions I'll call this your key password. Make sure you use a strong key password. Feel free to use the password generator on the screen if you like. Record your key password somewhere safe and secure, because you'll need it for the next set of steps.
   

   

8. Leave the rest of the fields alone: the default key type of RSA and key size of 2048 are ok, you don't need to change those. Click the Generate Key button near the bottom.
9. The next screen should show the message "Key Generation Complete" along with a box full of what looks like a lot of seemingly random characters: that's fine. Below the box, look for the Go Back link and click it to return to the Manage SSH Keys page.
   

   

10. Now you should see your cpanel_key in the "Public Keys" area and "Private Keys area. However, in the Public Keys area it's Authorization Status is shown as "not authorized". Click on the link titled Manage to the far right of your cpanel_key Public Key.
    

    

11. Now you'll see a screen that says "The key with the name 'cpanel_key' is currently "not authorized" for use..." Click the Authorize button to authorize the use of this key. This will allow you to use it in FileZilla.
12. After you click the Authorize button, you should see a message that says "The key 'cpanel_key.pub' has been authorized." Now click on the Go Back link to return to the previous page.
    

    

13. Back on the previous page, you'll now notice that the cpanel_key is listed under "Authorization Status" as "authorized". Now you need to download the private key so you can give it to FileZilla: Click on the "View/Download" link under Private Keys.
    

    

14. Now you should see a big text box with all kinds of junk inside it: do not share this junk with anyone, keep it private (that's why I didn't display mine in the screen shot!). Click on the Download Key button under the text box.
    

    

15. Choose a location for your file if prompted to do so. If your browser put the file in your Downloads folder, you can find it there and move it to a different directory if you wish.

Now you have generated a key so you can communicate via FileZilla between your computer and the dev.fast server. Time to add the key information to FileZilla.

Open up FileZilla if it's not already running. You need to create a connection so that FileZilla will remember it and allow you to easily connect whenever you want.

1. From the FileZilla Edit menu, select Settings.
   

   

2. On the left side of the dialog, select SFTP in the "Connection" category.
3. At the bottom-middle of the dialog, click the Add key file... button.
   

   

4. Now browse to where your cpanel key file was saved and select it.
5. After selecting your cpanel key file, a dialog box will appear asking if you'd like to convert your key file into a format that is supported by FileZilla. Click Yes.
   

   

6. When prompted, enter your key password, and then click on the OK button.
   

   

7. Now you are asked to choose a file name for the converted key file. Just use the same name: it will overwrite the original and that's ok. If it asks you to confirm overwriting the original file, just say Yes. (It's not actually going to overwrite it - if you take a look after you save, you'll see the original cpanel_key and also cpanel_key.ppk).
   

   

8. In the previous dialog, you'll now see your cpanel key file in the list in the middle of the screen. Click OK to close the dialog.
   

   

Now all that's left is to add or edit your connection to the dev.fast server. If you have this connection from last term, you just need to edit and test it, so you can skip over some of the steps below. If you have to create a new connection, follow all the steps.

1. Open the Site Manager: You can use File > Site Manager or Ctrl-S, or click on the first button in the button bar, shown in the screen shot below:

   

2. Add a new connection: Click on the New Site button below the list of sites (in my screen shot I have several sites alreayd configured, but yours will likely be empty if you've never done this before).
   • If you are editing an existing connection to dev.fast, just select it in the site list instead, and the site configuration and details will appear on the right side of the window.

   

3. You now need to enter the connection details. For the FAST Development Server, use the following details (if a field is not listed here, leave it set to its default value; if there is a field for the name of the connection, just choose whatever you prefer):
   • Protocol: SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol
   • Host: dev.fast.sheridanc.on.ca
   • User: enter your Sheridan login name (only the login name, not the UPN or email)
   • Password: your Sheridan password (NOTE: if you're editing your settings from last term, you need to makes sure you change this to your Sheridan password, not the password you were given by the FAST Tech team.)

   

4. Save the connection by clicking the OK button.

You can connect to the dev.fast server any time by using the Site Manager (File > Site Manager or Ctrl-S) and clicking the Connect button for your connection. Or, you can use the small drop-down arrow beside the Site Manager button on the button bar, and select your connection from the list: it will connect automatically.

When you connect to the server using FileZilla, you will see the "Unknown Host Key" dialog box: Check the checkbox and click OK.

Next, you'll see the dialog that asks you for the key password. Enter the key password, and make sure the "Remember password until FileZilla is closed" checkbox is checked so you're not repeatedly prompted for it every time your connection times out. Then click OK.

If everything works, it should show you as connected and you can see the remote server directory listing. If you see any error messages, something didn't go right. Read the error message and fix the problems, then try again. Ask your professor if you see an error message that you don't understand.

Copying your Directories onto the Server

Now you can mirror or clone your local workspace directory structure to the server in your /public_html directory. Open FileZilla if it's not already open.

• In FileZilla, connect to the development server if you're not already connected.
• Your local files are on the left side of the screen and your remote server is on the right side (think Left/Local, Right/Remote).
• On the server/remote side, make sure you are in your public_html directory by selecting in from inside your home directory: you can click it or you can click the small + sign beside it to expand the directory. When selected, the full path should appear above the main remote directory listing in the "Remote Site:" field.

  

• Now just drag all the directories (/assignments, /week3, /week4, etc) over from the local side (left side) to the remote side:
  • select all the directories on the local side by clicking the top directory, then hold down your computer's SHIFT key while you select the last directory - now all the directories should show as selected
  • use your mouse to drag-and-drop the selected directories over from the local (left) side to the remote (right) side
    

    

• You should now have a copy of all the files/directories from your local workspace onto your server space.
  

  

• Log into the dev.fast server and on the cPanel main menu, go to the File category and click on File Manager.

  

• On the left side of the File Manager app, make sure public_html is the current directory (it will be bold - if not, click it). You should also notice that it says "public_html" in the field at the top of the list, between the house icon and the GO button.

  

• If you still have projects/files from a previous semester, you can delete those, assuming you already have copies on your own computer (if not, you'll have to manually download all the files).

The /public_html directory is where you would create all your project directories and upload files. For example, you should first create your /assignments directory for your graded assignments (Note that file/directory names are case-sensitive, so your directory/file names must always match the instructions EXACTLY):

• Click the "+Folder" button above the list of directories on the left.

  

• Enter the name of the "New Folder Name" as the name of the directory you want to create. If you are creating the /assignments directory, it needs to be "assignments" in all lower-case. DO NOT type it any other way or I will not be able to access your assignments and you risk a grade penalty.

  

• Double-check that "New folder will be created in" is set to "public_html". If it isn't, you can just change the selection.
• Click the "Create new Folder" button.

To create sub-directories, simply click the parent directory in your directory list on the left so that you're inside that directory (again, it should be bold and also show in the field at the top of the directory list). Then click the "+Folder" button to repeat the process above.

To upload files, click the directory where you want to upload and select the "Upload" button.

A new browser tab/window will open. You can use the "Select File" button to browse and select files on your system or you can simply drag files from another window (e.g. Windows File Manager) to the area on the screen.

If you are copying over files that already exist, make sure you check the Overwrite existing files checkbox.

When the upload is complete, you can use the "Go Back..." link at the bottom of the screen to return to the file manger. You should see your uploaded files listed.