VMS Help
TCPIP Services, FTP
*Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)
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FTP - the File Transfer Protocol - allows you to connect to a
remote host and:
o Transfer files between your local host and the connected
remote host
o Append local files to remote host files
o Delete and rename files on the remote host
o Create, delete, and rename directories on the remote host
o View the contents of directories and files on the remote host
FTP also allows you to set and display the default working
directory on the remote host as well as on your local host, and
to customize FTP command processing.
You can also use RCP to copy files. For more information on RCP,
see Remote_Commands.
To use FTP, you need the following:
o A user account on the OpenVMS system with access to DIGITAL
TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS
o One of the following:
- A user account on the remote FTP host
- Access to the remote host's ANONYMOUS user account
To use FTP, enter the commands summarized below. For complete
descriptions (including UNIX equivalents) of each command, type
the following:
$ FTP
FTP>HELP
Command Description
Starting and Exiting (At the DCL Prompt)
FTP Invokes FTP
FTP remote_host Invokes FTP and establishes a connection to
a remote host
Starting and Exiting (At the FTP> Prompt)
CONNECT Establishes a connection to a remote host
DISCONNECT Closes the connection with the remote host
EXIT Closes the connection with the remote host
Ctrl/Z and exits FTP
Sending Commands to the Remote Host
APPEND Appends a local file to a remote file
CREATE/DIRECTORY Creates a remote directory
DELETE Deletes remote files
DIRECTORY Lists remote file names and related
information
GET Copies files from the remote host to the
local host
LOGIN Logs you in to a remote host
PUT Copies files from the local host to the
remote host
RENAME Renames remote files
SET DEFAULT Sets the remote working directory or the
local working directory
SHOW DEFAULT Displays the name of the current working
directory
VIEW Displays the contents of a file on the
current output device.
Suspending FTP to Return to DCL Prompt
SPAWN Suspends FTP to create a subprocess at the
local DCL prompt
Customizing Your Session's Environment
DISABLE LOG Disables the display of all the protocol
commands sent to the remote host
DISABLE PARSE Disables the expansion of file names
DISABLE Disables the sending of the FTP protocol
PORT_COMMAND PORT command
DISABLE REPLY Disables the display of all responses from
the remote host
DISABLE Disables the display of # for each 1K bytes
TRANSFER_VERIFICATION of data transferred
DISABLE Disables the special OpenVMS-to-OpenVMS
VMS_PLUS transfer mode
ENABLE LOG Enables the display of all protocol
commands sent to the remote host
ENABLE PARSE Enables the expansion of file names
ENABLE Enables the sending of the FTP protocol
PORT_COMMAND PORT command
ENABLE REPLY Enables the display of all responses from
the remote host
ENABLE Enables the display of # for each 1K bytes
TRANSFER_ of data transferred
VERIFICATION
ENABLE Enables the special OpenVMS-to-OpenVMS
VMS_PLUS transfer mode
HELP Invokes help
QUOTE Sends FTP commands to the remote host
without local interpretation
SET TYPE Defines the data representation for file
transfers
SHOW STATUS Displays the current FTP parameter settings
and, if you have an open connect, the name
of the connected host
SPAWN Spawns a subprocess at the DCL prompt
Use the following rules for command syntax, quotation marks, and
wildcards when you type FTP command lines.
o Command formats
With the FTP command and most of the commands at the FTP
prompt, you can use either DCL-style or UNIX style syntax. For
example, the DCL-style DIRECTORY and UNIX style ls commands
produce the same results
o Quotation marks
When you communicate with a non-OpenVMS host, you need to
enclose the following with quotation marks:
o UNIX path names
o UNIX file names with slashes
o Lowercase or mixed-case host names, user names, passwords,
file names, and command lines
In the following example, UNIX path names need quotation marks
around them:
FTP> put MY.DOC "/usr/users/evt/my.doc"
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /usr/users/evt/mydoc (130.180.4.8,1
789).
226 Transfer complete.
local: WORK1$:[VANA]MY.DOC;2 remote: /usr/users/evt/my.doc
289 bytes sent in 00:00:00.01 seconds (20.15 Kbytes/s)
FTP>
o Wildcards
You can use wildcards in the following FTP commands: DELETE,
DIRECTORY, GET, PUT, MGET, MPUT, MDELETE, and MLS.
