<![CDATA[
What is FTP? How does it work?
Copright (c) 1995, 1996, by Ian Mapleson
Last Revision: 01/07/96
(NB#1: all example commands and ftp program output have been indented by two
spaces in order to deliniate this data from the surrounding text)
(NB#2: if you are already familiar with using ftp to download files, but want
to know how to _upload_ files, then goto Part 2)
(NB#3: This file is normally sent to readers of the rec.games.computer.doom.*
newsgroups and therefore contains some information specific to Doom. My
apologies if these specifics are of no relevance to you :)
---------------< Part 1 >---------------
Introduction & how to download files from an ftp site
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
'ftp' stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is the means by which one may
transfer files to and from remote 'sites' around the world.
An 'ftp site' is any computer system in the world that is accessible on the
Internet and has an ftp server set up for it which people can access.
Ftp sites contain vast amounts of data on EVERY subject imaginable. There are
hundreds of thousands of sites worldwide. Some of them contain files for Doom
related stuff. :)
There is a single central site for Doom information, based in the USA, called:
ftp.cdrom.com
Other sites around the world 'mirror' ftp.cdrom.com. This means that, every
night (sometimes less often), they update their files so that they contain
exactly the same files as ftp.cdrom.com in their Doom directory. Thus, if
someone far away has slow access to ftp.cdrom.com, they can use a mirror site
instead which will have better data transfer rates.
Every site has a name, but the name is really just an alias for a code number,
called an IP (Internet Protocol) address. Some ftp programs are not able to
translate the names to numbers and so one needs the actual IP addresses.
What I would say next depends on what kind of ftp program you're using. Some
are command line based, like the ftp command in Unix systems. Others are
graphical and might run under something like Windows. People using WWW browsers
(Netscape, Mosaic, etc.) also have ftp access by using the prefix 'ftp://'
instead of 'http://'. So, here is some general info and examples.
The vast majority of sites world wide are not freely accessible, ie. the only
people who can access them are people who have user accounts at that site. Many
Universities are like this - they often have separate machines setup as
anonymous ftp sites.
But there are also a LARGE number of sites (probably around 300000+) for which
ANYONE can login to them and retrieve (and in many cases send) files. These
are called 'anonymous' ftp sites because it doesn't matter who or where you
are, you can use them.
To access an anonymous ftp site, one ftp's (pronounced 'Eff Tee Peez') to the
appropriate site, perhaps via a command like:
ftp flinux.tu-graz.ac.at
and then, assuming the machine is successful in accessing the site, one is
presented with a login page. Note that for WWW browsers, the equivalent URL
would be:
ftp://flinux.tu-graz.ac.at/
Here is the login page that I get for this site, which is based in Austria,
Europe (the machine I am using is called 'nikita', by the way):
nikita% ftp flinux.tu-graz.ac.at
Connected to flinux.tu-graz.ac.at.
220 flinux FTP server (Linux flinux 1.1.67 #1 Tue Nov 29 12:50:51 GMT-0100 1994 i386) ready.
Name (flinux.tu-graz.ac.at:mapleson):
Most sites will have something like this when you access them. Now, since one
wants to login as an anonymous user, one enters the word 'anonymous' as one's
name (note that this is not necessary when accessing an ftp site using a web
browser because the browser takes care of the login process automatically). On
this site, you get the following:
Name (flinux.tu-graz.ac.at:mapleson): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send e-mail address as password.
Password:
At this stage, the site wants you to enter your full email address as a
password. This enables the site manager to assess the load that is being put on
their server and so ease administration.
So, I enter:
mapleson@cee.hw.ac.uk
You would enter your appropriate email address instead. Note that when entering
your email address the ftp host will not echo what you type, so type carefully.
When I enter my address, it says:
230-
230- All transfers are logged with your host name and email address.
230- If you don't like this policy, disconnect now!
230-
230-Welcome, archive user from nikita.cee.hw.ac.uk.
230-This is an experimental FTP server. If have any unusual problems,
230-please report them via e-mail to ftpadmin@flinux.tu-graz.ac.at .
230-If you do have problems, please try using a dash (-) as the first character
230-of your password -- this will turn off the continuation messages that may
230-be confusing your ftp client.
230-
230-Local Time is Tue Dec 6 19:23:35 1994.
230-
230-You are user 3 out of a maximum 20.
230-
230-
230-----------------------------------------------------------------------
230-
230-README ... some information to this archive
230-incoming ... if you want to upload -> do it in this directory
230-pub ... the archive ...
