You should now be logged into your web server and staring at the telnet prompt. Think of the telnet prompt like the MS-DOS prompt. In telnet, just as in DOS, if you type something like cd html you will change directories to the html directory.

Let's start out by learning a few basic UNIX commands. First, open up your FTP client and login to your web server. Now, look at your FTP client, and take notice of all of the files and directories you currently see. Now, at the telnet prompt, type ls. This will display all of the files and directories in the directory you are currently in. You should see the exact same files and directories in telnet, as you do in your FTP client. For me, when I type ls I get the following:

bash-2.01$ 	ls
Counter         cgi             httpd           list.txt
SSL             html            images
bash-2.01$ 

Next, with your FTP client, change directories to any directory you want, and take notice of the files and directories which your FTP client show. At the telnet prompt, type cd DIRNAME. Remember to replace DIRNAME with the name of the directory you just changed to with your FTP client. For example, if you changed to the directory html with your FTP client, you would type cd html at your telnet prompt.

Now, type ls at the telnet prompt again. Once again, you should see the exact same files and directories in your FTP client as you do in telnet. On my telnet screen, I see the following:

bash-2.01$ cd html
bash-2.01$ ls
cartsnap        goldstats       links           login.html      scripts
email.html      index.html      list.cgi        members         vsa
bash-2.01$ 

Just a quick note. In telnet, when you type ls, you will NOT see any files or directories which start with a period, like .vsaconfig .hidden.file. However, with your FTP client you probably will see these files and directories. If you do want to see the files which start with a period in telnet, all you have to do is type ls -a at the telnet prompt. That -a means ALL.

If you would like to change directories one level up (go backwards a directory), type cd .. You can go ahead and close your FTP client now. This was just to help you familiarize yourself with the telnet prompt, and help you understand how to move around your web server in telnet.