The wildcard characters recognized by FTP are:
o The percent sign (%) to represent an individual character
o The question mark (?) to represent an individual character
o The asterisk (*) to represent multiple characters
If any of these characters are part of a file name (not
used as a wildcard), you can disable recognition of these
characters as wildcards by either enclosing the file name in
quotation marks or using the DISABLE PARSE command.
o Qualifiers
In a DCL-style command line, you can place a command qualifier
anywhere on the command line. It is a good practice to follow
the OpenVMS recommendation to place the qualifier after the
command name.
You can start an FTP session in any of the following ways:
o At the DCL prompt, enter the FTP command and specify a remote
host.
o At the DCL prompt, enter the FTP command with no parameters.
At the FTP prompt, enter the CONNECT or open command,
specifying a remote host.
o By using the /FTP qualifier on the DCL COPY and DIRECTORY
commands.
o Invoke and use FTP from a command procedure
You must connect to a remote host before you can enter an FTP
command that affects or displays files on the remote host. You
can invoke FTP and, without connecting to a remote host first,
enter the FTP commands that customize the FTP environment.
When you establish an FTP connection, the remote user name
defaults to your user name on the local system.
If you have a different user name on the remote system, do one of
the following:
o On the FTP command line, enter the /USERNAME qualifier.
o At the user name prompt, type your remote user name, for
example:
$ FTP SITE1
220 site1.midwest.billing.bench.com FTP server (Version 5.0) ready
Connected to SITE1.midwest.billing.bench.com.
Name (SITE1:antel): crowe <return>
331 Username CROWE requires a Password
Password: <Return> password not echoed
230 User logged in
If your connection is with another OpenVMS host, it executes your
LOGIN.COM procedure. You can use your LOGIN.COM command procedure
to customize the environment for your FTP sessions.
3.1 - Examples
The following example connects to host XENO using the FTP
command:
$ FTP XENO /USER="bennings" /PASSWORD="keysimpl"<Return>
220 xeno FTP Server (Digital UNIX Version 5.60) ready
Connected to XENO.site1.acctg.com.
230 User logged in
FTP>
In the following example, user dave invokes FTP and connects to
UNIX host sanfran using the CONNECT command:
$ FTP <Return>
FTP> CONNECT SANFRAN <Return>
220 sanfran.golden.com FTP server (Digital UNIX Version 5.60) ready
Connected to sanfran.golden.com.
Name (sanfran:dave): <Return>
331 Password required for dave
Password: (password not echoed) <Return>
230 User logged in
FTP>
Anonymous user access, also called Anonymous FTP, lets you
make an FTP connection to a remote host by specifying the name
ANONYMOUS (or another name defined by the system manager). With
Anonymous FTP, you do not need:
o A registered user account on the remote host
o To use your own user account, if you have one
o To supply a password
With Anonymous FTP, you can:
o View remote directories
- View the guest and public directories with the FTP
DIRECTORY command.
- The public directory called GUEST$PUBLIC has general
bulletin-board information. It contains files of interest
to FTP users.
o Copy files
- Enter GET and PUT commands to copy files to and from
GUEST$PUBLIC.
- The public area is read-only. You can enter the GET command
to copy files from the remote host to your local system.
Optionally, there is an ANONYMOUS$USER directory where you
can:
- Delete files
- Create directories
- Delete directories
- Rename files
- Rename directories
The system manager sets up the access restrictions for
Anonymous FTP. How the manager does this determines the
availability of features.
4.1 - Examples
In the following example, UNIX user williams uses Anonymous FTP
to connect to the ANONYMOUS account on OpenVMS host TRACTPLAN.
Rather than prompting for a password, TRACTPLAN asks for the user
name.
% ftp tractplan
Connected to tractplan.green_dev.org.
220 tractplan FTP Server (Version 5.0) ready
Name (tractplan:williams): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send ident as password
Password: williams@tractplan.edu
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply
WELCOME to DIGITAL TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS
on Internet Host TRACTPLAN
Date 04-24-97
FTP>
You can end an FTP session and return to the DCL prompt with any
of the following commands: EXIT, quit, or Ctrl/Z. The following
examples close the connection with the remote host, if one is
open, and exit FTP.
FTP> EXIT
221 Goodbye.
$
FTP> quit
221 Goodbye.
$
If however, you want to close a connection while remaining at the
FTP prompt, use the DISCONNECT or close command.
