Introduction

Imagine a person who just purchased VPS hosting a few days ago and he is fully ready with all his website files and designs to upload on the server but there’s only one problem: he doesn’t have any idea about Linux configurations and commands. Thus, even after having everything on hand, he would not be able to upload his website files on a VPS using Terminal commands.

However, What this person don’t know is that there is a way to upload these website files easily on the server without needing any coding or command line knowledge, and that is FileZilla

Let us tell you how you can upload your website files to a VPS with a graphical tool using FileZilla so that, if you are also someone similar to whom we imagined earlier, you don’t face any issues with hosting and managing your website files.

With FileZilla, you don’t need to touch even a single letter of coding and Linux commands. It is just about dragging and dropping website files to the right place between folders.

Let’s begin the step-by-step and in-depth guide on uploading your website files to a VPS using FileZilla

What is FileZilla?

If you are not familiar with server file transferring yet, you must be wondering, what is FileZilla? So let us first understand this:

FileZilla is a free and open-source FTP (File Transfer Protocol) platform that is widely used to transfer files between local computers and server hosting. It supports various protocols, including FTP, SFTP, and FTPS; each of them has its own security importance. Additionally, the application works both for a client and server application.

Why use FileZilla for VPS file uploads

Using FileZilla for uploading website files and managing root directories is useful and ideal for many reasons, especially for those who are just starting their hosting journey with minimum coding and Linux command knowledge.

• It allow you to movie and upload files using graphical interface without any commands or coding
• It is simple rag-and-drop file features to upload the files
• It’s quite easy to access and manage files and folders with FileZilla
• The best thing is it works in all the major operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux

What are the pre-requisites to upload websites files using FileZilla on VPS

Before we get into the step-by-step process, Let us tell you some of the prerequisites that are necessary to upload files on a VPS using FileZilla

• Firstly, you must have a VPS hosting from a reputable hosting provider
• An user account with SSH or SFTP is required (Usually a root access is preferred)
• You must have your website files ready, which includes HTML, CSS, JS, etc. for smooth and uninterrupted process
• The FileZilla application should be installed on your local computer (we will guide you for this).

How to Install FileZilla

 Installing FileZilla on your local computer is quite easy no matter which operating system you use. Let us guide you through the steps to download the application in all three major operating systems:

●     On Windows

• Go to FileZilla website
  • Click on the button, “Download FileZilla Client.”You will be redirected to a new page; again, click on “Download FileZilla Client.”Choose the free options from the popup (unless you want to go with the pro features). In our case free option is sufficient to upload website files
  • Wait for the download, and once downloaded, install it like any other software you do on your computer

●     On macOS

• The steps are all the same as Windows; you just need to download the MacOS version of FileZilla from the third step to ensure the compatibility.
  • You will get the two macOS options: macOS (Apple silicon) & macOS (Intel).
  • Choose the right version as per your device requirements and follow the same steps that you take for any other software installation on your device

●     On Linux (Ubuntu)

If you are using the Linux system, we expect you to have basic Linux command knowledge. Just give one simple command to your Linux terminal:

sudo apt install filezilla

However, even if you are not comfortable with this command, you can install it from the Ubuntu Software Center graphically.

Connect FileZilla with VPS

Once you install FileZilla on your computer, the next step is to connect it with your VPS. Here is how you will connect FileZilla with your VPS

• Open FileZilla application
• The first user interface will ask you for four fields at the top
• Fill these SFTP details as per your , which includes
  • Host—e.g., sftp://your-vps-ip (sftp://192.168.1.1)
  • Username (Generally it is root but might differ in some hosting cases)
  • Password
  • Port (Usually set as 22 unless changed manually)
• Click QuickConnect to connect

Once your VPS is connected with FileZilla, you will see two panels

• Left panel: It will show all your local computer files
  • Right panel: Here you will see all your server files and root directories

Note: If you have disabled password login and opted for an SSH key, then you might have to take a few extra steps to connect. Add your SSH key by going into the settings of FileZilla, then SFTP, and finally add the key file.

Upload your website files to right directory

You can now start uploading your website files to your VPS directory easily and for that you should have a perfect idea of what the correct directory is and where your website root is located. To find the exact root directory, you can either contact your VPS provider or check your hosting panel.

