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FTP in a terminal

T

tidyboy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hi there I am having problems with ftp in a terminal

How do i ftp a folder with files in from my laptop to my server. I just need to know what command to use I have looked at man ftp but i really new to this.


Many Thanks

Matt
 
Can you not use the 'get' and 'put' commands working?

Also, firefox has a ftp plugin, FireFTP, give it a look.
 
unless you zip up the folder, you'll have to do it in two steps: create the remote folder, then put all the files.

the trick is to start ftp with the -i flag, which will turn off interactive mode:
Code: 
% ftp -i ftp.foo.org

after you've gotten to the correct folder, you'll use mput (multiple put) instead of normal put. use wildcards to match the files in your local directory:
Code: 
> mput *.html

if you leave interactive mode on, you'll be prompted for each file it finds.
 
Hi there Thanks for replying.

Yes I can get the put and get commands working but when I use them it only ftp's the files and not the folders.

What am I doing wrong?


MAtt
 
Not sure that you can do a recursive ftp put. The man page advises:

Note: mget, mput and mreget are
not meant to transfer entire directory subtrees of files.
That can be done by transferring a tar(1) archive of the sub-
tree (in binary mode)

Is there a reason you need to use the terminal? You can connect to a FTP server with Finder (Go/Connect to server), you can then drag and drop the files.
 
Hi there I just like using the terminal 🙂

If I ftp a .zip file what are the commands to unzip the archive please.


Many Thanks
 
tidyboy said:
Hi there I just like using the terminal 🙂
Click to expand...

Yeah me too. Have you considered using 'scp' rather than 'ftp', depends if you server supports it obviously. 'scp' can handle recursive copies fine.

tidyboy said:
If I ftp a .zip file what are the commands to unzip the archive please.
Click to expand...

You need to unzip them on the server, you can't do it via ftp. Log on to the server and just use 'unzip'
 
tyr2 said:
Yeah me too. Have you cinsidered using 'scp' rather than 'ftp', depends if you server supports it obviously. 'scp' can handle recursive coppies fine.



You need to unzip them on the server, you can't do it via ftp. Log on to the server and just use 'unzip'
Click to expand...

Can you explain about scp please. And how to use commands for it
 
you are being lazy, and this is helping you. if you'd read my original post, you'd see that you can't use ftp to copy a folder and its files. i then told you how to operate ftp the way you want.

if you can't be bothered to read and/or understand responses, then we can't be bothered to try to help you.
 
tidyboy said:
Im not being lazy I am new to all this and I need help.
Click to expand...

Well luckily, that's what man pages are for. Man being short for 'manual'.
Since you like using the command line, learning to use/read man pages is a very important skill to possess.
 
zimv20 said:
unless you zip up the folder, you'll have to do it in two steps: create the remote folder, then put all the files.

the trick is to start ftp with the -i flag, which will turn off interactive mode:
Code: 
% ftp -i ftp.foo.org

after you've gotten to the correct folder, you'll use mput (multiple put) instead of normal put. use wildcards to match the files in your local directory:
Code: 
> mput *.html

if you leave interactive mode on, you'll be prompted for each file it finds.
Click to expand...

tidyboy said:
Hi there Thanks for replying.

Yes I can get the put and get commands working but when I use them it only ftp's the files and not the folders.

What am I doing wrong?


MAtt
Click to expand...

You're not reading what he wrote precisely.

The man pages definitely have more information.
 
bousozoku said:
You're not reading what he wrote precisely.

The man pages definitely have more information.
Click to expand...

Right I did do what zimv20 said but it did not upload the folders. Right im not being funny but like I said im new to this so a little extra detail would be handy.


Many Thanks
 
OK, say you're sitting in a directory and you have a folder called "pictures" that you want to FTP. Here's how you do it. Watch closely...

ftp myserver.com
(login as needed)
prompt
(FTP says "Interactive mode off.")
lcd pictures
(FTP says "Local directory now /blah/blah/pictures")
mkdir pictures
(FTP says "pictures: the directory was successfully created")
cd pictures
(FTP says "OK. Current directory is /www/blah/pictures")
mput *
(FTP uploads every file in the directory)

Make sense now?
 
notjustjay said:
OK, say you're sitting in a directory and you have a folder called "pictures" that you want to FTP. Here's how you do it. Watch closely...

ftp myserver.com
(login as needed)
prompt
(FTP says "Interactive mode off.")
lcd pictures
(FTP says "Local directory now /blah/blah/pictures")
mkdir pictures
(FTP says "pictures: the directory was successfully created")
cd pictures
(FTP says "OK. Current directory is /www/blah/pictures")
mput *
(FTP uploads every file in the directory)

Make sense now?
Click to expand...

Hi there thanks for replying

I understand what you are saying in your example but what I am tyring to do is ftp the invision power board forum software files to my server.

I need to keep the directory structure so how do I ftp the whole thing over.
 
tidyboy said:
Hi there thanks for replying

I understand what you are saying in your example but what I am tyring to do is ftp the invision power board forum software files to my server.

I need to keep the directory structure so how do I ftp the whole thing over.
Click to expand...

You are in for a long night.

mkdir forum
cd forum
lcd forum
mput *
mkdir bin
cd bin
lcd bin
mput *
cd ..
lcd ..
mkdir images
cd images
lcd image
mput *
...

And so on. One set of mkdir/cd's/mput's for every single directory. And don't forget to chmod the directories correctly, some will be 755, some 777... don't get that wrong or you'll have a non-working board, or a huge security risk, or both.

I've done it. It's tedious. Do you REALLY want to use the terminal ftp for this? You should consider a GUI app that will take care of that for you, or scp, or... something.
 
tidyboy said:
Hi there thanks for replying

I understand what you are saying in your example but what I am tyring to do is ftp the invision power board forum software files to my server.

I need to keep the directory structure so how do I ftp the whole thing over.
Click to expand...

Look for Cyberduck on http://www.macupdate.com/ or http://www.versiontracker.com/ and download and install it. Then, run it, set up your server information and log into that server. Then, drag the folder to where you want it to be on the server.

It'll be a lot easier for you and the software is free and reliable.
 
notjustjay said:
You are in for a long night.

mkdir forum
cd forum
lcd forum
mput *
mkdir bin
cd bin
lcd bin
mput *
cd ..
lcd ..
mkdir images
cd images
lcd image
mput *
...

And so on. One set of mkdir/cd's/mput's for every single directory. And don't forget to chmod the directories correctly, some will be 755, some 777... don't get that wrong or you'll have a non-working board, or a huge security risk, or both.

I've done it. It's tedious. Do you REALLY want to use the terminal ftp for this? You should consider a GUI app that will take care of that for you, or scp, or... something.
Click to expand...

Thanks thats what I thought 🙂
 
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