Overview

CotonFTP is used by web development courses. This page holds documentation for Coton. Below we have instructions for connecting to Coton via WinSCP (Windows) or Cyberduck (OSX). Coton is used by web development courses.

Setup

Windows

Secure FTP Connection Instructions for WinSCP

Download and install WinSCP from here:

WinSCP Download Website

1. Start WinSCP
2. You will be prompted to Login
3. Select FTP with TLS/SSL explicit encryption
4. Host Name is coton.champlain.edu
5. Port is 21
6. Click on Tools>Preferences and navigate to Transfers>Background
7. Check the box for “Transfer on background by default” and click OK
8. You can now Save these settings and click Login

Screenshot of WinSCP settings in Windows

 

MacOS/OSX

Secure FTP Connection Instructions for Cyberduck:

Download the latest version of Cyberduck from https://cyberduck.io/download/

Once you have Cyberduck installed, configure your connection to Coton as follows:

1. Start Cyberduck
2. Click on “Open Connection”
3. When the Open Connection dialog appears, change the connection to FTP-SSL (Explicit AUTH TLS)
4. Enter the server as “coton.champlain.edu”
5. Enter your username and password
6. Click “Connect”
7. Enter your champlain username in the “User” text box.
8. Double check your settings with the screenshot below if you like, and then click “OK
9. You should now be connected to Coton for secure FTP transfer with Cyberduck.

Screenshot of Cyberduck Settings in OSX

 

Connection & Upload

Step 1

Click the "login" or "connect" button after entering the settings shown above. This will open a new tab or page with a list of files shown.

Step 2

Locate your website files on the left-hand side, which are on your local computer. The right-hand side is the Coton server. 

Step 3

Double-click the WEBD12545(a)-MySite folder - this is the root folder for your website on the server. You will receive an access denied error if you try to upload files before opening the MySite folder. 

Step 4

Highlight (click & drag) to select all your local website files from your computer. Once selected, click the "upload" button above the file list to send the files to the server. 

Step 5

Navigate your web browser to the URL matching the example pattern below:

https://coton.champlain.edu/[CLASS]/[firstname.lastname]/[file.html]

This screenshot shows an example result when your URL has been entered correctly. Please ensure you enter your class section and username in the URL to view your website.

If your HTML file is contained in another folder (ie HTML -> index.html) then the end of your URL may need to change, adding something like /html/index.html after your name)

The page shown will depend on how you have written your website code. Any code errors or issues will be displayed accordingly.

 

Troubleshooting

Webpage sign-in prompt

 

If the website displays a login prompt, this likely means you either did not fully enter the correct URL, or you have not yet uploaded your files to the server. Please see the steps above to upload your files, then navigate to the proper URL. 

Website shows folder name

If you navigate to your website and it shows a list of files, or just an empty list, you may have an error in how you entered your URL or where your files were uploaded. 

Please double-check your file contents on the server, or retry the upload process. Also ensure each folder on the server has the proper files - do not copy each folder inside itself on the server. 

Access Denied / Password Incorrect

This error can occur from an incorrect password or if your account has not synchronized properly with this server. Please log in at our Account Self-Service portal, linked here, and ensure you can authenticate with your Champlain username and password. Click the "change password" tab, and complete the steps to update your password to synchronize it with the Coton server. Unable to log in? Contact ChampSupport for a password reset.