1Net::FTP(3pm) Perl Programmers Reference Guide Net::FTP(3pm)
2
6 Net::FTP - FTP Client class
7
9 use Net::FTP;
10 $ftp = Net::FTP->new("some.host.name", Debug => 0)
12 or die "Cannot connect to some.host.name: $@";
13 $ftp->login("anonymous",'-anonymous@')
15 or die "Cannot login ", $ftp->message;
16 $ftp->cwd("/pub")
18 or die "Cannot change working directory ", $ftp->message;
19 $ftp->get("that.file")
21 or die "get failed ", $ftp->message;
22 $ftp->quit;
24
26 "Net::FTP" is a class implementing a simple FTP client in Perl as
27 described in RFC959. It provides wrappers for a subset of the RFC959
28 commands.
29
31 FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is a way of transferring
32 files between networked machines. The protocol defines a client (whose
33 commands are provided by this module) and a server (not implemented in
34 this module). Communication is always initiated by the client, and the
35 server responds with a message and a status code (and sometimes with
36 data).
37 The FTP protocol allows files to be sent to or fetched from the server.
39 Each transfer involves a local file (on the client) and a remote file
40 (on the server). In this module, the same file name will be used for
41 both local and remote if only one is specified. This means that trans‐
42 ferring remote file "/path/to/file" will try to put that file in
43 "/path/to/file" locally, unless you specify a local file name.
44 The protocol also defines several standard translations which the file
46 can undergo during transfer. These are ASCII, EBCDIC, binary, and
47 byte. ASCII is the default type, and indicates that the sender of
48 files will translate the ends of lines to a standard representation
49 which the receiver will then translate back into their local represen‐
50 tation. EBCDIC indicates the file being transferred is in EBCDIC for‐
51 mat. Binary (also known as image) format sends the data as a contigu‐
52 ous bit stream. Byte format transfers the data as bytes, the values of
53 which remain the same regardless of differences in byte size between
54 the two machines (in theory - in practice you should only use this if
55 you really know what you're doing).
56
58 new ([ HOST ] [, OPTIONS ])
59 This is the constructor for a new Net::FTP object. "HOST" is the
60 name of the remote host to which an FTP connection is required.
61 "HOST" is optional. If "HOST" is not given then it may instead be
63 passed as the "Host" option described below.
64 "OPTIONS" are passed in a hash like fashion, using key and value
66 pairs. Possible options are:
67 Host - FTP host to connect to. It may be a single scalar, as
69 defined for the "PeerAddr" option in IO::Socket::INET, or a refer‐
70 ence to an array with hosts to try in turn. The "host" method will
71 return the value which was used to connect to the host.
72 Firewall - The name of a machine which acts as an FTP firewall.
74 This can be overridden by an environment variable "FTP_FIREWALL".
75 If specified, and the given host cannot be directly connected to,
76 then the connection is made to the firewall machine and the string
77 @hostname is appended to the login identifier. This kind of setup
78 is also refered to as an ftp proxy.
79 FirewallType - The type of firewall running on the machine indi‐
81 cated by Firewall. This can be overridden by an environment vari‐
82 able "FTP_FIREWALL_TYPE". For a list of permissible types, see the
83 description of ftp_firewall_type in Net::Config.
84 BlockSize - This is the block size that Net::FTP will use when
86 doing transfers. (defaults to 10240)
87 Port - The port number to connect to on the remote machine for the
89 FTP connection
90 Timeout - Set a timeout value (defaults to 120)
92 Debug - debug level (see the debug method in Net::Cmd)
94 Passive - If set to a non-zero value then all data transfers will
96 be done using passive mode. This is not usually required except for
97 some dumb servers, and some firewall configurations. This can also
98 be set by the environment variable "FTP_PASSIVE".
99 Hash - If given a reference to a file handle (e.g., "\*STDERR"),
101 print hash marks (#) on that filehandle every 1024 bytes. This
102 simply invokes the "hash()" method for you, so that hash marks are
103 displayed for all transfers. You can, of course, call "hash()"
104 explicitly whenever you'd like.
105 LocalAddr - Local address to use for all socket connections, this
107 argument will be passed to IO::Socket::INET
108 If the constructor fails undef will be returned and an error mes‐
110 sage will be in $@
111
113 Unless otherwise stated all methods return either a true or false
114 value, with true meaning that the operation was a success. When a
115 method states that it returns a value, failure will be returned as
116 undef or an empty list.
