The FTP local path to SMF is a directory path required by the package manager to set file permissions. This is important before many package installations. This path describes how an FTP client can get to the SMF directory. The FTP local path to SMF is shorter than the SMF directory that appears in server settings because the the FTP local path begins at the FTP login directory, while the SMF directory path in server settings begins at the server root. Members of the SMF community also refer to the FTP local path as the FTP path to SMF, the installer FTP path, or the package manager FTP path. The FTP local path is required in the package manager, in File Permissions for SMF 2.x, and in Options in SMF 1.x.

When using FTP to upload SMF files or webinstall.php prior to SMF installation, the administrator uploads these files to the FTP local path to SMF. SMF uses this directory when the administrator selects change file permissions in Installation Options.

Some examples of SMF directory (server settings) and FTP local path to SMF:

Control Panel	Server Settings SMF directory	FTP server	FTP Local path to SMF
Plesk (in forum subdirectory of domain)	/home/vhosts/domain.com/httpdocs/forum	domain.com	httpdocs/forum
Plesk (in main directory of subdomain sdn)	/home/vhosts/domain.com/subdomains/sdn/httpdocs sdn.domain.com	httpdocs
cPanel (in forum subdirectory of domain)	/home/<username>/public_html/forum	domain.com	public_html/forum
cPanel (in main directory of subdomain sdn)	/home/<username>/public_html/sdn	sdn.domain.com	public_html/sdn
1&1 control panel	/homepages/<number>/htdocs/<username>/domain/forum	ftp.domain.com	forum
?control panel	/home/content/u/s/e/domain/html/forum	domain.com	forum
?control panel	/home/domain/public_html/forum	domain.com	public_html/forum
?control panel	/home/domain/forum	domain.com	forum

An FTP client can be used to explore the file path to the SMF files. More information is available at the FAQ How do I use FTP?. The forum site host should be able to provide information about directory paths.