230-
230-
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp>
This is a typical 'welcome' page for an ftp site.
What the site actually is is just one big directory structure of files that one
may browse through using the usual 'cd' and 'dir' commands. When you see a file
you want, you can get it using the 'get' command. You can see the details of
just one particular file, or group of files, by being more specific with the
'dir' command, eg. entering 'dir filename.zip' will display the directory
information for just that file. This is an easy way to see if a particular file
is actually present in a directory without having to list the entire directory
(of course, this relies on you knowing the exact spelling of the file name.
Usually, the presence of capital letters in a file name _does_ make a
difference).
Transferring a file _from_ the ftp site _to_ your site is called 'downloading',
whilst sending a file from your site to the ftp site is called 'uploading'.
Some directories on ftp sites are not accessible as these may be administrative
directories which anonymous users should have no interest in.
Most sites have a 'pub' (ie. public) directory and this is where the files of
interest to anyone usually are. However, this is not always the case.
Most sites have some kind of 'README' file which explains where everything is.
There is often a complete recursive file listing of the ftp site, sometimes
called 'FILELIST', but often called 'ls-lR' or something similar. You can
download this to see a complete list of _everything_ on the ftp site, but beware
as this file is often very large!
Most files are not just plain ASCII text; such files may be image files (like
GIF or JPG, etc) or executable programs, tar files, zip files, or a whole
variety of compression formats used to save space. These have to be downloaded
in 'binary' mode, so one enters 'bin' or perhaps 'image' to switch to binary
mode.
(quick info: ASCII characters, stored as one byte (ie. 8 bits) for one
character, only use 7 of the 8 available bits. In a binary file, all 8 bits of
each byte are used, eg. an executable program. Hence, in order to download or
upload binary files, you have to tell the ftp program that you want to deal
with binary, and not ASCII, data, otherwise it'll "miss out" the 8th bit in
each byte and your downloaded file will be useless).
In general, it is always safer to download _any_ file in binary mode, just in
case the ftp site's idea of ASCII isn't _your_ site's idea of what ASCII is
supposed to be. :D
It is also useful, when downloading files, to enter 'hash' as this lets you see
how fast the transfer is going. What happens is that '#' symbols get displayed
as the data is transfered, denoting (for example) 8K of data per hash mark. On
some programs, like ncftp, this isn't necessary, as a percentage number is
constantly shown. On programs like ftp for Windows, it should display the
number of bytes downloaded compared to the actual file size, thus showing you
how the transfer is progressing. Web browsers will have a similar display. On
Unix systems, perhaps in another XWindow, one can see how the transfer is going
by repeatedly entering 'ls -l' in the directory to which the ftp site is
sending the file. Watching for a few seconds will show how fast the data is
arriving and, hence, how long the transfer is likely to take. Note that
transfer speed can vary considerably during any transfer, one minute going fast
and the next slow; hence, if nothing is happeneing, don't get impatient - wait
a while and you'll probably see the data being transmitted again.
Anyway, on the example site I'm using here, to get to the place on the ftp site
where the Doom files are, one enters:
cd pub/doom
When you do this, you get the following (of course, if you ever try this site,
the exact contents will probably have changed slightly since I did this example
session):
250-Welcome to the greatest DOOM ftp server in the world!
250-
250-NEWSTUFF - The NEWEST files are here. Incoming is write only now.
250-HELP - Get the FTP faq and other help/support information
250-text/faq - Doom FAQ and others.
250-wads - User build WAD files for Registered DOOM only.
250-sounds - Replacement sounds for DOOM.
250-wad_edit - WAD file editors for Registered DOOM only.
250-misc - Anything else that just doesn't fit into these boxes.
250-graphics - Neato-nifty graphics patches for DOOM
250-id - Here is the shareware version of DOOM and upgrades
250-deu - Official USA site for DEU, greatest DOOM editor.
250-lmps - Recorded games of people with no lives....
250-incoming - Put your new files here. I move them around.
250-doom2 - Files for the Doom ][ software.
250-
250-
250-Send all suggestions to barry@noc.unt.edu
250-
250-THIS FILE MODIFIED 9.24.94
250-
250 CWD command successful.
Since this directory is a 'mirror' of the pub/doom directory on the
ftp.cdrom.com site, the above text is _exactly_ what you'd see if you ftp'd to
ftp.cdrom.com instead of the example site I'm using here.
