# Outgoing FTP and FTPS connections

Host, port, credentials and FTPS for plain FTP servers, with the same API as SFTP and SMB.

An outgoing FTP connection is how a Zato service reaches an FTP server, in plain FTP or in FTPS. Services look connections up by the name given here.

In Dashboard, go to `Connections → Outgoing → FTP` and click Create.

The fields:

| Name | Notes |
| --- | --- |
| Name | The name of the connection, as used in your services |
| Use SSL (FTPS) | Whether the connection speaks FTPS - FTP over TLS |
| Host | The remote server's host |
| Port | The remote server's port, with a default of 21 |
| Username | The username to log in with |
| Password | The password to log in with |
| Store file contents | Whether the [audit log](https://zato.io/docs/admin/audit-log/) keeps the bytes of each transferred file, in addition to the always-recorded metadata |
| Verify stores by | How an upload is confirmed - `Size` compares the size of the remote file with what was sent, `Read back` reads the whole file back and compares its bytes |

## Paths {#paths}

Remote paths are relative to the account's root directory and use forward slashes:

```text
documents/invoice.pdf
```

The same goes for the directory a [schedule](https://zato.io/docs/dev/file-transfer/schedules.html) is given.

## What you can do with the connection {#what-you-can-do-with-the-connection}

Once the connection exists, a service reaches it through `self.ftp`:

```python
from zato.server.service import Service

class MyService(Service):

    def handle(self):

        conn = self.ftp['My FTP Connection']

        # The file's contents
        data = conn.read('incoming/orders.csv')
```

[The connection API](https://zato.io/docs/dev/file-transfer/connection-api.html) lists every method and its arguments - reading, writing, uploading, listing, moving and deleting. You can also run commands with [`conn.execute`](https://zato.io/docs/dev/file-transfer/connection-api.html#differences-between-sftp-ftp-and-smb), one per line - `ls`, `stat`, `exists`, `mkdir`, `rmdir`, `rm`, `mv`, `cat` and `ping`, the same ones the FTP command shell in Dashboard offers.

[File transfer schedules](https://zato.io/docs/dev/file-transfer/schedules.html) have Zato watch a directory on this server for you.

## Learn more {#learn-more}

- [File transfer](https://zato.io/docs/dev/file-transfer/) - SFTP, FTP and SMB behind one API, driven by your code or by a schedule
- [The connection API](https://zato.io/docs/dev/file-transfer/connection-api.html) - Upload, download, read, write, list and manage remote entries
- [Schedules](https://zato.io/docs/dev/file-transfer/schedules.html) - Have Zato watch a remote directory and invoke a service per file
- [Receiving files](https://zato.io/docs/dev/file-transfer/receiving-files.html) - What the service receives, and the two ways to refuse a file
- [Real-world feeds](https://zato.io/docs/dev/file-transfer/feeds.html) - Marker files, archiving, bad files and pausing a feed
- [File transfer in enmasse](https://zato.io/docs/dev/file-transfer/enmasse.html) - Connections and schedules as YAML, ready for version control