
FTP(1)                    BSD General Commands Manual                   FTP(1)

NAME
     ftp -- ARPANET file transfer program

SYNOPSIS
     ftp [-K] [-d] [-g] [-i] [-l] [-n] [-p] [-t] [-v] [-x] [--no-gss-bindings]
         [--no-gss-delegate] [host]

DESCRIPTION
     ftp 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.

     Modifications have been made so that it almost follows the FTP Security
     Extensions, RFC 2228.

     Options may be specified at the command line, or to the command inter-
     preter.

     -K    Disable Kerberos authentication.

     -t    Enables packet tracing.

     -v    Verbose option forces ftp to show all responses from the remote
           server, as well as report on data transfer statistics.

     -n    Restrains ftp from attempting ``auto-login'' upon initial connec-
           tion.  If auto-login is enabled, ftp will check the .netrc (see
           below) 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 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.

     -i    Turns off interactive prompting during multiple file transfers.

     -p    Turn on passive mode.

     -d    Enables debugging.

     -g    Disables file name globbing.
            .It Fl Fl no-gss-bindings Don't use GSS-API bindings when talking
           to peer. IP addresses will not be checked to ensure they match.

     --no-gss-delegate
           Disable delegation of GSSAPI credentials.

     -l    Disables command line editing.

     -x    Encrypt command and data channel.

     The client host with which ftp is to communicate may be specified on the
     command line.  If this is done, ftp will immediately attempt to establish
     a connection to an FTP server on that host; otherwise, ftp will enter its
     command interpreter and await instructions from the user.  When ftp is
     awaiting commands from the user the prompt `ftp>' is provided to the
     user.  The following commands are recognized by ftp:

     ! [command [args]]
                 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.

     $ 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
                 type, format, mode, and structure.

     ascii       Set the file transfer type to network ASCII.  This is the
                 default type.

     bell        Arrange that a bell be sounded after each file transfer com-
                 mand is completed.

     binary      Set the file transfer type to support binary image transfer.

     bye         Terminate the FTP session with the remote server and exit
                 ftp.  An end of file 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.

     chmod mode file-name
                 Change the permission modes of the file file-name on the
                 remote sytem to mode.

     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 line-
                 feeds; when an ascii type transfer is made, these linefeeds
                 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 speci-
                 fied 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 directory,
                 remote-directory, and, optionally, placing the output in
                 local-file.  If interactive prompting is on, ftp will prompt
                 the user to verify that the last argument is indeed the tar-
                 get local file for receiving dir output.  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 comes to the terminal.

     disconnect  A synonym for close.

     form format
                 Set the file transfer form to format.  The default format is
                 ``file''.

     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 type, form, mode, and structure 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.  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
                 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 remote-files -'.
                 As a security measure, remotely globbed files that starts
                 with `/' or contains `../', will not be automatically
                 received. If you have interactive prompting turned off, these
                 filenames will be ignored.  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 trans-
                 ferred.  The size of a data block is 1024 bytes.

     help [command]
                 Print an informative message about the meaning of command.
                 If no argument is given, ftp prints a list of the known com-
                 mands.

     idle [seconds]
                 Set the inactivity timer on the remote server to seconds sec-
                 onds.  If seconds is omitted, the current inactivity timer is
                 printed.

     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 a listing of the contents of a directory on the remote
                 machine.  The listing includes any system-dependent informa-
                 tion that the server chooses to include; for example, most
                 UNIX systems will produce output from the command `ls -l'.
                 (See also nlist.)  If remote-directory is left unspecified,
                 the current working directory is used.  If interactive
                 prompting is on, ftp will prompt the user to verify that the
                 last argument is indeed the target local file for receiving
                 ls output.  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 carriage returns from the terminal) 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 `$' fol-
                 lowed by an `i' signals that macro processor that the execut-
                 ing macro is to be looped.  On the first pass `$i' is
                 replaced by the first argument on the macro invocation com-
                 mand 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 specified.  If
                 interactive prompting is on, ftp will prompt the user to ver-
                 ify 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 nlist, except multiple remote files may be specified,
                 and the local-file must be specified.  If interactive prompt-
                 ing 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 file transfer mode to mode-name.  The default mode is
                 ``stream'' mode.

     modtime file-name
                 Show the last modification time of the file on the remote
                 machine.

     mput local-files
                 Expand wild cards in the list of local files given as argu-
                 ments 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.

     newer file-name
                 Get the file only if the modification time of the remote file
                 is more recent that the file on the current system.  If the
                 file does not exist on the current system, the remote file is
                 considered newer.  Otherwise, this command is identical to
                 get.

     nlist [remote-directory] [local-file]
                 Print a  list of the files in a directory on the remote
                 machine.  If remote-directory is left unspecified, the cur-
                 rent working directory is used.  If interactive prompting is
                 on, ftp will prompt the user to verify that the last argument
                 is indeed the target local file for receiving nlist output.
                 If no local file is specified, or if local-file is -, the
                 output is sent to the terminal.