Anyway, suppose I wanted to get an add-on level for Doom. Here is an example
session:
ftp> cd wads
250-Welcome to the wads section:
250-
250-send all suggestions to barry@noc.unt.edu
250-
250-9-7-94
250-
250-/newwads is now the place to find the newest wads. I'll update this
250-note everytime I move stuff. Also, check the ls-LR for this directory
250-to get a complete list of just the wads. Remember to check the /newwads2
250-directory also. Newwads2 contains all of Augusts submissions. Newwads
250-will have all of Septembers.
250-
250-
250-
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> dir
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls.
total 139
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 398 Sep 10 10:48 .message
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 1024 Dec 3 06:29 1-9
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 1052 Jul 1 16:27 HOW_TO_USE_WADS
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 227 Jul 13 10:23 README
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 5120 Dec 3 06:27 a-c
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 1024 Sep 25 04:42 combos
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 5120 Dec 3 06:54 d-f
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 6144 Dec 3 06:15 deathmatch
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 32875 Aug 15 23:14 dmrk0815.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 3072 Dec 3 07:01 g-i
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 2048 Dec 3 07:00 j-l
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 19202 Dec 2 12:16 ls-LR
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 3072 Dec 3 06:59 m-o
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 5120 Dec 3 07:33 newwads
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 3072 Dec 3 07:33 newwads2
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 3072 Dec 3 06:57 p-r
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 1024 Dec 3 07:01 reviews
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 6144 Dec 3 06:47 s-u
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 1024 Dec 3 06:15 utility
drwxr-xr-x 2 root ftp 2048 Dec 4 05:26 v-z
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 33567 Jul 24 11:07 wads0724.rev
226 Transfer complete.
1338 bytes received in 1 seconds (1.3 Kbytes/s)
ftp> cd newwads
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> dir
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls.
total 8682
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 6919 Oct 3 11:49 invade2.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 655718 Oct 4 07:36 invade2.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 1439 Oct 4 13:34 invepi2.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 1919191 Oct 4 13:37 invepi2.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 1439 Oct 4 13:04 invpro2.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 3119184 Oct 4 13:08 invpro2.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 752 Oct 22 23:40 quest12.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 182 Oct 23 01:07 quest12.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 3360 Sep 29 10:55 reactor3.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 21809 Sep 29 10:54 reactor3.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 2340 Nov 11 03:57 red.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 77252 Nov 11 03:58 red.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 2062 Oct 30 06:19 redroom.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 25277 Oct 30 06:19 redroom.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 2040 Oct 5 04:59 rot_e2m1.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 131886 Oct 5 05:11 rot_e2m1.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 4187 Nov 10 02:44 rrward02.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 225575 Nov 10 02:44 rrward02.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 2393 Oct 18 08:59 run666.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 67346 Oct 18 08:59 run666.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 3178 Oct 18 08:59 ry11ecr.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 68460 Oct 18 08:59 ry11ecr.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 349 Oct 25 00:27 sawtime.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 204243 Oct 25 00:35 sawtime.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 12408 Oct 30 22:48 serenity.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 405543 Oct 30 22:48 serenity.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 3223 Oct 4 21:22 sersound.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 801471 Oct 4 21:22 sersound.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 1554 Oct 23 18:28 sherhell.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 135457 Oct 23 18:23 sherhell.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 5547 Oct 24 16:38 shoots.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 152230 Oct 24 16:38 shoots.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 2034 Oct 15 04:36 statx2.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 50226 Oct 15 04:38 statx2.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 1612 Oct 14 21:14 straw.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 62731 Oct 14 21:14 straw.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 60513 Oct 28 06:50 straw2.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 60804 Oct 28 07:09 straw3.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 16 Oct 28 07:26 straw4.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 16 Oct 29 06:08 straw6.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 1853 Nov 16 02:03 switches.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 38501 Nov 16 02:03 switches.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 2793 Nov 16 22:29 tmatch-1.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 16581 Nov 16 22:29 tmatch-1.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 3335 Oct 13 09:56 tripwire.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 34080 Oct 13 09:56 tripwire.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 4140 Oct 28 21:55 uac-hq.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 159356 Oct 28 22:10 uac-hq.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 1134 Nov 12 21:14 walzhaus.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 111546 Nov 12 21:14 walzhaus.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 95 Nov 17 21:21 wetwrkd1.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 65892 Nov 17 21:19 wetwrkd1.zip
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 2187 Nov 10 20:50 xmas.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root ftp 55828 Nov 10 20:50 xmas.zip
226 Transfer complete.
3676 bytes received in 4.7 seconds (0.76 Kbytes/s)
ftp> bin
200 Type set to I.
ftp> hash
Hash mark printing on (8192 bytes/hash mark).
ftp> get wetwrkd1.zip
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for wetwrkd1.zip (65892 bytes).