5.1 - Examples
The following examples close a connection, if one is open, and
remain at the FTP prompt for you to continue using FTP.
FTP> DISCONNECT
221 Goodbye.
FTP>
FTP> CLOSE
221 Goodbye.
FTP>
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6 - Viewing Remote Directories
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Use the DIRECTORY command to list the files and associated
information in remote directories. For example, the following
command lists the files in the default directory on a remote
UNIX host (assuming the user already has connected to the remote
host):
FTP> DIRECTORY
200 PORT command successful
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls (130.180.4.8,1312)
total 6303
-rw-rw-r-- 1 milgrom users 1 Jan 9 1996 #UNTITLED#
-rw------- 1 milgrom users 4 Apr 11 1996 .Xauthority
-rwxr-xr-x 1 milgrom users 1499 Feb 3 1995 .cshrc
drwxr-xr-x 11 milgrom users 8192 Jan 9 1996 .dt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 milgrom users 3970 Dec 13 1995 .dtprofile
During an FTP session, you can display or change the current
default directory either on the remote host or on your local
host.
To display the default (working) directory on the remote host,
use the SHOW DEFAULT command as in the following example:
FTP> SHOW DEFAULT
257 "/usr/users" is the current directory.
To display the working directory on the local host, use the SHOW
DEFAULT command with the /LOCAL qualifier, as in the following
example:
FTP> SHOW DEFAULT/LOCAL
Local directory is DISK$6:[MANAGER].
To change the default directory on the remote host, use the
SET DEFAULT command. The following example shows how to
change the default directory on a remote DIGITAL UNIX host to
/usr/users/robert:
FTP> SET DEFAULT "/usr/users/robert"
250 CWD command successful.
or
FTP> SET DEFAULT "~robert"
To change back to your login default directory, specify a tilde
(~) alone, as follows:
FTP> SET DEFAULT ~
250 CWD command successful.
FTP> pwd
257 "/usr/users/robert" is current directory.
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8 - Creating and Deleting Directories
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To create a directory on a connected remote host, use the
CREATE/DIRECTORY command. The following command example creates a
subdirectory .LOCAL_ACCTS in the current working directory on the
connected remote OpenVMS host.
FTP> CREATE/DIRECTORY [.LOCAL_ACCTS]
To delete a directory, use the DELETE/DIRECTORY command as in the
following example. The command deletes the directory created in
the preceding example.
FTP> DELETE/DIRECTORY LOCAL_ACCTS.DIR;*
To copy files from a remote host to your local host, use the GET
command. To copy files from your local host to a remote host,
use the PUT command. To use these commands, you must have an
active FTP session with a remote host. You can enter any number
of commands during the session. You can also use the COPY/FTP
command to copy files across the network using TCP/IP. For
more information on this command, type HELP COPY/FTP at the DCL
prompt.
FTP resolves the differences between UNIX file systems and
OpenVMS file systems automatically. By default, the PUT command
copies files to UNIX systems using lowercase file names without
version numbers. If you use a wildcard to copy all versions of a
file and do not specify an output file:
- The version numbers become the last element of the copied
files.
- Semicolons are converted to periods.
9.1 - VMS Plus Mode
FTP performs fast file transfers between two OpenVMS systems (VMS
Plus Mode).
When FTP identifies file transfers between two OpenVMS hosts
running DIGITAL TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS, it transfers files
in large blocks, rather than small records. VMS Plus Mode greatly
increases the transfer speed and preserves all Record Management
Services (RMS) file attributes.
FTP automatically disables VMS Plus Mode when your session is
with a UNIX host or another OpenVMS host not running DIGITAL
TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS.
9.2 - Preserving File Attributes
When you transfer OpenVMS files to a UNIX system and back again,
some record attributes might be lost. To preserve all RMS file
attributes, use the /FDL qualifier (File Definition Language)
with the GET and PUT commands.
You may also need to use the SET TYPE command to determine the
type of file transfer:
o Specifying SET TYPE ASCII results in a sequential file with
variable records. Select this type when transferring ASCII
text files.
o Specifying SET TYPE IMAGE results in a sequential file with
fixed records of 512 bytes. Select this type when transferring
non-ASCII files such as binary files or executable image
files.
