Monthly log file - problem uploading

[Graham64]

I want to automatically upload the monthly log file to my mySQL database but because I don't have a fixed IP address. I am trying to FTP it with a PHP program that also works out the file name from the date.
I have a Raspberry PI with CumulusMX running on an SSD that is formatted as ntfs.
I can not get the PHP program to upload the monthly log file from the data directory on the SSD, I get an error saying 'Permission denied'. I think it is a file permissions problem but I can not change the permissions on the SSD because it is ntfs.
If I copy the file to the Pi's SD card and change the permissions, the PHP program successfully uploads the file.
My questions are:
Shall I change the format of the SSD to Ext4 (say) and then the permissions will be OK?
What permissions does CumulusMX give to the monthly log file?
Is there a better way of uploading the monthly log files if the IP address is dynamic?

Thanks for any help - I am working at the limits of my Linux knowledge - but learning fast!

[ConligWX]

is the monthly file in use? what happens is you stop cumulus and try to upload?

or maybe upload using

"sudo" before the command to give it enhanced privileges