4.3BSD-UWisc/man/cat1/ftp.1c
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
NAME
ftp - ARPANET file transfer program
SYNOPSIS
ftp [ -v ] [ -d ] [ -i ] [ -n ] [ -g ] [ host ]
DESCRIPTION
_F_t_p is the user interface to the ARPANET standard File
Transfer Protocol. The program allows a user to transfer
files to and from a remote network site.
The client host with which _f_t_p is to communicate may be
specified on the command line. If this is done, _f_t_p will
immediately attempt to establish a connection to an FTP
server on that host; otherwise, _f_t_p will enter its command
interpreter and await instructions from the user. When _f_t_p
is awaiting commands from the user the prompt "ftp>" is pro-
vided to the user. The following commands are recognized by
_f_t_p:
! [ _c_o_m_m_a_n_d [ _a_r_g_s ] ]
Invoke an interactive shell on the local machine. If
there are arguments, the first is taken to be a command
to execute directly, with the rest of the arguments as
its arguments.
$ _m_a_c_r_o-_n_a_m_e [ _a_r_g_s ]
Execute the macro _m_a_c_r_o-_n_a_m_e that was defined with the
macdef command. Arguments are passed to the macro
unglobbed.
account [ _p_a_s_s_w_d ]
Supply a supplemental password required by a remote
system for access to resources once a login has been
successfully completed. If no argument is included,
the user will be prompted for an account password in a
non-echoing input mode.
append _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e [ _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e ]
Append a local file to a file on the remote machine.
If _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e is left unspecified, the local file name
is used in naming the remote file after being altered
by any _n_t_r_a_n_s or _n_m_a_p setting. File transfer uses the
current settings for _t_y_p_e, _f_o_r_m_a_t, _m_o_d_e, and _s_t_r_u_c_t_u_r_e.
ascii
Set the file transfer _t_y_p_e to network ASCII. This is
the default type.
bell Arrange that a bell be sounded after each file transfer
command is completed.
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 1
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
binary
Set the file transfer _t_y_p_e to support binary image
transfer.
bye Terminate the FTP session with the remote server and
exit _f_t_p. An end of file will also terminate the ses-
sion and exit.
case Toggle remote computer file name case mapping during
mget commands. When case is on (default is off),
remote computer file names with all letters in upper
case are written in the local directory with the
letters mapped to lower case.
cd _r_e_m_o_t_e-_d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y
Change the working directory on the remote machine to
_r_e_m_o_t_e-_d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y.
cdup Change the remote machine working directory to the
parent of the current remote machine working directory.
close
Terminate the FTP session with the remote server, and
return to the command interpreter. Any defined macros
are erased.
cr Toggle carriage return stripping during ascii type file
retrieval. Records are denoted by a carriage
return/linefeed sequence during ascii type file
transfer. When cr is on (the default), carriage
returns are stripped from this sequence to conform with
the UNIX single linefeed record delimiter. Records on
non-UNIX remote systems may contain single linefeeds;
when an ascii type transfer is made, these linefeeds
may be distinguished from a record delimiter only when
cr is off.
delete _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e
Delete the file _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e on the remote machine.
debug [ _d_e_b_u_g-_v_a_l_u_e ]
Toggle debugging mode. If an optional _d_e_b_u_g-_v_a_l_u_e is
specified it is used to set the debugging level. When
debugging is on, _f_t_p prints each command sent to the
remote machine, preceded by the string "-->".
dir [ _r_e_m_o_t_e-_d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y ] [ _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e ]
Print a listing of the directory contents in the direc-
tory, _r_e_m_o_t_e-_d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y, and, optionally, placing the
output in _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e. If no directory is specified,
the current working directory on the remote machine is
used. If no local file is specified, or _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e is
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 2
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
-, output comes to the terminal.
disconnect
A synonym for close.
form _f_o_r_m_a_t
Set the file transfer _f_o_r_m to _f_o_r_m_a_t. The default for-
mat is "file".
get _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e [ _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e ]
Retrieve the _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e and store it on the local
machine. If the local file name is not specified, it
is given the same name it has on the remote machine,
subject to alteration by the current _c_a_s_e, _n_t_r_a_n_s, and
_n_m_a_p settings. The current settings for _t_y_p_e, _f_o_r_m,
_m_o_d_e, and _s_t_r_u_c_t_u_r_e are used while transferring the
file.
glob Toggle filename expansion for mdelete, mget and mput.