For example, to transfer an executable image to a remote UNIX
host, follow these steps:
1. Specify the IMAGE data type:
FTP> SET TYPE IMAGE
2. Transfer the file to the remote host while at the same time
creating and transferring a secondary file with the file's
OpenVMS record attributes:
FTP> PUT/FDL file
To retrieve the file from the remote UNIX host, follow these
steps:
1. Specify the IMAGE data type:
FTP> SET TYPE IMAGE
2. Retrieve the file from the remote host after retrieving and
using the secondary file containing the file's OpenVMS record
attributes:
FTP> GET/FDL file.dat
9. 2.1 - Examples
1. In this example, the PUT/FDL command does the following:
o Creates the FDL file cygnet.bckfdl on the remote host with
the RMS attributes of file STAT.BCK.
o Transfers the data in STAT.BCK and puts it in to
cygnet.bckfdl on the remote host.
FTP> PUT/FDL STAT.BCK CYGNET.BCK
200 TYPE set to ASCII
200 PORT command successful
150 Opening data connection for cygnet.bckfdl (130.180.4.8,1028)
226 Transfer complete
local: cygnet.bckfdl remote: cygnet.bckfdl
846 bytes sent in 00:00:00.03 seconds
200 TYPE set to IMAGE
200 PORT command successful
150 Opening data connection for cygnet.bck (130.180.4.8,1029)
226 Transfer complete
local: STAT.BCK remote: cygnet.bck
8152 bytes sent in 00:00:00.12 seconds
FTP>
In this final example, the GET/FDL command does the following:
o Transfers the FDL file cygnet.bckfdl from the remote host
to the local host.
o Uses this file to re-create the file STAT.BCK, with all of
its original RMS attributes, on the local host.
o Transfers the data in cygnet.bck and puts it in to the new
local file STAT.BCK.
FTP> GET/FDL CYGNET.BCK STAT.BCK
200 TYPE set to ASCII
200 PORT command successful
150 Opening data connection for cygnet.bckfdl (130.180.4.8,1028)
226 Transfer complete
local: cygnet.bckfdl remote: cygnet.bckfdl
846 bytes sent in 00:00:00.03 seconds
200 TYPE set to IMAGE
200 PORT command successful
150 Opening data connection for cygnet.bck (130.180.4.8,1029)
226 Transfer complete
local: STAT.BCK remote: cygnet.bck
8152 bytes sent in 00:00:00.12 seconds
FTP>
9.3 - Transfer Mode
DIGITAL TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS supports only STREAM mode
for data transfer. STREAM mode transmits the data as a stream of
bytes.
9.4 - File Structure
DIGITAL TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS supports transfers of ASCII
(stream, records with variable length) and IMAGE (binary, records
fixed at 512 bytes) files. A file is a continuous sequence of
data bytes.
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10 - Renaming and Deleting Files
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To change the name of a remote file, use the RENAME command.
The following command renames file YEAR.DAT to YEAR96.DAT on the
connected remote host:
FTP> RENAME YEAR.DAT YEAR96.DAT
To remove a remote file, use the DELETE command. The following
command deletes all versions of file YEAR.DAT on the connected
remote VMS host:
FTP> DELETE YEAR.DAT;*
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11 - Viewing File Contents
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To display the contents of a file on a connected remote host, use
the VIEW command and specify the file name. If the file is not in
your current working directory, include the directory name in the
file specification.
The following example shows how to display the contents of file
ENG.DIS located in the remote working directory:
FTP> VIEW/PAGE ENG.DIS
usrm::"khuna@jnet.com"
pobox::bearse
yield::timms
usrm::"lerry@muster.cudenver.edu"
sam
nm%us1rmc::"ldutton@TopCom.com"
.
.
.
The FTP APPEND command allows you to concatenate a local file to
a file on a connected remote host. The following command appends
local file JUL_DEC.DAT to file YEAR.DAT on remote host KALI. (A
connection has already been established to the remote host.)
FTP> APPEND JUL_DEC.DAT YEAR.DAT
200 PORT command successful
150 Opening data connection for year.dat. (130.180.4.8,1108)
226 Append transfer complete
local:large.txt remote:remote.dat
15596 bytes sent in 00:00:00.10 seconds (152.30 Kbytes/s)
You can modify the way FTP transfers files, depending on:
o The operating system of the remote host
o The applications you use
o Whether you want wildcard name expansion
o The information you want displayed during processing
A few of the FTP commands that control FTP command processing
are:
o ENABLE/DISABLE LOG
Enables or disables the display of FTP commands sent to the
remote host.
o ENABLE/DISABLE PARSE
Enables or disables the expansion of file name specifications.
o ENABLE/DISABLE REPLY
Enables or disables the display of all responses from the
remote host.
o QUOTE
Sends FTP commands directly to the remote host without local
interpretation.