##########################################################################
###################################
226 Transfer complete.
local: wetwrkd1.zip remote: wetwrkd1.zip
65892 bytes received in 34 seconds (1.9 Kbytes/s)
ftp> close
221 Goodbye.
ftp> quit
nikita%
So, that's how one gets a file via ftp.
Incidentally, I downloaded the *same* file from a different Doom mirror site in
Europe (Sweden instead of Austria) and I got this:
ftp> get wetwrkd1.zip
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for wetwrkd1.zip (65892 bytes).
##########################################################################
###################################
226 Transfer complete.
local: wetwrkd1.zip remote: wetwrkd1.zip
65892 bytes received in 10 seconds (6.2 Kbytes/s)
As you can see, the speed of ftp sites varies greatly. ftp.luth.se can
transfer as fast as 100K/second, while some sites I've tried to use are so
slow (less than 100 bytes/second) that I just stop the ftp and try somewhere
else. The load on a site varies greatly and it is best to access a site
when the local time of the country the site is based in is in the early
hours of the morning (i.e. people in the U.K. should access USA sites around
10am U.K. time because that is when most folk in the USA are asleep. 10am
GMT would be anything from 2am to 5am US time, depending on time zone. Mind
you, weekends are pretty quiet as well).
Anyway, here are a couple of other things about using anonymous ftp:
- Most sites will let you enter 'ftp' instead of 'anonymous' as your login name,
which saves typing errors.
- Most sites will let you abbreviate your email address to just your name
followed by the '@' symbol (so I would enter 'mapleson@' for instance, minus
the quotes of course). In fact, nowadays, I just enter 'm@' as a password,
which seems to work just fine.
- Most sites don't care if you don't bother entering 'close' before
entering 'quit'. I never enter 'close' and I've not had any problems yet.
You can also enter 'bye' which seems to be identical to 'quit', probably for
the sake of backwards compatability.
- It is always best to use binary mode for transfering *anything*, even if
the file is just ASCII text. It's more reliable as one can never be quite
sure what the ftp site's idea of an ASCII file is! :D
---------------< Part 2 >---------------
How to upload (ie. send) files to an ftp site.
Note for Doom PWAD writers: there is a standardised 'PWAD Template' form which
you can upload as a .txt file to accompany your zipped PWAD. The template file
can be downloaded as a zip file from ftp.cdrom.com or any of its mirror sites.
The directory on ftp.cdrom.com is:
pub/doom/docs/editing
and the file is:
wadtempt.zip
There is an accompanying text file called:
wadtempt.txt
- End of note for PWAD authors.
Uploading files.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This process is no more complicated than receiving files. The first thing to do
is to make sure you are in the right directory when running the ftp program, ie.
the directory on your computer that contains the file(s) you want to upload. For
Windows ftp programs, this probably just means using the file browser, etc.
(NB: you can't upload files to an ftp site with a web browser).
Next you ftp to the intended site just as before, using 'ftp' or 'anonymous' as
a login name, email address as password, etc. (or the equivalent set of actions
necessary for your ftp program).
On most sites, depending on what you're wanting to upload, there will be a
specific directory on the site where uploads are supposed to be placed.
Usually, this directory will be called 'incoming'.
In the case of Doom files, because the Doom sites operate a mirror system,
uploaded Doom files should _only_ be sent to the appropriate incoming directory
on the main Doom site, ftp.cdrom.com (this is because anything that is uploaded
to a mirror's 'incoming' directory will just be deleted when the system
compares the mirror directory to the main directory at ftp.cdrom.com).
Try and make sure you find the right directory into which you intend to
upload your file(s).
Now enter 'bin' and 'hash' as usual (minus the quotes). There are two
commands to upload files, 'send' and 'put'. As far as I can tell, there is
no difference between them. On Windows ftp programs this is irrelevant of
course as one would just click on a button to send the file.
Anyway, as an example, one might enter something like:
send myfile.zip
As before, the file will transfer at whatever speed, and hash marks (if using a
command style ftp program) will appear as the transfer progresses.
For uploading files, the MOST important thing is to ALWAYS upload in _binary_
mode. Many people get justifiably annoyed when they download a large file (a
Doom PWAD add-on level, for instance) and find that it is useless because the
author of the file forgot to upload the file in binary mode. So, remember this
as it's very important.