However, usually it is located in any of the following folder locations:

For Apache:  /var/www/html

For Nginx:  /usr/share/nginx/html

For shared hosting sometimes: /usr/username/public_html

●     How to Upload (Step by step)

Here is the steps you need to take to upload files to your server with FileZilla

• In FileZilla’s left panel, where your local computer files located, open the file where you have saved your website files (For better uploading, we recommend you keep all your website files at one place)

• On the right panel of the application, where your server folders are visible, open the exact root folder where you will move the files

• By default, there might be default website files like .html and .css; you can delete these file if needed

• Now that everything is done, just drag the website file from the left panel and drop it into the right folder in the right panel.

• Wait for the transfer to complete from your local computer to the server hosting and once the transfer is completed, your website files are now ready to be live on your VPS.

Give permission to your server to write and read files

If you try to open your website with your domain name or IP address after transferring the file and it is not visible, don’t worry. There are still a few more steps remaining.

You need to give permissions to your server so that it can read and write files in your root directories and host websites effectively. It’s like you build a building and take payment from the tenants but forget to give them the keys. They won’t be able to access the building even though everything is clean and well-built.

So, here is how to give permission to your server to write and read your hosting files:

• In the right panel of the FileZilla software, right-click on the folder or file where you have moved your website files
• You will have option for ‘File Permissions’; select this
• And Set the file permissions as
  • 644 for files
  • 755 for folders

Once done, it will allow VPS to read and execute the file command securely on the internet.

Verify if everything is working fine

Congratulations, You have successfully uploaded all your website files to your server without any Linux commands or coding; it isn’t easy. But let’s not stop here. We now need to verify if everything is working fine and our website is live.

To verify the website files working properly, simply go to any web browser and enter either your domain name with URL or your IP address

Eg: http://your-server-ip

       http://yourdomain.com

If everything we have done so far is correct and accurate, your website should be visible and fully functional according to your website files.

But if you can’t see your website visible, let’s cross-check everything once again

• Check if you have uploaded your website to the right directory. You can check the directory by contacting your VPS provider or through your control panel

• Make sure your website files include the default .html or .php files, because when someone accesses your website, the server looks for either of these two files.

If these files are not included in your website, this is not your uploading issue but the problem with the website file creation itself

• If everything is okay but the website is not visible or working, try opening it after clearing the browser cache, or try incognito mode to see if it is working.

Common troubleshooting you might face

When you actually start uploading your website files and testing it on your server, even after doing everything right, you may face some common issues and this is a very common thing that happens to almost everyone.

Here are some expected errors and solutions you can try to resolve it yourself:

• Connection timeout: You can check if port 22 is open in firewall and restart your VPS if needed

• Permission denied: If you face this issue, it is because you might not have access or permission to access these folders. To resolve this, ensure you have root access or a proper user account that can access the directories; you can confirm it from your server hosting provider.

• Directory not found: It means that either you have used the wrong folder or not moved it to the right root path. You can double-check directory where you need to upload your files

• Uploads stuck or slow:  You can’t do much about it but take some common steps to avoid slow and stuck uploads.

• Do not upload all files at once; instead, do it in small batches.
  • Use a high-speed wired connection to transfer the files

• Wrong files shown on website: This could be the trouble due to the wrong file being uploaded on the server. Ensure that your website file contains main .html or .php files

Bonus: Tips for smooth and secure file uploading

Here are some extra tips to make your website files uploading smoother and more secured with FileZilla for uninterrupted experience

• Use SFTP instead of the general FTP protocol, as SFTP provides more enhanced security by encrypting all data, including login credentials and all files.

• Do not use root account but create separate account for file transfer because root users are more vulnerable to mistakes and cyber attacks

• Compress all your website files in a Zip file and then extract them directly in the server file after uploading. It makes your website file uploading easier, as it requires fewer commands.

• Upload files during low traffic: if your website is already hosted somewhere and you are moving it to the VPS, upload files only during low traffic on the website; it will avoid speed issues on the website.

• Always keep a backup of the website file on a local computer so that if something goes wrong, your website files are safe.

Conclusion

Summarizing the blog, FileZilla is a powerful and quite useful tool to upload files on a VPS server without needing any knowledge of Linux commands and coding. It provides you a graphical interface just like your local computer file manager to manage your server directories. You can simply connect your server with FileZilla with your hosting login credentials. Once connected, you can easily drag and drop your website files from your local computers to the server hosting. Whether you are managing a VPS, an India cheap dedicated server, or even a low cost dedicated server India, FileZilla makes the process simple and efficient. You should ensure the right server directory and provide permissions to the server to read and write the files to host the website.