If globbing is turned off with glob, the file name
arguments are taken literally and not expanded. Glob-
bing for mput is done as in csh(1). For mdelete and
mget, each remote file name is expanded separately on
the remote machine and the lists are not merged.
Expansion of a directory name is likely to be different
from expansion of the name of an ordinary file: the
exact result depends on the foreign operating system
and ftp server, and can be previewed by doing
`mls _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e_s -'. Note: mget and mput are not
meant to transfer entire directory subtrees of files.
That can be done by transferring a tar(1) archive of
the subtree (in binary mode).
hash Toggle hash-sign (``#'') printing for each data block
transferred. The size of a data block is 1024 bytes.
help [ _c_o_m_m_a_n_d ]
Print an informative message about the meaning of _c_o_m_-
_m_a_n_d. If no argument is given, _f_t_p prints a list of
the known commands.
lcd [ _d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y ]
Change the working directory on the local machine. If
no _d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y is specified, the user's home directory is
used.
ls [ _r_e_m_o_t_e-_d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y ] [ _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e ]
Print an abbreviated listing of the contents of a
directory on the remote machine. If _r_e_m_o_t_e-_d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y
is left unspecified, the current working directory is
used. If no local file is specified, or if _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e
is -, the output is sent to the terminal.
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 3
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
macdef _m_a_c_r_o-_n_a_m_e
Define a macro. Subsequent lines are stored as the
macro _m_a_c_r_o-_n_a_m_e; a null line (consecutive newline
characters in a file or carriage returns from the ter-
minal) terminates macro input mode. There is a limit
of 16 macros and 4096 total characters in all defined
macros. Macros remain defined until a close command is
executed. The macro processor interprets '$' and '\'
as special characters. A '$' followed by a number (or
numbers) is replaced by the corresponding argument on
the macro invocation command line. A '$' followed by
an 'i' signals that macro processor that the executing
macro is to be looped. On the first pass '$i' is
replaced by the first argument on the macro invocation
command line, on the second pass it is replaced by the
second argument, and so on. A '\' followed by any
character is replaced by that character. Use the '\'
to prevent special treatment of the '$'.
mdelete [ _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e_s ]
Delete the _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e_s on the remote machine.
mdir _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e_s _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e
Like dir, except multiple remote files may be speci-
fied. If interactive prompting is on, _f_t_p will prompt
the user to verify that the last argument is indeed the
target local file for receiving mdir output.
mget _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e_s
Expand the _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e_s on the remote machine and do a
get for each file name thus produced. See glob for
details on the filename expansion. Resulting file
names will then be processed according to _c_a_s_e, _n_t_r_a_n_s,
and _n_m_a_p settings. Files are transferred into the
local working directory, which can be changed with
`lcd directory'; new local directories can be created
with `! mkdir directory'.
mkdir _d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y-_n_a_m_e
Make a directory on the remote machine.
mls _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e_s _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e
Like ls, except multiple remote files may be specified.
If interactive prompting is on, _f_t_p will prompt the
user to verify that the last argument is indeed the
target local file for receiving mls output.
mode [ _m_o_d_e-_n_a_m_e ]
Set the file transfer _m_o_d_e to _m_o_d_e-_n_a_m_e. The default
mode is "stream" mode.
mput _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e_s
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 4
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
Expand wild cards in the list of local files given as
arguments and do a put for each file in the resulting
list. See glob for details of filename expansion.
Resulting file names will then be processed according
to _n_t_r_a_n_s and _n_m_a_p settings.
