CUCC Expedition Handbook

Uploading photos, GPS tracks and files

Simple instructions

  1. Download and install Filezilla.

That's it. There used to be other ways of doing it using browser extensions but these either don't work anymore or the instructions to install them properly have become too complicated.

You do need to know the expo password.

Installing Filezilla

This software works identically on both Windows and Linux.

Filezilla is an "FTP client". This means that it connects to servers using a venerable service called "file transfer protocol" i.e. FTP. It looks a bit like copying files from one folder to another on your desktop but it works between different machines.

Using Filezilla initially

The expo website has a big section under 'home/expo/expofiles/' that is not under version control. This is dangerous as there is no backup. If you overwrite some important files with your holiday snaps then we are in big trouble. This is where we store big files that we don't want to keep multiple versions of.

So beginners should always put all their files into the folder /home/expo/expofiles/uploads/ and ask an admin to move them to the right place. To make his or her life easier, create your own folder in /expofiles/uploads/ with your name like this: /home/expo/expofiles/uploads/ClarkKent/ and put your files into that folder.

Experienced users

OK the person you have been asking to move the files is getting fed up and now wants you to put the uploaded photos in the right place yourself. This is where they go:

directory: /home/expo/expofiles/photos/2018/YourName/
Or for GPS tracks, do
directory: /home/expo/expofiles/gpslogs/2018/YourName/

Obviously replace 'YourName' with your actual name (no spaces!). It is important that you get this right as this specific way of writing your name is standardised across the website. Use the year that the photo was taken or the GPStrack logged.

Note that uploading photos does not automatically update the view at http://expo.survex.com/photos/ immediately. An update script needs to be run. This should run automatically once/day around midnight UTC (2017 and earlier) or a couple of minutes after you do the upload to the right place (2018 if Wookey gets this sorted out in time) but may be broken. Prod a web admin if nothing is updated by the next morning..

Experts only

If you have been using FTP since the last century or are particularly keen on doing everything using the command-line, read on.

Using scp

Works on Windows (using winscp), Linux (using scp), and no doubt mac and android with other tools. If you have Windows 10 and have installed bash, then you can use scp.

If you don't have winscp installed you can get it from here: http://winscp.net/eng/.

quick start guide: http://winscp.net/eng/docs/getting_started

screenshots: http://winscp.net/eng/docs/screenshots

Command-line people can use the 'cadaver' client which is even available for windows too: http://www.phtagr.org/2009/04/01/cadaver-for-windows/

They both give you an 'explorer-like' interface (although winscp can give you a norton-commander-style 2-pane UI as well).