The preceding commands control the way FTP displays command
processing information and status. The SHOW STATUS command
displays the current status of the FTP client (your local host)
and, if you have a connection, the remote host.
By default, FTP returns multiple lines of error messages
(MULTILINE is enabled). The first line explains the general
problem, while subsequent lines provide details to help you
diagnose the source of the problem. These lines may include
operating system as well as FTP messages. Applications that use
FTP to transfer files under program control often do not need
the extra messages returned. To disable the MULTILINE feature,
when you supply a password to connect to a remote host, precede
the password with a hyphen "-" (-password), as in the following
example:
$ FTP /USER=SALINGER /PASSWORD=-LETMEIN HAGELS
The SHOW STATUS command displays whether the MULTILINE feature is
enabled.
You can modify the way FTP reacts to errors by using the SET
ERROR_LEVEL command. By default, the error level setting is
SUCCESS, which means that when FTP is running in batch mode, a
warning or error message will cause FTP to exit. (FTP runs in
batch mode when FTP commands are executed by a command procedure
rather than interactively.) If you do not want FTP to exit upon a
warning or error message, you can set the error level to ERROR.
For example, in the following command procedure, if the default
error level (SUCCESS) is in effect and directory [MILLER.USERS]
does not exist, the resulting error would cause FTP to exit.
$ FTP CONNECT HAGELS
cd [MILLER.USERS]
DEL *.*;*
EXIT
$
If the error level had been set to ERROR, FTP would not exit
and the DELETE command in the command procedure would delete all
files in your current working directory. Note that you can also
set the error level to WARNING, which causes FTP to tolerate
warning messages (but not error messages).
You can use either OpenVMS or UNIX command syntax in DCL command
procedures that use FTP. You can use command procedures to invoke
FTP tasks, connecting to a remote host and performing assorted
file operations with the remote host and you can use command
procedures to customize the FTP environment.
14.1 - Initialization Command Files
Initialization command files can customize your FTP sessions
with SET, ENABLE, and DISABLE commands. These command files
are optional. They eliminate the need to enter individual FTP
commands, and run automatically when you invoke FTP.
Initialization command files:
o Contain only VMS commands
o Contain only one command per line
o Generally named SYS$LOGIN:FTPINIT.INI
14.2 - Examples
The following example shows an FTP initialization command procedure.
! This file, FTPINIT.INI, sets my FTP parameters
! the way I like them.
!
ENABLE REPLY
ENABLE TRANSFER_VERIFICATION
SET DEFAULT/LOCAL [MILLER.WORK]
When you invoke FTP, the initialization file generates output
such as the following, which displays environmental status:
$ FTP
Reply on.
Verbose mode on.
Bell off.
Hash mark printing on (1024/hash mark).
Local directory now SYS$LOGIN_DEVICE:[MILLER.WORK]
14.3 - Setting Error Level
To change the error level, you enter the following command where
x is SUCCESS, WARNING, or ERROR:
FTP> SET ERROR_LEVEL x
o If ERROR LEVEL is SUCCESS, then WARNING, ERROR, and FATAL will
exit FTP.
o If ERROR LEVEL is WARNING, then ERROR and FATAL will exit FTP.
o If ERROR LEVEL is ERROR, then only FATAL will exit FTP.
FATAL errors will always cause FTP to exit.
To copy files from and to a DECnet node, use the standard GET and
PUT commands
You can copy files to and from DECnet nodes and get remote
directory information, if your host and the DECnet node are
connected through a host running DIGITAL TCP/IP Services for
OpenVMS. Use the full file specification, including the node,
device, directory, and file name.
15.1 - Examples
1. The following example copies local file FAX.TXT to DECnet node
CURTAIL, renaming the file to CURRENT.TXT:
FTP> PUT FAX.TXT CURTAIL::DISK$3:[GEARY.KEEPS]CURRENT.TXT
2. The following GET command copies remote OpenVMS file
HOUSING.TXT from DECnet node HABTAT and renames it to
HOUSE.TXT:
FTP> GET HABTAT::DISK$2:[NATL.UTAH.SWEST]HOUSING.TXT HOUSE.TXT
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