nmap [ _i_n_p_a_t_t_e_r_n _o_u_t_p_a_t_t_e_r_n ]
Set or unset the filename mapping mechanism. If no
arguments are specified, the filename mapping mechanism
is unset. If arguments are specified, remote filenames
are mapped during mput commands and put commands issued
without a specified remote target filename. If argu-
ments are specified, local filenames are mapped during
mget commands and get commands issued without a speci-
fied local target filename. This command is useful
when connecting to a non-UNIX remote computer with dif-
ferent file naming conventions or practices. The map-
ping follows the pattern set by _i_n_p_a_t_t_e_r_n and _o_u_t_p_a_t_-
_t_e_r_n. _I_n_p_a_t_t_e_r_n is a template for incoming filenames
(which may have already been processed according to the
ntrans and case settings). Variable templating is
accomplished by including the sequences '$1', '$2',
..., '$9' in _i_n_p_a_t_t_e_r_n. Use '\' to prevent this spe-
cial treatment of the '$' character. All other charac-
ters are treated literally, and are used to determine
the nmap _i_n_p_a_t_t_e_r_n variable values. For exmaple, given
_i_n_p_a_t_t_e_r_n $1.$2 and the remote file name "mydata.data",
$1 would have the value "mydata", and $2 would have the
value "data". The _o_u_t_p_a_t_t_e_r_n determines the resulting
mapped filename. The sequences '$1', '$2', ...., '$9'
are replaced by any value resulting from the _i_n_p_a_t_t_e_r_n
template. The sequence '$0' is replace by the original
filename. Additionally, the sequence '[_s_e_q_1,_s_e_q_2]' is
replaced by _s_e_q_1 if _s_e_q_1 is not a null string; other-
wise it is replaced by _s_e_q_2. For example, the command
"nmap $1.$2.$3 [$1,$2].[$2,file]" would yield the out-
put filename "myfile.data" for input filenames
"myfile.data" and "myfile.data.old", "myfile.file" for
the input filename "myfile", and "myfile.myfile" for
the input filename ".myfile". Spaces may be included
in _o_u_t_p_a_t_t_e_r_n, as in the example: nmap $1 |sed "s/
*$//" > $1 . Use the '\' character to prevent special
treatment of the '$', '[', ']', and ',' characters.
ntrans [ _i_n_c_h_a_r_s [ _o_u_t_c_h_a_r_s ] ]
Set or unset the filename character translation mechan-
ism. If no arguments are specified, the filename char-
acter translation mechanism is unset. If arguments are
specified, characters in remote filenames are
translated during mput commands and put commands issued
without a specified remote target filename. If argu-
ments are specified, characters in local filenames are
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 5
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
translated during mget commands and get commands issued
without a specified local target filename. This com-
mand is useful when connecting to a non-UNIX remote
computer with different file naming conventions or
practices. Characters in a filename matching a charac-
ter in _i_n_c_h_a_r_s are replaced with the corresponding
character in _o_u_t_c_h_a_r_s. If the character's position in
_i_n_c_h_a_r_s is longer than the length of _o_u_t_c_h_a_r_s, the
character is deleted from the file name.
open _h_o_s_t [ _p_o_r_t ]
Establish a connection to the specified _h_o_s_t FTP
server. An optional port number may be supplied, in
which case, _f_t_p will attempt to contact an FTP server
at that port. If the _a_u_t_o-_l_o_g_i_n option is on
(default), _f_t_p will also attempt to automatically log
the user in to the FTP server (see below).
prompt
Toggle interactive prompting. Interactive prompting
occurs during multiple file transfers to allow the user
to selectively retrieve or store files. If prompting
is turned off (default is on), any mget or mput will
transfer all files, and any mdelete will delete all
files.
proxy _f_t_p-_c_o_m_m_a_n_d
Execute an ftp command on a secondary control connec-
tion. This command allows simultaneous connection to
two remote ftp servers for transferring files between
the two servers. The first proxy command should be an
open, to establish the secondary control connection.
Enter the command "proxy ?" to see other ftp commands
executable on the secondary connection. The following
commands behave differently when prefaced by proxy:
open will not define new macros during the auto-login
process, close will not erase existing macro defini-
tions, get and mget transfer files from the host on the
primary control connection to the host on the secondary
control connection, and put, mput, and append transfer
files from the host on the secondary control connection
to the host on the primary control connection. Third
party file transfers depend upon support of the ftp
protocol PASV command by the server on the secondary
control connection.
put _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e [ _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e ]
Store a local file on the remote machine. If _r_e_m_o_t_e-
_f_i_l_e is left unspecified, the local file name is used
after processing according to any _n_t_r_a_n_s or _n_m_a_p set-
tings in naming the remote file. File transfer uses
the current settings for _t_y_p_e, _f_o_r_m_a_t, _m_o_d_e, and
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 6
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
_s_t_r_u_c_t_u_r_e.
pwd Print the name of the current working directory on the
remote machine.
quit A synonym for bye.
quote _a_r_g_1 _a_r_g_2 ...