It is accepted practice, and a sensible practice at that, to always upload a
descriptive text file to accompany whatever the main file was that was
uploaded. Such a file should explain what the main file actually is, who wrote
it, how to use it, where to send bug reports, etc. Such 'README' type files
usually end in '.txt'. So, if I uploaded a Doom add-on level called
'diehard.zip', then I should upload a file called 'diehard.txt' which explains
what the 'diehard.zip' file actually is. As I said before, there is a 'standard'
.txt template file available to help PWAD authors with this. See the beginning
of part 2 for details.
Of course, if the main file you're actually sending is purely text, then an
accompanying .txt file probably isn't necessary (unless the main file is quite
large. An example is the Doom FAQ - that has a .txt file).
After sending files, one exits ftp in the usual manner via 'quit' or 'close',
etc.
Final notes:
^^^^^^^^^^^^
There are some other quite useful commands to bare in mind when using ftp.
Some may or may not be relevant to Windows style ftp programs (they certainly
arnen't relevant to web browsers, since they will have a graphical-interface
way of doing the equivalent operation).
The first is the 'lcd' command, which allows you to change the current
directory on _your_ site, without exiting the ftp program. Useful if you find
you've started the ftp session in the wrong directory. So, for instance, you
might enter:
lcd ..
A message will appear telling you your new directory path. This will not affect
whatever directory it is that you are currently 'in' on the ftp site.
Another useful command is one which allows you to view a _text_ file only
from within the ftp program (this applies to command line based ftp
programs only). You'd enter something like:
recv filename.txt |more
This will get the text file and pipe it through the 'more' program, thus
displaying the file on your screen in the usual more-style manner ('press
space to continue' messages appearing, etc. Press CTRL-C to quite the
'more' listing in the usual manner). Note that there must _not_ be a
space between the pipe '|' symbol and the word 'more'.
When you use recv in the above manner, the file does _not_ get saved to
your directory. It's just a way of seeing the contents of a file on a site
without committing yourself to actually downloading it (ie. if the file turns
out to be one you'd like, then you can press 'Q' which will quit the 'more'
listing process).
Multiple files.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It is possible to send and receive more than one file at once when using ftp.
Thus, for instance, suppose a directory on a NASA site contained loads of
astronomy images of the comet impact on Jupiter. The image files might be named
thusly:
impact00.jpg
impact01.jpg
impact02.jpg
impact03.jpg
impact04.jpg
.
.
.
and so on. It would be rather laborious to enter 'get <filename>' for each
individual file, especially if there several hundred such files. :D
So, instead, you can enter a single command to get all of them. The command for
this is 'mget'. This will allow you to get more than one file at a time via the
use of 'wildcards'. Hence, to download ALL the pictures in one go, you would
enter:
mget impact*.jpg
or just:
mget impact*.*
Try to be as specific as possible when using wildcards like this, to ensure
that you don't download files which you don't want.
Note that, depending on the default settings of your ftp program, you may
or may not get 'prompted' for each file with a message that says something
like:
Retrieve file 'impact00.jpg'? (Y/N) :
^
Again, it's a pain to have to enter 'Y' dozens of times, so if you're sure you
want them all, you can use the 'prompt' command before you enter the 'mget'
command. This will toggle whether or not you are prompted for confirmation
during mget operations. To see whether multiple-file-prompting is currently on
or off, enter:
status
This will display various items of information about the current status
of the ftp session. For instance (just running the ftp program without
connecting anywhere):
nikita% ftp
ftp> status
Not connected.
No proxy connection.
Mode: stream; Type: ascii; Form: non-print; Structure: file
Verbose: on; Bell: off; Prompting: off; Globbing: on
Store unique: off; Receive unique: off
Case: off; CR stripping: on
Ntrans: off
Nmap: off
Hash mark printing: off; Use of PORT cmds: on
ftp> quit
The prompting status is shown as he 3rd item on the 4th line of status
information in this case.
There are a number of other ftp commands, most of which you'll probably
never use, or rarely anyway. Some are just shortcuts, for instance you
can enter:
cdup
instead of:
cd ..
A complete list of commands can be seen by entering 'help'. eg.
ftp> help
Commands may be abbreviated. Commands are:
! cr macdef proxy send
$ delete mdelete sendport status
account debug mdir put struct
append dir mget pwd sunique
ascii disconnect mkdir quit tenex
bell form mls quote trace
binary get mode recv type
bye glob mput remotehelp user
case hash nmap rename verbose
cd help ntrans reset ?
cdup lcd open rmdir
close ls prompt runique
You can find out what a command is by entering:
help <command>
eg.
ftp> help ntrans
ntrans set translation table for default file name mapping
What the hell _that_ means I have no idea! :D But anyway... :) Actually, you
can read about this command in the man page given at the end of this help
file. It may be useful for Unix users who are ftp'ing to a non-Unix site. I
haven't had reason to use it yet, but you never know.
