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drwxrwxr-x 4 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:37 general drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 1024 Dec 4 19:37 graphics-dtp drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:37 macintosh drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:40 mlr drwxrwxr-x 3 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:37 multimedia lrwxrwxrwx 1 root other 13 Dec 4 19:34 net-cd -> ../que/net-cd drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:37 network-comms drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 1024 Dec 4 19:37 news-releases drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:38 operating-sys drwxrwxr-x 35 232 19 2560 Dec 4 19:39 programming drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:39 spreadsheet drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:40 temp drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 1024 Dec 4 19:39 utilities drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:40 vrml drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:40 windows-95 drwxrwxr-x 9 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:40 windows-utilities 226 Transfer complete. ftp> cd operating-sys 250 CWD command successful. ftp> ls 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls. total 21836 drwxrwxr-x 2 232 19 512 Dec 4 19:38 . drwxrwxr-x 24 232 19 1024 Dec 4 19:40 .. -rw-rw-r-- 1 232 19 1061074 Jun 5 1997 bjsa200.exe -rw-rw-r-- 1 232 19 660 Jun 5 1997 bjsa200.txt -rwxr-xr-x 1 19 19 1228592 Apr 22 1997 diskeepr.zip -rw-rw-r-- 1 232 19 308263 Aug 21 20:26 err6000.exe -rw-r--r-- 1 232 19 35930 Dec 20 1994 inidoc.zip -rw-r--r-- 1 232 19 301250 Dec 20 1994 iniexe.zip -rw-rw-r-- 1 232 19 491792 Jul 1 19:37 oleaut32.dll -rw-rw-r-- 1 232 19 47616 Nov 21 1995 os2errat.doc -rw-rw-r-- 1 232 19 1990677 Jun 5 1997 patch.zip -rwxr-xr-x 1 19 19 29660 Apr 22 1997 pg.exe -rw-r--r-- 1 232 19 15583 Dec 20 1994 shutdo.zip -rwxr-xr-x 1 19 19 5265 Apr 22 1997 stub.exe -rwxr-xr-x 1 19 19 1406264 Apr 22 1997 tapedisk.exe -rw-rw-r-- 1 232 19 12968 Apr 23 1996 uslinux.txt -rwxr-xr-x 1 19 19 4139587 Apr 22 1997 website.exe 226 Transfer complete. ftp> ascii 200 Type set to A. ftp> get uslinux.txt local: uslinux.txt remote: uslinux.txt 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for uslinux.txt (12968 bytes). 226 Transfer complete. 13294 bytes received in 5.86 secs (2.2 Kbytes/sec) ftp> ftp> bye 221 Goodbye. #
This sample session shows that I specified the ftp server at Macmillan as the host computer I wanted to connect to and retrieve files. By convention, many system administrators create
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and maintain a user called ftp, and a directory called ftp, which, although it does not require no password, does require you to enter a mail address in the form of user@somewhere.com. The location of the ftp directory may differ, but if you examine the /etc/passwd file for your Linux system, you'll find an ftp user with a directory under the /home directory, for example:
ftp:*:14:50:FTP User:/home/ftp:
This /etc/passwd entry shows that people can connect to your system (if you're on a network or have enabled user dial-in logins). By convention, when you use the ftp program to connect to other computers, you enter your username at the Name: prompt as anonymous, followed by your email address as the password.
You can see that, after I logged in, I first listed the current directory, then changed directory to the pub directory. After listing that directory, I changed to the software directory, then changed directories to the operating-sys directory. If I had known the full path to the file I wanted, I could have specified that pathname in a single cd command, for example:
> cd pub/software/operating-sys
I then enabled the ftp command's ASCII transfer mode, retrieved the file uslinux.txt with the get command, and then logged off and exited the ftp program with the bye command. As you can see, using the ftp command is not hard and is an easy way to retrieve files.
You can also open an anonymous ftp connection to your own computer to demonstrate how ftp works without having an Internet connection available. You can specify the hostname of your computer, which you can get with the hostname command, or by using your computer's Internet Protocol address, for example:
# hostname localhost.localdomain # ftp localhost Connected to localhost. 220 localhost FTP server (Version wu-2.4.2-academ[BETA-12] Â(1) Wed Mar 5 12:37:21 EST 1997) ready. Name (localhost:bball): anonymous 331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password. Password: 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply. Remote system type is UNIX. Using binary mode to transfer files. ftp> ls 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls. total 6 drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 1024 Nov 28 21:25 . drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 1024 Nov 28 21:25 .. d--x--x--x 2 root root 1024 Nov 28 21:25 bin d--x--x--x 2 root root 1024 Nov 28 21:25 etc drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1024 Nov 28 21:25 lib dr-xr-sr-x 2 root ftp 1024 Mar 3 1997 pub
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226 Transfer complete. ftp > bye 221 Goodbye. #
You can also log into other computers using an assigned username and password, but for this example, I'll use my own system:
# ftp 127.0.0.0 Connected to 127.0.0.0. 220 localhost FTP server (Version wu-2.4.2-academ[BETA-12](1) Â Wed Mar 5 12:37:21 EST 1997) ready. Name (127.0.0.0:bball): bball 331 Password required for bball. Password: 230 User bball logged in. Remote system type is UNIX. Using binary mode to transfer files. ftp> ls documents 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls. total 62 drwxrwxr-x 2 bball bball 1024 Dec 11 08:46 . drwxrwxr-x 14 bball bball 2048 Dec 11 13:39 .. -rw-rw-r-- 1 bball bball 5289 Oct 23 12:46 FCFCU102397.aw -rw-rw-r-- 1 bball bball 5381 Nov 24 15:00 IRS112497.aw -rw-rw-r-- 1 bball bball 4693 Dec 3 20:37 book.as -rw-rw-r-- 1 bball bball 5852 Oct 30 10:13 compound.as -rw-r--r-- 1 bball bball 14820 Dec 11 08:46 invest.as -rw-r--r-- 1 bball bball 6288 Dec 7 20:39 invest.dif -rw-r--r-- 1 bball bball 2883 Dec 7 20:40 invest.txt -rw-rw-r-- 1 bball bball 9436 Dec 7 20:41 sc.txt 226 Transfer complete. ftp> bye 221 Goodbye. #
In this example, after logging in with my system username and password, I ended up in my home directory, instead of the default ftp directory. If you have an open PPP connection with your ISP, and other users know your computer's IP address, you and other users can access your system's files and upload and download files.
The ncftp command, found under the /usr/bin directory, is much like the original ftp command, but features some unique improvements, such as