117 login ([LOGIN [,PASSWORD [, ACCOUNT] ] ])
119 Log into the remote FTP server with the given login information. If
120 no arguments are given then the "Net::FTP" uses the "Net::Netrc"
121 package to lookup the login information for the connected host. If
122 no information is found then a login of anonymous is used. If no
123 password is given and the login is anonymous then anonymous@ will
124 be used for password.
125 If the connection is via a firewall then the "authorize" method
127 will be called with no arguments.
128 authorize ( [AUTH [, RESP]])
130 This is a protocol used by some firewall ftp proxies. It is used to
131 authorise the user to send data out. If both arguments are not
132 specified then "authorize" uses "Net::Netrc" to do a lookup.
133 site (ARGS)
135 Send a SITE command to the remote server and wait for a response.
136 Returns most significant digit of the response code.
138 ascii
140 Transfer file in ASCII. CRLF translation will be done if required
141 binary
143 Transfer file in binary mode. No transformation will be done.
144 Hint: If both server and client machines use the same line ending
146 for text files, then it will be faster to transfer all files in
147 binary mode.
148 rename ( OLDNAME, NEWNAME )
150 Rename a file on the remote FTP server from "OLDNAME" to "NEWNAME".
151 This is done by sending the RNFR and RNTO commands.
152 delete ( FILENAME )
154 Send a request to the server to delete "FILENAME".
155 cwd ( [ DIR ] )
157 Attempt to change directory to the directory given in $dir. If
158 $dir is "..", the FTP "CDUP" command is used to attempt to move up
159 one directory. If no directory is given then an attempt is made to
160 change the directory to the root directory.
161 cdup ()
163 Change directory to the parent of the current directory.
164 pwd ()
166 Returns the full pathname of the current directory.
167 restart ( WHERE )
169 Set the byte offset at which to begin the next data transfer.
170 Net::FTP simply records this value and uses it when during the next
171 data transfer. For this reason this method will not return an
172 error, but setting it may cause a subsequent data transfer to fail.
173 rmdir ( DIR [, RECURSE ])
175 Remove the directory with the name "DIR". If "RECURSE" is true then
176 "rmdir" will attempt to delete everything inside the directory.
177 mkdir ( DIR [, RECURSE ])
179 Create a new directory with the name "DIR". If "RECURSE" is true
180 then "mkdir" will attempt to create all the directories in the
181 given path.
182 Returns the full pathname to the new directory.
184 alloc ( SIZE [, RECORD_SIZE] )
186 The alloc command allows you to give the ftp server a hint about
187 the size of the file about to be transfered using the ALLO ftp com‐
188 mand. Some storage systems use this to make intelligent decisions
189 about how to store the file. The "SIZE" argument represents the
190 size of the file in bytes. The "RECORD_SIZE" argument indicates a
191 mazimum record or page size for files sent with a record or page
192 structure.
193 The size of the file will be determined, and sent to the server
195 automatically for normal files so that this method need only be
196 called if you are transfering data from a socket, named pipe, or
197 other stream not associated with a normal file.
198 ls ( [ DIR ] )
200 Get a directory listing of "DIR", or the current directory.
201 In an array context, returns a list of lines returned from the
203 server. In a scalar context, returns a reference to a list.
204 dir ( [ DIR ] )
206 Get a directory listing of "DIR", or the current directory in long
207 format.
208 In an array context, returns a list of lines returned from the
210 server. In a scalar context, returns a reference to a list.
211 get ( REMOTE_FILE [, LOCAL_FILE [, WHERE]] )
213 Get "REMOTE_FILE" from the server and store locally. "LOCAL_FILE"
214 may be a filename or a filehandle. If not specified, the file will
215 be stored in the current directory with the same leafname as the
216 remote file.
217 If "WHERE" is given then the first "WHERE" bytes of the file will
219 not be transfered, and the remaining bytes will be appended to the
220 local file if it already exists.
221 Returns "LOCAL_FILE", or the generated local file name if
223 "LOCAL_FILE" is not given. If an error was encountered undef is
224 returned.
225 put ( LOCAL_FILE [, REMOTE_FILE ] )
227 Put a file on the remote server. "LOCAL_FILE" may be a name or a
228 filehandle. If "LOCAL_FILE" is a filehandle then "REMOTE_FILE"
229 must be specified. If "REMOTE_FILE" is not specified then the file
230 will be stored in the current directory with the same leafname as
231 "LOCAL_FILE".
232 Returns "REMOTE_FILE", or the generated remote filename if
234 "REMOTE_FILE" is not given.
