Introduction
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a network protocol used to transfer files from one computer system to another. Although FTP security tends to provoke a lot of discussion, it is still an effective method of transferring files within a secure network.
In this tutorial, we will show you how to use the ftp command to connect to a remote system, transfer files, and manage files and directories.
Prerequisites
Access to a
- local system and a remote FTP server (learn how to install an FTP server on Ubuntu, CentOS 7 or Raspberry Pi).
- A working Internet connection
- Access to the terminal window
.
. Linux ftp command
syntax The Linux ftp command
uses the
following basic syntax
: ftp [options] [IP] The IP
is the IP address of the system you are connecting to.
The options available for
the ftp command are:
The ftp command connects you to a remote system and starts the FTP interface. The FTP interface uses the following commands to manage and transfer files to the remote system:
How to use
the ftp command on Linux
The ftp command connects a computer system to a remote server using the FTP protocol. Once connected, it also allows users to transfer files between the local machine and the remote system, and manage files and directories on the remote system.
Establish
an FTP connection To establish an FTP connection to a remote system, use the ftp command with the IP address of the remote system: ftp [IP] For example, connect to a remote server with IP address 192.168.100.9
: ftp 192.168.100.9
log in to
the ftp server Once you initiate a
connection to a remote system by using the
ftp command , the FTP interface requires you to enter a user name and password to log in:
entering the required credentials logs in and starts the FTP interface. In this example, we are logging in as the phoenixnap user
: The FTP interface
is now active and ready to run commands:
Working with directories on a remote system Using FTP, you can perform basic directory management on the remote system,
such as creating directories, moving from one working directory to another, and enumerating the contents of the directory. Directory List The FTP interface allows you to enumerate
the contents of a directory on
a
remote system
using The ls:ls
command
Using the command without any options displays the contents of the current working directory of the remote system. In this
example, that’s the home directory: Specifying the path to a directory as an argument to the ls command displays the contents of that directory: ls [path to directory]
For example, enumerate the contents
of the directory Example: ls Example When appending the name of a text file to the end of the
ls command, The contents of a
directory are saved in that file: ls [directory path] [file name] For example: ls
Example
listing.txt
This command syntax requires you to type Y and press Enter to confirm that you save
the text file:
Opening the text file reveals the contents of the directory:
The dir and nlist commands are ls alternatives Order and work in the same way. The FTP interface also allows you to enumerate the contents of various directories using the command mls: mls
[directory 1] [directory 2] .. [directory n] For example, the
following example lists
the contents of Example and Example2: mls Example Example2 –
Like the ls command, the mls command allows users to save the content to a text file. This command treats the last argument as the name of the text file. If you want to enumerate the contents of the directory without saving it to a text file, replace the file name with a hyphen symbol (–).
The mdir command
works the same as the mls command but offers a more detailed output: mdir
Example Example2 –
Changing directories
Use the cd
command to change the current working directory on the remote system
: cd [directory path]
For example, move to the directory Example: cd Example
Using the cdup to move to the main working directory of the current one. In this
example, we are moving from the Example directory to the Home directory: cdup
Create directories
Using the mkdir command allows you to create a directory on the remote system: mkdir [directory name]
In the following example, we create a directory named
Example3
: mkdir
Example3
Download files via FTP
To transfer a file from a remote system to the local machine, Use the get or recv command.
get [remote file name]
OR
recv [remote file name] In the example below,
we transfer example_file.txt to the local machine.
Get example_file.txt To transfer example_file.txt and save it as an example.txt
on your local computer, use
: Get example_file.txt example.txt
Transferring a file from a specific directory requires you to move it to that directory:
cd Get test01 example.txt
The mget command allows you to transfer multiple files at the same time. For example
, transfer test01.txt, test02.txt, and test03.txt from the Example directory: mget test01.txt test02.txt test03.txt
Upload files via FTP
Use the put or send command to transfer a file from the local computer to a remote system. Both commands use the same basic syntax
: put [local file name] send [local file name] To transfer example01.txt to the remote system, use: put example01.txt To upload example01.txt to
the remote system as
sample01.txt
, use: put example01.txt sample01
.txt
Moving to a specific directory allows you to transfer files from that directory:
cd Directory put example.txt
Use mput to transfer multiple files to the remote system. For example, transfer
test04.txt, test05.txt, and test06.txt with: mput test04.txt test05.txt test06.txt Rename files Use the rename
command to rename files on the remote server. The
rename command uses the following syntax: rename [old file name] [new file name] For example, rename sample01.txt to sample_file01.txt: rename sample01.txt sample_file01.txt
Successful execution of the command produces
the following result:
Use the rename command to also change directory names.
In the following example, the Example3 directory is renamed to Example03: Rename Example3 Example03
Deleting Files
The delete command allows you to delete a file on the remote system. It uses the following syntax
: delete [file name]
For example,
delete sample_file01.txt: delete sample_file01.txt Using the mdelete command
allows you to delete multiple files at the same time by adding the file names after the command: mdelete test04.txt test05.txt test06.txt
Another method is to use the mdelete command with a wildcard character. For example, to delete all .txt files, use:
mdelete *.txt
Close
the FTP connection
Use the bye, exit, or quit command to end the FTP connection and exit the
interface.
Using the disconnect command closes the connection without leaving the interface.
Conclusion
After reading this article, you should be able to establish an FTP connection between a local system and a remote server, and use it to transfer files and perform basic file and directory management
.
If you’re interested in transferring files over the Internet, learn more about SFTP commands, a more secure alternative to FTP.
