NAME

quftp - command line FTP client

SYNOPSIS

quftp [-vhi] [-r filename] [-s filename] [-d[n]] [URL]

DESCRIPTION

Command line FTP client, with support for queueing and transferring server-to-server

-v: Display version number, then exit
-h: Display usage help, then exit
-i: Ignore any errors that may occur processing a script
-r: Use filename as the configuration instead of the default
-s: Read in script commands from filename. If an error occurs during script execution, quftp will exit unless -i is specified. After the script is finished executing, quftp will drop into interactive mode.
URL: Specify a valid ftp:// URL to connect to. Any valid URL should be acceptable.
ftp://username:password@hostname:port/directory/

USAGE

Normally, quftp runs in interactive mode, where commands are entered at the command line. Any of these commands can be put into a script file, which is executed with the -s command line option.

Variables can be inserted into the command line using $variable, where variable has already been defined using the set command.

To execute a shell command, enter !command at the prompt.

Basic help for each command can be obtained from within quftp by the help commad.

quit: Exit the program
exit: Exit the program
ls [filespec]: List current directory. If filespec is given, it is passed directly to the FTP server.
lls: List the local directory
cd [dirname]: Change the current directory to dirname if dirname is not given, display the current directory.
lcd dirname: Change the current local directory to dirname if dirname is not given, display the current directory.
pwd: Show current working directory
get filename...: Queue a file or files for download.
put filename...: Queue a file or files for upload
mkdir: Create a new directory dirname
rmdir: Remove a directory dirname
fxp filename...: Queue a file or files to be transferred between the current connection and the last connection ($LAST_CONNECTION). Use switch to change the connection.
go: Start transferring the queue
clear: Delete all items from the queue
queue: List all items on the queue
close: Disconnect from the server
open URL: Connect to a server specified by URL.
status: Show the current status of all available connections.
stat [filename]: Display statistics for filename.
nlst: List just the filenames in the current directory.
switch [connection]: Switch to another connection. If connection is not given, switch to the lat used connection ($LAST_CONNECTION).
debug [debuglevel]: Set debugging level. If debuglevel is not given, increase the debugging level by 1. Debugging levels are:
1 No information - fairly quiet
2 Normal
3 More information
4 Internal function calls
5 Control connection data
user username [password]: Enter username and password for the server. If password is not given, prompt the user for the password. This forces a re-connect if a connection is already established.
cat [filename]: Output filename to stdout
more [filename]: Page filename using the command given in $pager.
set variable value: Set variable to equal value. This is most commonly used in the configuration file.
unset variable: Remove variable.
rm filename...: Delete a remote file or files.
run filename: Run a script file. After the script has finished, control is returned to the user.
alias alias command: Define alias to execute command. If neither alias or command is specified, list all the aliases that have been defined.
getlist filename: Read in filename and retrieve all the files listed.
assert: Be sure the last command was successful. If it was not, exit the program. This is normally only used in scripts, to stop execution if a command does not work.
quote command: Send command verbatim to the server, and display the result.

CONFIGURATION

Configuration is read at startup from ~/.quftprc, although this can be specified as a different file using the -c command line option. This file must contain valid quftp commands, one per line. These commands are generally ste commands that configure the quftp environment.

This section provides a brief overview of the configuration variables and their possible values.

motd (true/false): Display the server's Message Of The Day when establishing a connection
passive (true/false): Use passive mode when transferring files. Read RFC 959 for a description of passive mode.
pager (any valid program): The name of the program to use as the pager when using the more command. This should be specified with the full path.
email (any valid e-mail address): This is uesd as the password when connecting to a server anonymously.
progress_update (number): How often should the progress bar be updated during a file transfer (in seconds). If this is 0 then the progress bar will not be displayed.
queuefiles (true/false): Use the queue when transferring files. If false, then files will be transferred immediately after entering the get, put or fxp command.

quftp by default supports only UNIX-style listings from servers. If you have a need to access another server type, run a ls command with the debug level set to 5 (debug 5), and E-mail me with the the output from the LIST command. Alternatively, you can try adding your own list description in ftp.c (around line 35). This is unsupported, so please e-mail me with any changes you make.

INTERNAL VARIABLES

State information internal to quftp is accessable read-only using the normal variable commands, including set and normal variable expansion ($variable).

PROGRAM_NAME: Always contains "quftp"
VERSION: The version number of quftp being used. This is also the version that is reported by the -v command line option.
CURRENT_CONNECTION: The number of the connection currently being actioned. Use the switch command to use a different connection.
LAST_CONNECTION: The number of the last connection used. This is also the connection that any files transferred with the fxp command will go to.
HOSTNAME: The name of the host the current connection applies to.
USERNAME: The username currently being used on the current connection.

BUGS

Report bugs to <david@dparrish.com>.