File Manager

Overview

Web hosting management service providers and web hosts that go to the challenge of designing a user-friendly file manager are not plentiful. Once again, PlanetHoster breaks new ground by providing its customers with an ergonomic, easy-to-learn file manager that allows them to manage hosting files from the web interface.

In the following, we will limit ourselves to information related to the use for beginners. We will not deal with the management aspects.

Warning: Databases are under PhpMyAdmin, not FileManager. Advanced users can access databases by using command lines.

Note: In this article, the term file is used to refer to “a structured set of data of the same kind or concerning the same subject that constitutes a unit for a computer” (technically speaking, a file is digital information made up of a sequence of bytes allowing various uses). However, in the context of the inteface “My files“, we mean “My directory“.

Note: The PlanetHoster Glossary contains explanations on multiple topics and can be consulted to clarify certain terms.

Prerequisite

Access to https://mg.n0c.com/en/.

Accessing the File Manager User Interface

1. Click Files -> File manager :

2. By doing so, you open the main file management interface, in which the directory is displayed (the interface is always accessible by clicking on My files, on the left of the screen):

Description of the Main Interface

The interface essentially consists of four areas:

	Description
A	My files: access to the directory of files and folders (displayed on the right of the screen). New folder and New file, as appropriate: creation of a new folder or file (see the Creating Files and Folders section). Settings: adjustment of the parameters related to the display (see the Profile Settings section). Logout: quit the file manager . Help: opening of a dialog box with a description of the useful commands to know.
B	Contextual menu to perform operations on the selected file or folder. It is accessible by clicking the right mouse button.
C	Icons to perform operations on the selected file or folder.
D	Search by keywords window. It is possible to filter file types: images, music, videos and PDF.

Profile Settings

Some settings must be adjusted to operate the file manager to your liking.

	Settings
A	Access to the Profile Settings interface.
B	Check box to hide dotfiles in the My files area (folder and file directory).
C	Check box to set exact date format of items in the My files area (folder and file directory); the format DD:MM:YYYY is used.
D	Drop-down list for the choice of the display language (French or English).
E	Drop-down list to choose the Theme (Light/white or Dark/black background).
F	UPDATE buttons to execute the requested command and refresh the display.

Directory

When you choose a folder or a file, the icons and context menu give access to various commands. This is an example of a context menu for a file that has not been archived:

The function of the commands is described in this table :

	Function
Rename	Give another name to a previously selected file or folder.
Copy File	Copy a previously selected file or folder.
Move File	Move a file or folder from one folder to another.
Permissions	Open a window that allows you to manage access permissions to files and folders (see the Permissions Management section).
Create Archive	Compress and archive a previously selected file or folder (see the Archiving section).
Delete	Delete a previously selected file or folder.
Toggle Shell	Open the terminal , which gives access to the command line server.
Switch View	Allows you to select up to three display options: – List items one after the other, with their Name, Size and Last Modified date. – Group files and folders together with large icons. – Group files and folders together with very large icons.
Download	Download files from the hosting to the local computer (see Downloading section).
Upload	Upload files from the local computer to the hosting.
Info.	Display various information about the selected file or folder such as Display Name, date of Last Modified, number of Permissions, etc.
Select Multiple	Select multiple files and folders at once.
Extract Archive	Uncompress a previously selected archived file.
Edit File	Edit a selected text file. The code is then displayed on the screen and can be easily modified.

Permissions Management

The management of file access permissions, as well as writing to and executing files, is done in the Change file/folder permissions interface. The Linux CHMOD (change mode) command is used for this purpose.

1. Click on the file or folder whose permissions you want to change.
2. Choose Permissions from the context menu or click on the icon with the same name.
3. When you do so, the Change file/folder permissions interface opens:

4. There are two ways to set permissions:
   • Check or uncheck the items under Owner, Group or World. 
   • Under Permissions, manually set the CHMOD number that corresponds to the desired command. See the Notes on Manual Control section.
5. Save by clicking on OK.

Notes on Manual Control

As we have seen, rather than checking or unchecking the options, more advanced users can manually specify the permissions by using the Linux command directly in the Permissions box, as in this example where we have written 754 :

For instance, if you write 754:

• The numbers 7, 5 and 4 represent individually and in order the permissions for the user, the group and the world, in that same order. 
• Each number is an addition of the numbers 4, 2, 1 and 0, which define the permissions associated with the user, the group or the public. Thus,
  • 4 means « read »;
  • 2 means « write »;
  • 1 means « execute »; and
  • 0 means « no permission ».

Therefore, in our example with the 754 command, 7 is 4+2+1 (read, write, and execute) for the user, 5 is 4+0+1 (read and execute, but do not write) for the group and 4 is 4+0+0 (read, do not write or execute) for the public.

Archiving

An archive is created with the Create Archive command, which opens an interface with the same name.

1. Choose the folder where to archive the file or the folder:

2. Make sure that the current folder matches the location where you want to save the file or folder:

3. If not, click on the right folder.
4. Name your archive.
5. Choose the extension to give it.
6. Click on CREATE ARCHIVE HERE.

Downloading

The download is done in the following way:

1. Click on the file or folder to download.
2. Click on the Download command.
3. If requested, choose the format you want to download by clicking on the corresponding button:

4. At the command prompt, specify the directory where to download the file or folder.

Creating Files and Folders

The approach is similar in both cases.

1. Click on My Files and then click where you want to create the folder or file (in the root or in a folder).

2. Click on New folder or New file, as appropriate.
3. In the dialog box, Write the name of the new folder or Write the name of the new file, and click on CREATE.
4. If it is a file, you can then enter the information and click on the Save icon: