FTP

The user interface to the Internet Standard File Transfer Protocol.

Its a program commonly used for copying files to and from systems on a network. These systems may be on the same site or anywhere in the world.

For the purpose of this tutorial, your machine is the local, where you are issuing the commands. The remote machine is the one holding the FTP server, the machine that performs the desired actions on its system and transfers the file to you.

Getting Started


Connecting to a remote machine, type


ftp machine_name.domain


Where machine_name is the full path to the server ex, domain.something.something
Or you could enter a IP-address, type


ftp 192.168.1.0


Sometimes you may which to access a system that you don´t have an account. You may then use the anonymous login_name (anonymous must be active on the system). Normally you are asked for your username and passwords. If you should type in the wrong data you can use the USER to relogin

USER


I would recommend that you compress directories when you want to transfer multiple files, it makes transfer easy and safe. Please follow the guide on tape archive (tar, tarball)


Finally here are the common commands with FTP


Common commands

?	to request help or information about the FTP commands
ascii	to set the mode of file transfer to ASCII (this is the default and transmits seven bits per character)
binary	to set the mode of file transfer to binary (the binary mode transmits all eight bits per byte and thus provides less chance of a transmission error and must be used to transmit files other than ASCII files)
bye	to exit the FTP environment (same as quit)
cd	to change directory on the remote machine
close	to terminate a connection with another computer
	close brubeck	closes the current FTP connection with brubeck,   but still leaves you within the FTP environment.
delete	to delete (remove) a file in the current remote directory (same as rm in UNIX)
get	to copy one file from the remote machine to the local machine
	get ABC DEF	copies file ABC in the current remote directory to (or on top of) a file named DEF in your current local directory.
	get ABC	copies file ABC in the current remote directory to (or on top of) a file with the same name, ABC, in your current local directory.
help	to request a list of all available FTP commands
lcd	to change directory on your local machine (same as UNIX cd)
ls	to list the names of the files in the current remote directory
mkdir	to make a new directory within the current remote directory
mget	to copy multiple files from the remote machine to the local machine;   you are prompted for a y/n answer before transferring each file
	mget *	copies all the files in the current remote directory to your current local directory, using the same filenames. Notice the use of the wild card character, *.
mput	to copy multiple files from the local machine to the remote machine;   you are prompted for a y/n answer before transferring each file
open	to open a connection with another computer
	open brubeck	opens a new FTP connection with brubeck;   you must enter a username and password for a brubeck account       (unless it is to be an anonymous connection).
put	to copy one file from the local machine to the remote machine
pwd	to find out the pathname of the current directory on the remote machine
quit	to exit the FTP environment (same as bye)
rmdir	to to remove (delete) a directory in the current remote directory