.\" Copyright (c) 1985 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted
.\" provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
.\" duplicated in all such forms and that any documentation,
.\" advertising materials, and other materials related to such
.\" distribution and use acknowledge that the software was developed
.\" by the University of California, Berkeley. The name of the
.\" University may not be used to endorse or promote products derived
.\" from this software without specific prior written permission.
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED
.\" WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
.\" @(#)ftp.1 6.10 (Berkeley) %G%
ftp \- ARPANET file transfer program
is the user interface to the ARPANET standard File Transfer Protocol.
The program allows a user to transfer files to and from a
The client host with which
is to communicate may be specified on the command line.
will immediately attempt to establish a connection to an FTP
server on that host; otherwise,
will enter its command interpreter and await instructions
is awaiting commands from the user the prompt \*(lqftp>\*(rq
is provided to the user. The following commands are recognized
\fB\&!\fP [ \fIcommand\fP [ \fIargs\fP ] ]
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.
\fB\&$\fP \fImacro-name\fP [ \fIargs\fP ]
Execute the macro \fImacro-name\fP that was defined with the
Arguments are passed to the macro unglobbed.
\fBaccount\fP [ \fIpasswd\fP ]
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.
\fBappend\fP \fIlocal-file\fP [ \fIremote-file\fP ]
Append a local file to a file on the remote machine. If
is left unspecified, the local file name is used in naming the
remote file after being altered by any
File transfer uses the current settings for
to network ASCII. This is the default type.
Arrange that a bell be sounded after each file transfer
to support binary image transfer.
Terminate the FTP session with the remote server
An end of file will also terminate the session and exit.
Toggle remote computer file name case mapping during
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
.BI cd " remote-directory"
Change the working directory on the remote machine
Change the remote machine working directory to the parent of the
current remote machine working directory.
Terminate the FTP session with the remote server, and
return to the command interpreter.
Any defined macros are erased.
Toggle carriage return stripping during
ascii type file retrieval.
Records are denoted by a carriage return/linefeed sequence
during ascii type file transfer.
is on (the default), carriage returns are stripped from this
sequence to conform with the UNIX single linefeed record
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
.BI delete " remote-file"
\fBdebug\fP [ \fIdebug-value\fP ]
Toggle debugging mode. If an optional
is specified it is used to set the debugging level.
prints each command sent to the remote machine, preceded
by the string \*(lq-->\*(rq.
\fBdir\fP [ \fIremote-directory\fP ] [ \fIlocal-file\fP ]
Print a listing of the directory contents in the
and, optionally, placing the output in
If interactive prompting is on,
will prompt the user to verify that the last argument is indeed the
target local file for receiving
If no directory is specified, the current working
directory on the remote machine is used. If no local
file is specified, or \fIlocal-file\fP is \fB-\fP,
output comes to the terminal.
The default format is \*(lqfile\*(rq.
\fBget\fP \fIremote-file\fP [ \fIlocal-file\fP ]
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
are used while transferring the file.
Toggle filename expansion for \fBmdelete\fP, \fBmget\fP and \fBmput\fP.
If globbing is turned off with \fBglob\fP, the file name arguments
are taken literally and not expanded.
Globbing for \fBmput\fP is done as in \fBcsh\fP(1).
For \fBmdelete\fP and \fBmget\fP, 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 `\fBmls\fP\ \fIremote-files\fP\ \fB-\fP'.
Note: \fBmget\fP and \fBmput\fP are not meant to transfer
entire directory subtrees of files. That can be done by
transferring a \fBtar\fP(1) archive of the subtree (in binary mode).
Toggle hash-sign (``#'') printing for each data block
transferred. The size of a data block is 1024 bytes.
\fBhelp\fP [ \fIcommand\fP ]
Print an informative message about the meaning of
prints a list of the known commands.
\fBlcd\fP [ \fIdirectory\fP ]
Change the working directory on the local machine. If
is specified, the user's home directory is used.
\fBls\fP [ \fIremote-directory\fP ] [ \fIlocal-file\fP ]
Print an abbreviated listing of the contents of a
directory on the remote machine. If
is left unspecified, the current working directory is used.
If interactive prompting is on,
will prompt the user to verify that the last argument is indeed the
target local file for receiving
If no local file is specified, or if \fIlocal-file\fR is \fB-\fR,
the output is sent to the terminal.
\fBmacdef\fP \fImacro-name\fP
Subsequent lines are stored as the macro
\fImacro-name\fP; a null line (consecutive newline characters
carriage returns from the terminal) terminates macro input mode.
There is a limit of 16 macros and 4096 total characters in all
Macros remain defined until a
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 '$i' is
replaced by the first argument on the macro invocation command line,
on the second pass it is replaced by the second argument, and so on.
A '\\' followed by any character is replaced by that character.
Use the '\\' to prevent special treatment of the '$'.