     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 arguments are specified, local
                 filenames are mapped 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.  The
                 mapping follows the pattern set by inpattern and outpattern.
                 [Inpattern] 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', ..., `$9' in inpattern.  Use `\' to
                 prevent this special treatment of the `$' 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 file-
                 name.  The sequences `$1', `$2', ...., `$9' are replaced by
                 any value resulting from the inpattern template.  The
                 sequence `$0' is replace by the original filename.  Addition-
                 ally, 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 file-
                 names "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
                 outpattern, 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 mechanism.
                 If no arguments are specified, the filename character trans-
                 lation mechanism is unset.  If arguments are specified, char-
                 acters in remote filenames are translated during mput com-
                 mands and put commands issued without a specified remote tar-
                 get filename.  If arguments are specified, characters 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 remote
                 computer with different file naming conventions 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).

     passive     Toggle passive mode.  If passive mode is turned on (default
                 is off), the ftp client will send a PASV command for all data
                 connections instead of the usual PORT command.  The PASV com-
                 mand requests that the remote server open a port for the data
                 connection and return the address of that port.  The remote
                 server listens on that port and the client connects to it.
                 When using the more traditional PORT command, the client lis-
                 tens on a port and sends that address to the remote server,
                 who connects back to it.  Passive mode is useful when using
                 ftp through a gateway router or host that controls the direc-
                 tionality of traffic.  (Note that though ftp servers are
                 required to support the PASV command by RFC 1123, some do
                 not.)

     prompt      Toggle interactive prompting.  Interactive prompting occurs
                 during multiple file transfers to allow the user to selec-
                 tively 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 ftp-command
                 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.  The
                 first proxy command should be an open, to establish the sec-
                 ondary control connection.  Enter the command "proxy ?" to
                 see other ftp commands executable on the secondary connec-
                 tion.  The following commands behave differently when pref-
                 aced by proxy: open will not define new macros during the
                 auto-login process, close will not erase existing macro defi-
                 nitions, get and mget transfer files from the host on the
                 primary control connection to the host on the secondary con-
                 trol 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 trans-
                 fers depend upon support of the ftp protocol 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 process-
                 ing according to any ntrans or nmap settings in naming the
                 remote file.  File transfer uses the current settings for
                 type, format, mode, and structure.

     pwd         Print the name of the current working directory on the remote
                 machine.

     quit        A synonym for bye.

     quote arg1 arg2 ...
                 The arguments specified are sent, verbatim, to the remote FTP
                 server.

     recv remote-file [local-file]
                 A synonym for get.

     reget remote-file [local-file]
                 Reget acts like get, except that if local-file exists and is
                 smaller than remote-file, local-file is presumed to be a par-
                 tially transferred copy of remote-file and the transfer is
                 continued from the apparent point of failure.  This command
                 is useful when transferring very large files over networks
                 that are prone to dropping connections.

     remotehelp [command-name]
                 Request help from the remote FTP server.  If a command-name
                 is specified it is supplied to the server as well.

     remotestatus [file-name]
                 With no arguments, show status of remote machine.  If
                 file-name is specified, show status of file-name on remote
                 machine.

     rename [from] [to]
                 Rename the file from on the remote machine, to the file to.

     reset       Clear reply queue.  This command re-synchronizes com-
                 mand/reply sequencing with the remote ftp server.  Resynchro-
                 nization may be necessary following a violation of the ftp
                 protocol by the remote server.

     restart marker
                 Restart the immediately following get or put at the indicated
                 marker.  On UNIX systems, marker is usually a byte offset
                 into the file.

     rmdir directory-name
                 Delete a directory on the remote machine.

     runique     Toggle storing of files on the local system with unique file-
                 names.  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 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 connection
                 for each data transfer.  The use of PORT commands 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 for
                 certain FTP implementations which do ignore PORT commands
                 but, incorrectly, indicate they've been accepted.

