Using with FTP servers - atauenis/webone GitHub Wiki

WebOne Proxy Server have support to download files from FTP servers and view directory contents. This is the only way to download files from FTP servers when a retro PC is isolated from Internet (when only the proxy server have connection to both the Internet and the retro PC). Also this enables ability to navigate over FTP servers via modern Web browsers which lacked FTP support.

Open FTP in browser, connected via proxy

This feature is available in WebOne 0.16 and newer. The Web browser should be configured to use Automatic Configuration script or use a WebOne proxy server for at least FTP protocol. Then simply open path to the server in regular format:

Open FTP in browser, not configured to use proxy

If your browser is not configured to use FTP proxy server or if your proxy's WebOne version is 0.14/0.15, it's possible to use another way.

To use file transfer, open http://localhost:8080/!ftp/ in your Internet browser. This may be either an legacy browser or an modern browser (without FTP support at all). You'll see FTP client welcome web page. Here you may specify FTP server name, user name and password (by default - anonymous access). Or even an link address (URI), which is looking like ftp://ftp.distributed.net/centos/dostools/md5sum.exe.

Saving a FTP directory to bookmarks

Just a saving current page URL to browser bookmarks menu will result in a broken bookmark. To add current directory, drag Permanent link hyperlink to bookmarks menu.

Another quick way to connect

FTP connections can be established by opening http://localhost:8080/!ftp/?client=-1&uri=ftp%3A%2F%2Fftp.distributed.net%2Fcentos%2Fdostools%2Fmd5sum.exe, where uri argument is URL-encoded FTP file or directory address.

Configure quick preview for custom file types

When attempting to open a file from FTP server, in some cases it will be displayed in the browser instead of initiating a download to disk. The supported file types include HTML, TXT, JPEG, PNG files, and some other. If you want to use a browser plug-in to display a file from server, but instead you're see browser's file download dialog box, it's need to reconfigure your WebOne server.

The [MimeTypes] section of WebOne configuration contains known file extensions and their MIME content types, used to report to browser how it should parse the file (download or display). Add the extension you need and its MIME type to list (e.g. dwg=application/acad) and restart the proxy server. Then browser will know which plugin is need to display such files. Note that real ability to preview is relying on browser capabilities or presence of corresponding NPAPI/ActiveX plug-in module.

To download such file without previewing, right-click on its name, and choose "Save link as...".

Notes

The FTP support is experimental, and is not always stable. Make sure you're running latest version of WebOne as correction updates for FTP functionality are releasing frequently.