The information you receive when using the 'help' command in the above manner
tends to be very brief, for example:
ftp> help mget
mget get multiple files
Not much info there. :\ This is the main reason that I have written this help
file. I hope you'll find it useful.
And that's it, I guess. If you're using Unix, there should be a manual page
about ftp, which I have included below, so I will leave you with that. It has
much more information on the various commands than the on-line help within
ftp program has, so it is well worth a read, even if you're not using a Unix
system. It also lists all the various initial command line options.
If you have any further questions on ftp, please post to:
rec.games.computer.doom.help
or email me and I will attempt to answer them.
All comments and suggestions on further additions to this file are most welcome.
************************ UNIX Manual Page For 'ftp'.... ************************
NAME
ftp - file transfer program
SYNOPSIS
ftp [ -dgintv ] [ hostname ]
AVAILABILITY
This command is available with the Networking software
installation option. Refer to Installing SunOS 4.1 for
information on how to install optional software.
DESCRIPTION
ftp is the user interface to the ARPANET standard File
Transfer Protocol (FTP). ftp transfers files to and from a
remote network site.
The client host with which ftp is to communicate may be
specified on the command line. If this is done, ftp immedi-
ately attempts to establish a connection to an FTP server on
that host; otherwise, ftp enters its command interpreter and
awaits instructions from the user. When ftp is awaiting
commands from the user, it displays the prompt `ftp>'.
OPTIONS
Options may be specified at the command line, or to the com-
mand interpreter.
-d Enable debugging.
-g Disable filename "globbing."
-i Turn off interactive prompting during multiple file
transfers.
-n Do not attempt "auto-login" upon initial connection.
If auto-login is enabled, ftp checks the .netrc file in
the user's home directory for an entry describing an
account on the remote machine. If no entry exists, ftp
will prompt for the login name of the account on the
remote machine (the default is the login name on the
local machine), and, if necessary, prompts for a pass-
word and an account with which to login.
-t Enable packet tracing (unimplemented).
-v Show all responses from the remote server, as well as
report on data transfer statistics. This is turned on
by default if ftp is running interactively with its
input coming from the user's terminal.
! [ command ]
Run command as a shell command on the local machine.
If no command is given, invoke an interactive shell.
$ macro-name [ args ]
Execute the macro macro-name that was defined with the
macdef command. Arguments are passed to the macro
unglobbed.
account [ passwd ]
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 local-file [ remote-file ]
Append a local file to a file on the remote machine.
If remote-file is left unspecified, the local file name
is used in naming the remote file after being altered
by any ntrans or nmap setting. File transfer uses the
current settings for "representation type", "file
structure", and "transfer mode".
ascii
Set the "representation type" to "network " ASCII".
This is the default type.
bell Sound a bell after each file transfer command is com-
pleted.
binary
Set the "representation type" to "image".
bye Terminate the FTP session with the remote server and
exit ftp. An EOF will also terminate the session 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 remote-directory
Change the working directory on the remote machine to
remote-directory.
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 RETURN stripping during "network " ASCII" type
file retrieval. Records are denoted by a
RETURN/LINEFEED sequence during "network " ASCII" type
file transfer. When cr is on (the default), RETURN
characters are stripped from this sequence to conform
with the UNIX system single LINEFEED record delimiter.
Records on non-UNIX-system remote hosts may contain
single LINEFEED characters; when an "network " ASCII"
type transfer is made, these LINEFEED characters may be
distinguished from a record delimiter only when cr is
off.
delete remote-file
Delete the file remote-file on the remote machine.
debug [ debug-value ]
Toggle debugging mode. If an optional debug-value is
specified it is used to set the debugging level. When
debugging is on, ftp prints each command sent to the
remote machine, preceded by the string `-->'.
dir [ remote-directory ] [ local-file ]
Print a listing of the directory contents in the direc-
tory, remote-directory, and, optionally, placing the
output in local-file. If no directory is specified,
the current working directory on the remote machine is
used. If no local file is specified, or local-file is
`-', output is sent to the terminal.
disconnect
A synonym for close.
form [ format-name ]
Set the carriage control format subtype of the
"representation type" to format-name. The only valid
format-name is non-print, which corresponds to the
default "non-print" subtype.
get remote-file [ local-file ]
Retrieve the remote-file 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 case, ntrans, and
nmap settings. The current settings for "representa-
tion type", "file structure", and "transfer mode" are
used while transferring the file.
glob Toggle filename expansion, or "globbing", for mdelete,
mget and mput. If globbing is turned off, filenames
are taken literally.