\fBmdelete\fP [ \fIremote-files\fP ]
Delete the \fIremote-files\fP on the remote machine.
\fBmdir\fP \fIremote-files\fP \fIlocal-file\fP
Like \fBdir\fP, except multiple remote files may be specified.
If interactive prompting is on,
will prompt the user to verify that the last argument is indeed the
target local file for receiving
\fBmget\fP \fIremote-files\fP
Expand the \fIremote-files\fP on the remote machine
and do a \fBget\fP for each file name thus produced.
See \fBglob\fR for details on the filename expansion.
Resulting file names will then be processed according to
Files are transferred into the local working directory,
which can be changed with `\fBlcd\fP\ directory';
new local directories can be created with `\fB!\fP\ mkdir\ directory'.
\fBmkdir\fP \fIdirectory-name\fP
Make a directory on the remote machine.
\fBmls\fP \fIremote-files\fP \fIlocal-file\fP
Like \fBls\fP, except multiple remote files may be specified.
If interactive prompting is on,
will prompt the user to verify that the last argument is indeed the
target local file for receiving
\fBmode\fP [ \fImode-name\fP ]
The default mode is \*(lqstream\*(rq mode.
\fBmput\fP \fIlocal-files\fP
Expand wild cards in the list of local files given as arguments
and do a \fBput\fR for each file in the resulting list.
See \fBglob\fP for details of filename expansion.
Resulting file names will then be processed according to
\fBnmap\fP [ \fIinpattern\fP \fIoutpattern\fP ]
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
commands issued without a specified remote target filename.
If arguments are specified, local filenames are mapped during
commands issued without a specified local target filename.
This command is useful when connecting to a non-UNIX remote computer
with different file naming conventions or practices.
The mapping follows the pattern set by
is a template for incoming filenames (which may have already been
processed according to the
Variable templating is accomplished by including the sequences '$1', '$2', ..., '$9' in
Use '\\' to prevent this special treatment of the '$' character.
All other characters are treated literally, and are used to determine the
$1.$2 and the remote file name "mydata.data", $1 would have the value
"mydata", and $2 would have the value "data".
determines the resulting mapped filename.
The sequences '$1', '$2', ...., '$9' are replaced by any value resulting
The sequence '$0' is replace by the original filename.
Additionally, the sequence '[\fIseq1\fP,\fIseq2\f\P]' is replaced by
is not a null string; otherwise it is replaced by
For example, the command "nmap $1.$2.$3 [$1,$2].[$2,file]" would yield
the output 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
as in the example: nmap $1 |sed "s/ *$//" > $1 .
Use the '\\' character to prevent special treatment
of the '$', '[', ']', and ',' characters.
\fBntrans\fP [ \fIinchars\fP [ \fIoutchars\fP ] ]
Set or unset the filename character translation mechanism.
If no arguments are specified, the filename character
translation mechanism is unset.
If arguments are specified, characters in
remote filenames are translated during
commands issued without a specified remote target filename.
If arguments are specified, characters in
local filenames are translated during
commands issued without a specified local target filename.
This command is useful when connecting to a non-UNIX remote computer
with different file naming conventions or practices.
Characters in a filename matching a character in
are replaced with the corresponding character in
If the character's position in
is longer than the length of
the character is deleted from the file name.
\fBopen\fP \fIhost\fP [ \fIport\fP ]
Establish a connection to the specified
FTP server. An optional port number may be supplied,
will attempt to contact an FTP server at that port.
will also attempt to automatically log the user in to
the FTP server (see below).
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 \fBmget\fP or \fBmput\fP
will transfer all files, and any \fBmdelete\fP will delete all files.
\fBproxy\fP \fIftp-command\fP
Execute an ftp command on a secondary control connection.
This command allows simultaneous connection to two remote ftp
servers for transferring files between the two servers.
to establish the secondary control connection.
Enter the command "proxy ?" to see other ftp commands executable on the
The following commands behave differently when prefaced by
will not define new macros during the auto-login process,
will not erase existing macro definitions,
transfer files from the host on the primary control connection
to the host on the secondary control connection, and
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.
\fBput\fP \fIlocal-file\fP [ \fIremote-file\fP ]
Store a local file on the remote machine. If
is left unspecified, the local file name is used
after processing according to any
in naming the remote file. File transfer uses the
Print the name of the current working directory on the remote
.BI quote " arg1 arg2 ..."
The arguments specified are sent, verbatim, to the remote FTP
\fBrecv\fP \fIremote-file\fP [ \fIlocal-file\fP ]
\fBremotehelp\fP [ \fIcommand-name\fP ]
Request help from the remote FTP server. If a
is specified it is supplied to the server as well.
