There are two FTP archive download services: 

• ftp.ceda.ac.uk for all the archive. This required you to login using your CEDA username and your FTP password (see below).
• anon-ftp.ceda.ac.uk for a selection of datasets that are anonymously downloadable, with no login.

FTP  stands for File Transfer Protocol. It has been a standard for transferring files between computer systems since the 1970's. There are a large number of FTP client apps designed to help with bulk transfer of data. Despite its age, the protocol is still used because of its simplicity and convenience. 

Search the web for more information on FTP client apps or information on the protocol itself. 

FTP is not a secure protocol. We would like to move away from its use but are currently maintaining our service because transferring research data has no intrinsic need for high security and there are still a large number of our users still using it.

CEDA FTP Password

To login to the main CEDA ftp server, ftp.ceda.ac.uk, please use your CEDA username and your FTP password. Your FTP password is separate from the password for your CEDA web account. If you do not already have a password, or if you want to reset your FTP password please go to MyCEDA and click on the 'Configure FTP account' button.

Getting started with FTP

There are a number of ways to start using FTP to download our data. 

• Find a good FTP app: We recommend Filezilla as a good fully featured FTP client. 
• At the command line: An FTP command line client is often bundled with the operating system. Type ftp at the command prompt, and press enter.
• From a script: There are libraries in all major programming languages to use FTP. We have put together a short guide on using FTP within Perl or Python scripts available.
• Using a web browser. On some web browsers you may be able to use ftp by going to the url ftp://ftp.ceda.ac.uk However, many browsers have now removed ftp support, so this may not work for you.