Globbing 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 radically
different from expansion of the name of an ordinary
file: the exact result depends on the remote operating
system and FTP server, and can be previewed by doing
`mls remote-files -'.
mget and mput are not meant to transfer entire direc-
tory subtrees of files. You can do this by transfer-
ring a tar(1) archive of the subtree (using a
"representation type" of "image" as set by the binary
command).
hash Toggle hash-sign (#) printing for each data block
transferred.
help [ command ]
Print an informative message about the meaning of com-
mand. If no argument is given, ftp prints a list of
the known commands.
lcd [ directory ]
Change the working directory on the local machine. If
no directory is specified, the user's home directory is
used.
ls [ remote-directory ] [ local-file ]
Print an abbreviated listing of the contents of a
directory on the remote machine. If remote-directory
is left unspecified, the current working directory is
used. If no local file is specified, or if local-file
is `-', the output is sent to the terminal.
macdef macro-name
Define a macro. Subsequent lines are stored as the
macro macro-name; a null line (consecutive NEWLINE
characters in a file or RETURN characters 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 [ remote-files ]
Delete the remote-files on the remote machine.
mdir remote-files local-file
Like dir, except multiple remote files may be speci-
fied. If interactive prompting is on, ftp will prompt
the user to verify that the last argument is indeed the
target local file for receiving mdir output.
mget remote-files
Expand the remote-files 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 case, ntrans,
and nmap 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 directory-name
Make a directory on the remote machine.
mls remote-files local-file
Like ls(1V), except multiple remote files may be speci-
fied. If interactive prompting is on, ftp will prompt
the user to verify that the last argument is indeed the
target local file for receiving mls output.
mode [ mode-name ]
Set the "transfer mode" to mode-name. The only valid
mode-name is stream, which corresponds to the default
"stream" mode.
mput local-files
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 ntrans and nmap settings.
nmap [ inpattern outpattern ]
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-
system remote host with different file naming conven-
tions or practices. The mapping follows the pattern
set by inpattern and outpattern. inpattern is a tem-
plate for incoming filenames (which may have already
been processed according to the ntrans and case set-
tings). Variable templating is accomplished by includ-
ing the sequences $1, $2, ..., $9 in inpattern. Use \
to prevent this special treatment of the $ character.
All other characters are treated literally, and are
used to determine the nmap inpattern variable values.
For example, given inpattern $1.$2 and the remote file
name mydata.data, $1 would have the value "mydata", and
$2 would have the value "data".
The outpattern determines the resulting mapped
filename. The sequences $1, $2, ..., $9 are replaced
by any value resulting from the inpattern template.
The sequence $0 is replaced by the original filename.
Additionally, the sequence `[seq1,seq2]' is replaced by
seq1 if seq1 is not a null string; otherwise it is
replaced by seq2.
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. SPACE characters may be included in outpat-
tern, as in the example `nmap $1 | sed "s/ *$//" >
$1'. Use the \ character to prevent special treatment
of the `$', `[', `]' and `,' characters.
ntrans [ inchars [ outchars ] ]
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, and charac-
ters in local filenames are translated during mget
commands and get commands issued without a specified
local target filename.
This command is useful when connecting to a non-UNIX-
system remote host with different file naming conven-
tions or practices. Characters in a filename matching
a character in inchars are replaced with the
corresponding character in outchars. If the
character's position in inchars is longer than the
length of outchars, the character is deleted from the
file name.
open host [ port ]
Establish a connection to the specified host FTP
server. An optional port number may be supplied, in
which case, ftp will attempt to contact an FTP server
at that port. If the auto-login option is on
(default), ftp 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. By default,
prompting is turned on. If prompting is turned off,
any mget or mput will transfer all files, and any
mdelete will delete all files.
proxy ftp-command
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
definitions, 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 connec-
tion.
Third party file transfers depend upon support of the
PASV command by the server on the secondary control
connection.
put local-file [ remote-file]
Store a local file on the remote machine. If remote-
file is left unspecified, the local file name is used
after processing according to any ntrans or nmap set-
tings in naming the remote file. File transfer uses
the current settings for "representation type", "file
structure", and "transfer mode".
pwd Print the name of the current working directory on the
remote machine.
quit A synonym for bye.
quote arg1 arg2 ...
