The Mac comes with its own built in command line client, which is all and well if you are a command line genius, but for the rest of us it’s not very useful. To this end there are FTP (File Transfer Protocol) clients with a graphical user interface that make FTP a cinch from your OS X desktop.
Getting Started

Cyberduck Download ButtonStart by going to the Cyberduck Homepage (Cyberduck | FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Cloud Files & Amazon S3 Browser for Mac OS X | About) and clicking the download link, from where the downloaded software will end up, either on your desktop or in the downloads folder, depending on your version of OS X. When prompted, select the option to “open with DiskImageMounter.app”, if in Firefox, this will mean that the file is auto-mounted and opened in the Finder when finished.

After the file has been mounted an opened, you will see a finder window. In this window there is a Cyberduck application file, with a bath tub duck for an icon. Drag and drop this item to your Applications folder. Once copied over dispense with the mounted volume image by clicking the Eject button in the sidebar of the Finder window.

Open and Connect with Cyberduck

Now find Cyberduck in the Applications folder and double-click the icon. This will launch the app and and a virgin Cyberduck window will open ready for you to make a connection to your server. At this point you should probably ensure that you have all the requisite information needed to make a successful connection to your server. If for a web server, you will have received details of the ftp server hostname, username and password from your web hosting service provider.

Once ready, click Open Connection at the top left hand corner of the blank window. This will generate a drop down dialog for you to enter the detaisl to connect. Under server put in the ftp hostname, username and pass go in their respective fields, and to memorize the details, check the box for Add to keychain. Ensure that, at the top of the drop down dialog, the select menu has the right service type selected. It defaults to FTP (File Transfer Protocol), though there are 7 other types of service that Cyberduck can handle.

There is no need to specifically set any of the items under the More Options tab, but you can predefine a file path or destination, and specify the connection mode and encoding. If in doubt, best to leave these as is. The FTP server will deposit you in the top level of the space you have on the server you are connecting to.

Once connected the experience of using the Cyberduck file window should be pretty similar if not identical to the Mac OSX Finder, thus, you should have a relatively easy time of finding your way around.

Troubleshooting FTP Connection Issues

If you find that you are having issues connecting, then doucle check the details you entered are correct. The FTP server will likely provide back an error message which might give you a clue as to the root cause of the problem. If the connection is excessively slow or times out, try toggling the between Active and Passive in Connection Mode under the More Options Tab.
Tweaking & Getting Fully Setup

Beyond your first successful connection, you may well want to investigate creating bookmarks so that you don’t have to remember your details every single time you want to login. Â In addition I would check out the documentation and features listed on the Cyberduck web site and get to know your new file transfer friend a little better. Â Find out more by heading to Cyberduck.ch.

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