     site arg1 arg2 ...
                 The arguments specified are sent, verbatim, to the remote FTP
                 server as a SITE command.

     size file-name
                 Return size of file-name on remote machine.

     status      Show the current status of ftp.

     struct [struct-name]
                 Set the file transfer structure to struct-name.  By default
                 ``stream'' structure is used.

     sunique     Toggle storing of files on remote machine under unique file
                 names.  Remote ftp server must support ftp protocol STOU com-
                 mand for successful completion.  The remote server will
                 report unique name.  Default value is off.

     system      Show the type of operating system running on the remote
                 machine.

     tenex       Set the file transfer type to that needed to talk to TENEX
                 machines.

     trace       Toggle packet tracing.

     type [type-name]
                 Set the file transfer type to type-name.  If no type is spec-
                 ified, the current type is printed.  The default type is net-
                 work ASCII.

     umask [newmask]
                 Set the default umask on the remote server to newmask.  If
                 newmask is omitted, the current umask is printed.

     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 speci-
                 fied, 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 automati-
                 cally 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 ver-
                 bose is on, when a file transfer completes, statistics
                 regarding the efficiency of the transfer are reported.  By
                 default, verbose is on.

     ? [command]
                 A synonym for help.

     The following command can be used with ftpsec-aware servers.

     prot clear | safe | confidential | private
                 Set the data protection level to the requested level.

     The following command can be used with ftp servers that has implemented
     the KAUTH site command.

     kauth [principal]
                 Obtain remote tickets.

     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 send-
     ing the requested file.

     The terminal interrupt key sequence will be ignored when ftp has com-
     pleted 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 violations of the ftp protocol.  If the delay results from
     unexpected remote server behavior, the local ftp program must be killed
     by hand.

FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS
     Files specified as arguments to ftp commands are processed according to
     the following rules.

     1.   If the file name `-' is specified, the stdin (for reading) 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.  Ftp then forks a shell,
          using popen(3) with the argument supplied, and reads (writes) from
          the stdout (stdin).  If the shell command includes spaces, the argu-
          ment must be quoted; e.g.  ``" ls -lt"''.  A particularly 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); c.f.
          the glob command.  If the ftp command expects a single local file
          (.e.g.  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 setting.  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 type may be one of ``ascii'', ``image'' (binary),
     ``ebcdic'', and ``local byte size'' (for PDP-10's and PDP-20's mostly).
     Ftp supports the ascii and image types of file transfer, plus local byte
     size 8 for tenex mode transfers.

     Ftp supports only the default values for the remaining file transfer
     parameters: mode, form, and struct.

THE .netrc FILE
     The .netrc file contains login and initialization information used by the
     auto-login process.  It resides in the user's home directory.  The fol-
     lowing tokens are recognized; they may be separated by spaces, tabs, or
     new-lines:

     machine name
               Identify a remote machine name.  The auto-login process
               searches the .netrc file for a machine token that matches the
               remote machine specified on the ftp command line or as an open
               command argument.  Once a match is made, the subsequent .netrc
               tokens are processed, stopping when the end of file is reached
               or another machine or a default token is encountered.

     default   This is the same as machine name except that default matches
               any name.  There can be only one default token, and it must be
               after all machine tokens.  This is normally used as:

                     default login anonymous password user@site

               thereby giving the user automatic anonymous ftp login to
               machines not specified in .netrc.  This can be overridden by
               using the -n flag to disable auto-login.

     login name
               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 string
               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 for any user other
               than anonymous, ftp will abort the auto-login process if the
               .netrc is readable by anyone besides the user.

     account string
               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 com-
               mand if it does not.

     macdef name
               Define a macro.  This token functions like the ftp macdef com-
               mand 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 init is defined, it is automatically executed
               as the last step in the auto-login process.

ENVIRONMENT
     Ftp uses the following environment variables.

     HOME        For default location of a .netrc file, if one exists.

     SHELL       For default shell.

SEE ALSO
     ftpd(8)

     RFC2228.

HISTORY
     The ftp command appeared in 4.2BSD.

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 ascii-mode
     transfer code has been corrected.  This correction may result in incor-
     rect transfers of binary files to and from 4.2BSD servers using the ascii
     type.  Avoid this problem by using the binary image type.

4.2 Berkeley Distribution       March 23, 2006       4.2 Berkeley Distribution