Send the arguments specified, verbatim, to the remote
FTP server. A single FTP reply code is expected in
return.
recv remote-file [ local-file]
A synonym for get.
remotehelp [ command-name ]
Request help from the remote FTP server. If a
command-name is specified it is supplied to the server
as well.
rename from to
Rename the file from on the remote machine to have the
name to.
reset
Clear reply queue. This command re-synchronizes
command/reply sequencing with the remote FTP server.
Resynchronization may be necessary following a viola-
tion of the FTP protocol by the remote server.
rmdir directory-name
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: runique will not affect local
files generated from a shell command (see below). The
default value is off.
send local-file [ remote-file ]
A synonym for put.
sendport
Toggle the use of PORT commands. By default, ftp will
attempt to use a PORT command when establishing a con-
nection for each data transfer. The use of PORT com-
mands can prevent delays when performing multiple file
transfers. If the PORT command fails, ftp 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 when connected
to certain FTP implementations that ignore PORT com-
mands but incorrectly indicate they have been accepted.
status
Show the current status of ftp.
struct [ struct-name ]
Set the "file structure" to struct-name. The only
valid struct-name is file, which corresponds to the
default "file" structure.
sunique
Toggle storing of files on remote machine under unique
file names. The remote FTP server must support the
STOU command for successful completion. The remote
server will report the unique name. Default value is
off.
tenex
Set the "representation type" to that needed to talk to
TENEX machines.
trace
Toggle packet tracing (unimplemented).
type [ type-name ]
Set the "representation type" to type-name. The valid
type-names are ascii for "network " ASCII", binary or
image for "image", and tenex for "local byte size" with
a byte size of 8 (used to talk to TENEX machines). If
no type is specified, the current type is printed. The
default type is "network " ASCII".
user user-name [ password ] [ account ]
Identify yourself to the remote FTP server. If the
password is not specified and the server requires it,
ftp 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 for logging in. Unless ftp 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 mode is on, when a file transfer
completes, statistics regarding the efficiency of the
transfer are reported. By default, verbose mode is on
if ftp's commands are coming from a terminal, and off
otherwise.
? [ command ]
A synonym for help.
Command arguments which have embedded spaces may be quoted
with quote (") marks.
If any command argument which is not indicated as being
optional is not specified, ftp will prompt for that argu-
ment.
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 ftp
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 ftp program must be
killed by hand.
FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS
Local files specified as arguments to ftp commands are pro-
cessed according to the following rules.
1) If the file name `-' is specified, the standard input
(for reading) or standard output (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. ftp then forks a shell, using popen(3S) with
the argument supplied, and reads (writes) from the
standard output (standard input) of that shell. If the
shell command includes SPACE characters, the argument
must be quoted; for example `"| ls -lt"'. A particu-
larly 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 csh(1); see the glob command. If the ftp
command expects a single local file (for example, put),
only the first filename generated by the "globbing"
operation 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
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 "representation type" may be one of "network " ASCII",
"EBCDIC", "image", or "local byte size" with a specified
byte size (for PDP-10's and PDP-20's mostly). The "network
" ASCII" and "EBCDIC" types have a further subtype which
specifies whether vertical format control (NEWLINE charac-
ters, form feeds, etc.) are to be passed through ("non-
print"), provided in TELNET format ("TELNET format con-
trols"), or provided in ASA (FORTRAN) ("carriage control
(ASA)") format. ftp supports the "network " ASCII" (subtype
"non-print" only) and "image" types, plus "local byte size"
with a byte size of 8 for communicating with TENEX machines.
The "file structure" may be one of "file" (no record struc-
ture), "record", or "page". ftp supports only the default
value, which is "file".
The "transfer mode" may be one of "stream", "block", or
"compressed". ftp supports only the default value, which is
"stream".
SEE ALSO
csh(1), ls(1V), rcp(1C), tar(1), popen(3S), netrc(5),
ftpd(8C)
BUGS
Correct execution of many commands depends upon proper
behavior by the remote server.
An error in the treatment of carriage returns in the 4.2 BSD
code handling transfers with a "representation type" of
"network " ASCII" has been corrected. This correction may
result in incorrect transfers of binary files to and from
4.2 BSD servers using a "representation type" of "network "
ASCII". Avoid this problem by using the "image" type.
]]>