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FTP(1)                     OpenBSD Reference Manual                     FTP(1)

NAME
     ftp - ARPANET file transfer program



SYNOPSIS
     ftp [-AVadegimnptu] [-o output] [-P port] [-r seconds] [host [port]]
     ftp ftp://[user:password@]host[:port]/file[/]
     ftp http://host[:port]/file
     ftp host:[/path/]file[/]

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.

     The latter three usage formats will fetch a file using either the HTTP or
     FTP protocols into the current directory.  This is ideal for scripts.
     Refer to AUTO-FETCHING FILES below for more information.

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

     -A        Force active mode ftp.  By default, ftp will try to use passive
               mode ftp and fall back to active mode if passive is not sup-
               ported by the server.  This option causes ftp to always use an
               active connection.  It is only useful for connecting to very
               old servers that do not implement passive mode properly.

     -a        Causes ftp to bypass the normal login procedure and use an
               anonymous login instead.

     -d        Enables debugging.

     -e        Disables command line editing.  Useful for Emacs ange-ftp.

     -g        Disables file name globbing.

     -i        Turns off interactive prompting during multiple file transfers.

     -m        Causes ftp to always display the progress meter in cases where
               it would not do so by default.

     -n        Restrains ftp from attempting ``auto-login'' upon initial con-
               nection.  If auto-login is enabled, ftp will check the .netrc
               (see below) file in the user's home directory for an entry de-
               scribing 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.

     -o output
               When fetching a single file or url, save the contents in
               output. To make the contents go to stdout, use ``-'' for
               output.

     -p        Enable passive mode operation for use behind connection filter-
               ing firewalls.  This option has been deprecated as ftp now
               tries to use passive mode by default, falling back to active
               mode if the server does not support passive connections.

     -P port   Sets the port number to port.

     -r number

               Retry to connect if failed, pausing for number of seconds.

     -t        Enables packet tracing.

     -v        Enable verbose mode.  This is the default if input is from a
               terminal.  Forces ftp to show all responses from the remote
               server, as well as report on data transfer statistics.

     -V        Disable verbose mode, overriding the default of enabled when
               input is from a terminal.

     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 the prompt `ftp>' is provided to the user.  The follow-
     ing 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 de-
                 fault 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 re-

                 mote system 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 re-
                 trieval.  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-Ux 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 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 ls.) 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 argu-
                 ment is indeed the target local file for receiving dir out-
                 put.  If no local file is specified, or if local-file is `-',
                 the output is sent to the terminal.

     disconnect  A synonym for close.

     edit        Toggle command line editing, and context sensitive command
                 and file completion.  This is automatically enabled if input
                 is from a terminal, and disabled otherwise.

     exit        A synonym for bye.

     ftp host [port]
                 A synonym for open.

     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.

     gate [host [port]]
                 Toggle gate-ftp mode.  This will not be permitted if the
                 gate-ftp server hasn't been set (either explicitly by the us-
                 er, or from the FTPSERVER environment variable).  If host is
                 given, then gate-ftp mode will be enabled, and the gate-ftp
                 server will be set to host. If port is also given, that will

                 be used as the port to connect to on the gate-ftp server.

     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 -''.
                 Note: mget and mput are not meant to transfer entire directo-
                 ry subtrees of files.  That can be done by transferring a
                 tar(1) archive of the subtree (in binary mode).

     hash [size]
                 Toggle hash-sign (``#'') printing for each data block trans-
                 ferred.  The size of a data block defaults to 1024 bytes.
                 This can be changed by specifying size in 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.

     less file   A synonym for page.

     lpwd        Print the working directory on the local machine.

     ls [remote-directory [local-file]]
                 Print a list of the files in a directory on the remote ma-
                 chine.  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 un-
                 til a close command is executed.  The macro processor inter-
                 prets `$' and `\' as special characters.  A `$' followed by a
                 number (or numbers) is replaced by the corresponding argument
                 on the macro invocation command line.  A `$' followed by an
                 `i' tells the macro processor that the executing macro is to
                 be looped.  On the first pass `$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 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 ls, except multiple remote files may be specified, and
                 the local-file must be specified.  If interactive prompting
                 is on, ftp will prompt the user to verify that the last argu-
                 ment is indeed the target local file for receiving mls out-
                 put.

     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 ma-
                 chine.

     more file   A synonym for page.

     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.

     msend local-files
                 A synonym for mput.

     newer file-name
                 Get the file only if the modification time of the remote file
                 is more recent than 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]]
                 A synonym for ls.

     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 re-
                 mote 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-Ux 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 de-
                 termine 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 se-
                 quence `$0' is replaced 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 in-
                 put 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 lo-
                 cal 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-Ux 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 auto-
                 matically log the user in to the FTP server (see below).

     page file   Retrieve file and display with the program defined in PAGER
                 (defaulting to more(1) if PAGER is null or not defined).

     passive     Toggle passive mode.  If passive mode is turned on (default
                 is on), 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 re-

                 quired to support the PASV command by RFC 1123, some do not.)

     preserve    Toggle preservation of modification times on retrieved files.

     progress    Toggle display of transfer progress bar.  The progress bar
                 will be disabled for a transfer that has local-file as `-' or
                 a command that starts with `|'. Refer to FILE NAMING
                 CONVENTIONS for more information.

     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.

                 When prompting is on, the following commands are available at
                 a prompt:

                       n   Do not transfer the file.

                       a   Answer ``yes'' to the current file and automatical-
                           ly answer ``yes'' to any remaining files for the
                           current command.

                       p   Answer ``yes'' to the current file and turn off
                           prompt mode (as if ``prompt off'' had been given).

                 Any other reponse will answer ``yes'' to the current file.

     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 au-
                 to-login process, close will not erase existing macro defini-
                 tions, get and mget transfer files from the host on the pri-
                 mary control connection to the host on the secondary control
                 connection, and put, mput, and append transfer files from the
                 host on the secondary control connection to the host on the
                 primary control connection.  Third party file transfers de-
                 pend 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.

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

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

     reset       Clear reply queue.  This command re-synchronizes command/re-
                 ply sequencing with the remote ftp server.  Resynchronization
                 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 be-
                 low).  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 at-
                 tempt 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 re-
                 port unique name.  Default value is off.

     system      Show the type of operating system running on the remote ma-
                 chine.

     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 speci-
                 fied, 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 re-
                 garding the efficiency of the transfer are reported.  By de-
                 fault, verbose is on.

     ? [command]
                 A synonym for help.

     Command arguments which have embedded spaces may be quoted with quote `"'
     marks.

     Commands which toggle settings can take an explicit on or off argument to
     force the setting appropriately.

     If ftp receives a SIGINFO (see the ``status'' argument of stty(1))  sig-
     nal whilst a transfer is in progress, the current transfer rate statis-
     tics will be written to the standard error output, in the same format as
     the standard completion message.

AUTO-FETCHING FILES
     In addition to standard commands, this version of ftp supports an auto-
     fetch feature.  To enable auto-fetch, simply pass the list of host-
     names/files on the command line.

     The following formats are valid syntax for an auto-fetch element:

     host:/file                              ``Classic'' ftp format

     ftp://[user:password@]host[:port]/file  An ftp URL, retrieved using the
                                             ftp protocol if ftp_proxy isn't
                                             defined.  Otherwise, transfer us-
                                             ing http via the proxy defined in
                                             ftp_proxy. If user:password@ is
                                             given and ftp_proxy isn't de-
                                             fined, login as user with a pass-
                                             word of password.

     http://host[:port]/file                 An http URL, retrieved using the
                                             http protocol.  If http_proxy is
                                             defined, it is used as a URL to
                                             an HTTP proxy server.

     If a classic format or a ftp URL format has a trailing `/', then ftp will
     connect to the site and cd to the directory given as the path, and leave
     the user in interactive mode ready for further input.

     If successive auto-fetch ftp elements refer to the same host, then the
     connection is maintained between transfers, reducing overhead on connec-
     tion creation and deletion.

     If file contains a glob character and globbing is enabled, (see glob),
     then the equivalent of mget file is performed.

     If no -o option is specified, and the directory component of file con-
     tains no globbing characters, then it is stored in the current directory
     as the basename(1) of file. Otherwise, the remote name is used as the lo-
     cal name.

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 an 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 complet-
     ed 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 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 ex-


          ample 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 al-
          tered 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 al-
          tered 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 pa-
     rameters: 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 ma-
               chine 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 an-
               other 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 ma-
               chines 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 pre-
               sent, 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 pre-
               sent, 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.

     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.

COMMAND LINE EDITING
     ftp supports interactive command line editing, via the editline(3) li-
     brary.  It is enabled with the edit command, and is enabled by default if
     input is from a tty.  Previous lines can be recalled and edited with the
     arrow keys, and other GNU Emacs-style editing keys may be used as well.

     The editline(3) library is configured with a .editrc file - refer to ed-
     itrc(5) for more information.

     An extra key binding is available to ftp to provide context sensitive
     command and filename completion (including remote file completion).  To
     use this, bind a key to the editline(3) command ftp-complete. By default,
     this is bound to the TAB key.

ENVIRONMENT
     ftp utilizes the following environment variables:

     FTPMODE        Overrides the default operation mode.  Recognized values
                    are:

                    passive    passive mode ftp only

                    active     active mode ftp only

                    auto       automatic determination of passive or active
                               (this is the default)

                    gate       gate-ftp mode

     FTPSERVER      Host to use as gate-ftp server when gate is enabled.

     FTPSERVERPORT  Port to use when connecting to gate-ftp server when gate
                    is enabled.  Default is port returned by a getservbyname()
                    lookup of ``ftpgate/tcp''.

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

     PAGER          Used by page to display files.

     SHELL          For default shell.

     TMPDIR         Directory to put temporary files.

     ftp_proxy      URL of FTP proxy to use when making FTP URL requests (if
                    not defined, use the standard ftp protocol).

     http_proxy     URL of HTTP proxy to use when making HTTP URL requests.

SEE ALSO
     getservbyname(3),  editrc(5),  services(5),  ftpd(8)

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.

OpenBSD 2.6                     August 18, 1997                             13

Source: OpenBSD 2.6 man pages. Copyright: Portions are copyrighted by BERKELEY
SOFTWARE DESIGN, INC., The Regents of the University of California, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Free Software Foundation, FreeBSD Inc., and others.



(Corrections, notes, and links courtesy of RocketAware.com)


[Detailed Topics]
FreeBSD Sources for ftp(1)
OpenBSD sources for ftp(1)


[Overview Topics]

Up to: File Transfer Protocol - FTP File Transfer Protocol and variants


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