\fBrename\fP [ \fIfrom\fP ] [ \fIto\fP ]
on the remote machine, to the file
This command re-synchronizes command/reply sequencing with the remote
Resynchronization may be neccesary following a violation of the ftp protocol
.BI rmdir " directory-name"
Delete a directory on the remote machine.
Toggle storing of files on the local system with unique filenames.
If a file already exists with a name equal to the target
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.
will not affect local files generated from a shell command
The default value is off.
\fBsend\fP \fIlocal-file\fP [ \fIremote-file\fP ]
Toggle the use of PORT commands. By default,
will attempt to use a PORT command when establishing
a connection for each data transfer.
The use of PORT commands can prevent delays
when performing multiple file transfers. If the PORT
will use the default data port. When the use of PORT
commands is disabled, no attempt will be made to use
PORT commands for each data transfer. This is useful
for certain FTP implementations which do ignore PORT
commands but, incorrectly, indicate they've been accepted.
Show the current status of
\fBstruct\fP [ \fIstruct-name\fP ]
By default \*(lqstream\*(rq structure is used.
Toggle storing of files on remote machine under unique file names.
Remote ftp server must support ftp protocol STOU command for
The remote server will report unique name.
Set the file transfer type to that needed to
\fBtype\fP [ \fItype-name\fP ]
If no type is specified, the current type
is printed. The default type is network ASCII.
\fBuser\fP \fIuser-name\fP [ \fIpassword\fP ] [ \fIaccount\fP ]
Identify yourself to the remote FTP server. If the
password is not specified and the server requires it,
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 command will
be relayed to the remote server after the login sequence
is completed if the remote server did not require it
is invoked with \*(lqauto-login\*(rq disabled, this
process is done automatically on initial connection to
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 completes, statistics
regarding the efficiency of the transfer are reported. By default,
\fB?\fP [ \fIcommand\fP ]
Command arguments which have embedded spaces may be quoted with
.SH "ABORTING A FILE TRANSFER"
To abort a file transfer, use the terminal interrupt key
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
has completed any local processing and is awaiting a reply
A long delay in this mode may result from the ABOR processing described
above, or from unexpected behavior by the remote server, including
violations of the ftp protocol.
If the delay results from unexpected remote server behavior, the local
program must be killed by hand.
.SH "FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS"
Files specified as arguments to
commands are processed according to the following rules.
If the file name \*(lq\-\*(rq is specified, the
If the first character of the file name is \*(lq|\*(rq, the
remainder of the argument is interpreted as a shell command.
then forks a shell, using
with the argument supplied, and reads (writes) from the stdout
(stdin). If the shell command includes spaces, the argument
must be quoted; e.g. \*(lq"| ls -lt"\*(rq. A particularly
useful example of this mechanism is: \*(lqdir |more\*(rq.
Failing the above checks, if ``globbing'' is enabled,
local file names are expanded
according to the rules used in the
command expects a single local file ( .e.g.
only the first filename generated by the "globbing" operation is used.
commands with unspecified local file names, the local filename is
the remote filename, which may be altered by a
The resulting filename may then be altered if
commands with unspecified remote file names, the remote filename is
the local filename, which may be altered by a
The resulting filename may then be altered by the remote server if
.SH "FILE TRANSFER PARAMETERS"
The FTP specification specifies many parameters which may
affect a file transfer. The
may be one of \*(lqascii\*(rq, \*(lqimage\*(rq (binary),
\*(lqebcdic\*(rq, and \*(lqlocal byte size\*(rq (for PDP-10's
supports the ascii and image types of file transfer,
plus local byte size 8 for \fBtenex\fP mode transfers.
supports only the default values for the remaining
file transfer parameters:
Options may be specified at the command line, or to the
(verbose on) option forces
to show all responses from the remote server, as well
as report on data transfer statistics.
from attempting \*(lqauto-login\*(rq upon initial connection.
If auto-login is enabled,
(see below) file in the user's home directory for an entry describing
an account on the remote machine. If no entry exists,
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.
option turns off interactive prompting during
option enables debugging.
option disables file name globbing.
The .netrc file contains login and initialization information
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,
Identify a remote machine name.
The auto-login process searches the .netrc file for a
token that matches the remote machine specified on the
Once a match is made, the subsequent .netrc tokens are processed,
stopping when the end of file is reached or another
Identify a user on the remote machine.
If this token is present, the auto-login process will initiate
a login using the specified name.
\fBpassword\fP \fIstring\fP
If this token is present, the auto-login process will supply the
specified string if the remote server requires a password as part
Note that if this token is present in the .netrc file,
will abort the auto-login process if the .netrc is readable by
\fBaccount\fP \fIstring\fP
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 additional
account password, or the auto-login process will initiate an
ACCT command if it does not.
This token functions like the
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.
is defined, it is automatically executed as the last step in the
Correct execution of many commands depends upon proper behavior
An error in the treatment of carriage returns
in the 4.2BSD UNIX ascii-mode transfer code
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.