The arguments specified are sent, verbatim, to the
remote FTP server.
recv _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e [ _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e ]
A synonym for get.
remotehelp [ _c_o_m_m_a_n_d-_n_a_m_e ]
Request help from the remote FTP server. If a
_c_o_m_m_a_n_d-_n_a_m_e is specified it is supplied to the server
as well.
rename [ _f_r_o_m ] [ _t_o ]
Rename the file _f_r_o_m on the remote machine, to the file
_t_o.
reset
Clear reply queue. This command re-synchronizes
command/reply sequencing with the remote ftp server.
Resynchronization may be neccesary following a viola-
tion of the ftp protocol by the remote server.
rmdir _d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y-_n_a_m_e
Delete a directory on the remote machine.
runique
Toggle storing of files on the local system with unique
filenames. If a file already exists with a name equal
to the target local filename for a get or mget command,
a ".1" is appended to the name. If the resulting name
matches another existing file, a ".2" is appended to
the original name. If this process continues up to
".99", an error message is printed, and the transfer
does not take place. The generated unique filename
will be reported. Note that runique will not affect
local files generated from a shell command (see below).
The default value is off.
send _l_o_c_a_l-_f_i_l_e [ _r_e_m_o_t_e-_f_i_l_e ]
A synonym for put.
sendport
Toggle the use of PORT commands. By default, _f_t_p will
attempt to use a PORT command when establishing a con-
nection for each data transfer. The use of PORT
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 7
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
commands can prevent delays when performing multiple
file transfers. If the PORT command fails, _f_t_p will use
the default data port. When the use of PORT commands
is disabled, no attempt will be made to use PORT com-
mands for each data transfer. This is useful for cer-
tain FTP implementations which do ignore PORT commands
but, incorrectly, indicate they've been accepted.
status
Show the current status of _f_t_p.
struct [ _s_t_r_u_c_t-_n_a_m_e ]
Set the file transfer _s_t_r_u_c_t_u_r_e to _s_t_r_u_c_t-_n_a_m_e. By
default "stream" structure is used.
sunique
Toggle storing of files on remote machine under unique
file names. Remote ftp server must support ftp proto-
col STOU command for successful completion. The remote
server will report unique name. Default value is off.
tenex
Set the file transfer type to that needed to talk to
TENEX machines.
trace
Toggle packet tracing.
type [ _t_y_p_e-_n_a_m_e ]
Set the file transfer _t_y_p_e to _t_y_p_e-_n_a_m_e. If no type is
specified, the current type is printed. The default
type is network ASCII.
user _u_s_e_r-_n_a_m_e [ _p_a_s_s_w_o_r_d ] [ _a_c_c_o_u_n_t ]
Identify yourself to the remote FTP server. If the
password is not specified and the server requires it,
_f_t_p will prompt the user for it (after disabling local
echo). If an account field is not specified, and the
FTP server requires it, the user will be prompted for
it. If an account field is specified, an account com-
mand will be relayed to the remote server after the
login sequence is completed if the remote server did
not require it for logging in. Unless _f_t_p is invoked
with "auto-login" disabled, this process is done
automatically on initial connection to the FTP server.
verbose
Toggle verbose mode. In verbose mode, all responses
from the FTP server are displayed to the user. In
addition, if verbose is on, when a file transfer com-
pletes, statistics regarding the efficiency of the
transfer are reported. By default, verbose is on.
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 8
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
? [ _c_o_m_m_a_n_d ]
A synonym for help.
Command arguments which have embedded spaces may be quoted
with quote (") marks.
ABORTING A FILE TRANSFER
To abort a file transfer, use the terminal interrupt key
(usually Ctrl-C). Sending transfers will be immediately
halted. Receiving transfers will be halted by sending a ftp
protocol ABOR command to the remote server, and discarding
any further data received. The speed at which this is
accomplished depends upon the remote server's support for
ABOR processing. If the remote server does not support the
ABOR command, an "ftp>" prompt will not appear until the
remote server has completed sending the requested file.
The terminal interrupt key sequence will be ignored when _f_t_p
has completed any local processing and is awaiting a reply
from the remote server. A long delay in this mode may
result from the ABOR processing described above, or from
unexpected behavior by the remote server, including viola-
tions of the ftp protocol. If the delay results from unex-
pected remote server behavior, the local _f_t_p program must be
killed by hand.
FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS
Files specified as arguments to _f_t_p commands are processed
according to the following rules.
1) If the file name "-" is specified, the stdin (for read-
ing) or stdout (for writing) is used.
2) If the first character of the file name is "|", the
remainder of the argument is interpreted as a shell
command. _F_t_p then forks a shell, using _p_o_p_e_n(3) with
the argument supplied, and reads (writes) from the
stdout (stdin). If the shell command includes spaces,
the argument must be quoted; e.g. ""| ls -lt"". A par-
ticularly useful example of this mechanism is: "dir
|more".
3) Failing the above checks, if ``globbing'' is enabled,
local file names are expanded according to the rules
used in the _c_s_h(1); c.f. the _g_l_o_b command. If the _f_t_p
command expects a single local file ( .e.g. put), only
the first filename generated by the "globbing" opera-
tion is used.
4) For mget commands and get commands with unspecified
local file names, the local filename is the remote
filename, which may be altered by a case, ntrans, or
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 9
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
nmap setting. The resulting filename may then be
altered if runique is on.
5) For mput commands and put commands with unspecified
remote file names, the remote filename is the local
filename, which may be altered by a ntrans or nmap set-
ting. The resulting filename may then be altered by
the remote server if sunique is on.
FILE TRANSFER PARAMETERS
The FTP specification specifies many parameters which may
affect a file transfer. The _t_y_p_e may be one of "ascii",
"image" (binary), "ebcdic", and "local byte size" (for PDP-
10's and PDP-20's mostly). _F_t_p supports the ascii and image
types of file transfer, plus local byte size 8 for tenex
mode transfers.
_F_t_p supports only the default values for the remaining file
transfer parameters: _m_o_d_e, _f_o_r_m, and _s_t_r_u_c_t.
OPTIONS
Options may be specified at the command line, or to the com-
mand interpreter.
The -v (verbose on) option forces _f_t_p to show all responses
from the remote server, as well as report on data transfer
statistics.
The -n option restrains _f_t_p from attempting "auto-login"
upon initial connection. If auto-login is enabled, _f_t_p will
check the ._n_e_t_r_c (see below) file in the user's home direc-
tory for an entry describing an account on the remote
machine. If no entry exists, _f_t_p will prompt for the remote
machine login name (default is the user identity on the
local machine), and, if necessary, prompt for a password and
an account with which to login.
The -i option turns off interactive prompting during multi-
ple file transfers.
The -d option enables debugging.
The -g option disables file name globbing.
THE .netrc FILE
The .netrc file contains login and initialization informa-
tion used by the auto-login process. It resides in the
user's home directory. The following tokens are recognized;
they may be separated by spaces, tabs, or new-lines:
machine _n_a_m_e
Identify a remote machine name. The auto-login process
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 10
FTP(1C) UNIX Programmer's Manual FTP(1C)
searches the .netrc file for a machine token that
matches the remote machine specified on the _f_t_p command
line or as an open command argument. Once a match is
made, the subsequent .netrc tokens are processed, stop-
ping when the end of file is reached or another machine
token is encountered.
login _n_a_m_e
Identify a user on the remote machine. If this token
is present, the auto-login process will initiate a
login using the specified name.
password _s_t_r_i_n_g
Supply a password. If this token is present, the
auto-login process will supply the specified string if
the remote server requires a password as part of the
login process. Note that if this token is present in
the .netrc file, _f_t_p will abort the auto-login process
if the .netrc is readable by anyone besides the user.
account _s_t_r_i_n_g
Supply an additional account password. If this token
is present, the auto-login process will supply the
specified string if the remote server requires an addi-
tional account password, or the auto-login process will
initiate an ACCT command if it does not.
macdef _n_a_m_e
Define a macro. This token functions like the _f_t_p mac-
def command functions. A macro is defined with the
specified name; its contents begin with the next .netrc
line and continue until a null line (consecutive new-
line characters) is encountered. If a macro named _i_n_i_t
is defined, it is automatically executed as the last
step in the auto-login process.
BUGS
Correct execution of many commands depends upon proper
behavior by the remote server.
An error in the treatment of carriage returns in the 4.2BSD
UNIX ascii-mode transfer code has been corrected. This
correction may result in incorrect transfers of binary files
to and from 4.2BSD servers using the ascii type. Avoid this
problem by using the binary image type.
Printed 12/27/86 April 29, 1985 11