Documentation
ftp
Documentation table of contents.
Introduction
ftp is a user interface to the ARPANET standard File Transfer Protocol (FTP). ftp transfers files to and from a remote network host and the local host. ftp is available on UBUnix.
Setup
To use ftp, ensure you are using the default system path or that it is included in your path.
Starting ftp
You can specify the remote host with which ftp is to communicate on the
command line by entering:
ftp hostname
When instructed, enter your UBIT Name and Password and press Return. ftp will immediately attempt to establish a connection to an ftp server on that host or it will enter its command interpreter without opening a connection. When ftp is awaiting commands from the user, it displays the prompt ftp>.
Options
ftp has several options listed below. Options can be specified on the command line when ftp is invoked.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -d | Enables debugging |
| -i | Turns off interactive prompting during multiple file transfers |
| -n | Does not attempt auto-login upon initial connection. If auto-login is enabled, ftp checks the file .netrc in the user's home directory for an entry describing an account on the remote host. If no entry exists, ftp prompts for the login name of the account on the remote host (the default login is the login name on the local host), and, if necessary, prompts for a password |
| -v | Shows all responses from the remote server and reports on data transfer statistics. This is turned on by default if ftp is running interactively with its input coming from standard input |
File Naming Conventions
Local files specified as arguments to ftp commands are processed according to the following rules:
For get and mget commands with unspecified local filenames, the local filename matches the remote filename.
For put and mput commands with unspecified remote filenames, the remote filename matches the local filename.
If the remote directory is not specified, ftp uses the current working directory on the remote host.
A wildcard character, *, in a filename expands to zero or more characters.
ftp Command Interpreter
In addition to command line switches, it is possible to give commands within ftp. After establishing a connection using ftp, you can select from the following partial list of ftp commands.
Parameters specified with [ ] are optional parameters.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| !command | Runs command as a shell command on the local host. If no command is given, invokes an interactive shell |
| append local-file [remote-file] | Appends a local file to a file on the remote host |
| ascii | Sets the transfer mode to ASCII (default) |
| bell | Sounds a bell after each complete file transfer |
| binary | Sets the transfer mode to image |
| bye | Closes the ftp session with the remote server and exits ftp |
| cd remote-dir | Changes the working directory on the remote host to remote-dir |
| close | Closes the ftp session with the remote server, and returns to the ftp command interpreter |
| delete remote-file | Deletes remote-file on the remote host |
| dir [remote-dir] [local-file] | Lists directory contents of the remote directory remote-dir, and optionally places the output in local-file |
| get remote-file [local-file] | Retrieves the remote-file, and stores it on the local host |
| help [cmd] | Displays a summary of cmd |
| lcd [dir] | Changes the working directory on the local host. If no directory is specified, the user's home directory is used |
| ls [remote-dir] [local-dir] | Displays an abbreviated listing of the contents of a directory from the remote host |
| mget remote-files | Expands wildcards for remote-files on the remote host, issues the get command for each filename produced. Files are stored in the local working directory |
| mput local-files | Expands wildcards in the list of local files given, and executes put for each file |
| open host [port] | Establishes a connection to the specified host ftp server. An optional port number can be supplied, in which case, ftp attempts to contact an ftp server at that port. If the auto-login option is on (default), ftp also attempts to automatically log the user into the ftp server |
| prompt | Toggles interactive prompting. Interactive prompting occurs during multiple file transfers to allow the user to selectively retrieve or store files. By default, prompting is turned on. If prompting is turned off, any mget or mput transfers all files, and any mdelete deletes all files |
| put local-file [remote-file] | Stores a local file on the remote host |
| pwd | Displays the name of the current working directory on the remote host |
| status | Shows the current status of ftp and options |
| user | Specifies login name to remote system |
Aborting a File Transfer
To abort a file transfer, use the terminal interrupt key (usually Ctrl c). Sending transfers are immediately halted. Receiving transfers are halted when the abort is sent to the remote server. The speed at which this is accomplished depends on the remote server's support for abort processing. If the remote ftp server does not support the abort command, the ftp> prompt does not appear until the remote server has completed sending the requested file.
Example
The following example is brief. However, the best way to learn about using ftp is by experimenting with it. It is safest to use a new, empty directory, so that you do not accidentally copy over important files.
To start ftp and open a connection to a host you might enter:
ftp somehost.edu
somehost.edu is the name of the
remote host with which you want to connect. ftp responds with something
similar to the following:
Connected to somehost.edu
220 somehost.edu FTP server (SunOS 4.1) ready.
Name (somehost.edu:username):
331 Password required for username.
Password:
230 User username logged in.
ftp>
username is
your username on the local host. If your username is correct, press Return, or enter the correct username, then press Return. Enter your password when prompted. You will receive the ftp>
prompt, at which point you can enter ftp commands, such as get
and put. To receive a file named
from.there from the remote host
and save it in a local file called to.here,
you have the following sequence:
ftp> get from.there to.here
200 PORT command successful.
150 ASCII data connection for from.there
(128.205.2.3,1296) (96028
bytes).
226 ASCII Transfer complete.
local: to.here remote: from.there
10124 bytes received in 1 seconds
(10 Kbytes/second)
ftp>
Exiting ftp
To exit ftp, enter bye at the command prompt and press Return.
Additional Information
To read the online manual page, enter the following at the UBUnix prompt:
man ftp
You can also enter help at the ftp prompt. Additional information related to file transfer can be found in the manual pages for csh, tcsh, rcp, and netrc.