235 NOTE: If for some reason the transfer does not complete and an
237 error is returned then the contents that had been transfered will
238 not be remove automatically.
239 put_unique ( LOCAL_FILE [, REMOTE_FILE ] )
241 Same as put but uses the "STOU" command.
242 Returns the name of the file on the server.
244 append ( LOCAL_FILE [, REMOTE_FILE ] )
246 Same as put but appends to the file on the remote server.
247 Returns "REMOTE_FILE", or the generated remote filename if
249 "REMOTE_FILE" is not given.
250 unique_name ()
252 Returns the name of the last file stored on the server using the
253 "STOU" command.
254 mdtm ( FILE )
256 Returns the modification time of the given file
257 size ( FILE )
259 Returns the size in bytes for the given file as stored on the
260 remote server.
261 NOTE: The size reported is the size of the stored file on the
263 remote server. If the file is subsequently transfered from the
264 server in ASCII mode and the remote server and local machine have
265 different ideas about "End Of Line" then the size of file on the
266 local machine after transfer may be different.
267 supported ( CMD )
269 Returns TRUE if the remote server supports the given command.
270 hash ( [FILEHANDLE_GLOB_REF],[ BYTES_PER_HASH_MARK] )
272 Called without parameters, or with the first argument false, hash
273 marks are suppressed. If the first argument is true but not a ref‐
274 erence to a file handle glob, then \*STDERR is used. The second
275 argument is the number of bytes per hash mark printed, and defaults
276 to 1024. In all cases the return value is a reference to an array
277 of two: the filehandle glob reference and the bytes per hash mark.
278 The following methods can return different results depending on how
280 they are called. If the user explicitly calls either of the "pasv" or
281 "port" methods then these methods will return a true or false value. If
282 the user does not call either of these methods then the result will be
283 a reference to a "Net::FTP::dataconn" based object.
284 nlst ( [ DIR ] )
286 Send an "NLST" command to the server, with an optional parameter.
287 list ( [ DIR ] )
289 Same as "nlst" but using the "LIST" command
290 retr ( FILE )
292 Begin the retrieval of a file called "FILE" from the remote server.
293 stor ( FILE )
295 Tell the server that you wish to store a file. "FILE" is the name
296 of the new file that should be created.
297 stou ( FILE )
299 Same as "stor" but using the "STOU" command. The name of the unique
300 file which was created on the server will be available via the
301 "unique_name" method after the data connection has been closed.
302 appe ( FILE )
304 Tell the server that we want to append some data to the end of a
305 file called "FILE". If this file does not exist then create it.
306 If for some reason you want to have complete control over the data con‐
308 nection, this includes generating it and calling the "response" method
309 when required, then the user can use these methods to do so.
310 However calling these methods only affects the use of the methods above
312 that can return a data connection. They have no effect on methods
313 "get", "put", "put_unique" and those that do not require data connec‐
314 tions.
315 port ( [ PORT ] )
317 Send a "PORT" command to the server. If "PORT" is specified then it
318 is sent to the server. If not, then a listen socket is created and
319 the correct information sent to the server.
320 pasv ()
322 Tell the server to go into passive mode. Returns the text that rep‐
323 resents the port on which the server is listening, this text is in
324 a suitable form to sent to another ftp server using the "port"
325 method.
326 The following methods can be used to transfer files between two remote
328 servers, providing that these two servers can connect directly to each
329 other.
330 pasv_xfer ( SRC_FILE, DEST_SERVER [, DEST_FILE ] )
332 This method will do a file transfer between two remote ftp servers.
333 If "DEST_FILE" is omitted then the leaf name of "SRC_FILE" will be
334 used.
335 pasv_xfer_unique ( SRC_FILE, DEST_SERVER [, DEST_FILE ] )
337 Like "pasv_xfer" but the file is stored on the remote server using
338 the STOU command.
339 pasv_wait ( NON_PASV_SERVER )
341 This method can be used to wait for a transfer to complete between
342 a passive server and a non-passive server. The method should be
343 called on the passive server with the "Net::FTP" object for the
344 non-passive server passed as an argument.
345 abort ()
347 Abort the current data transfer.
348 quit ()
350 Send the QUIT command to the remote FTP server and close the socket
351 connection.
352 Methods for the adventurous
354 "Net::FTP" inherits from "Net::Cmd" so methods defined in "Net::Cmd"
356 may be used to send commands to the remote FTP server.
357 quot (CMD [,ARGS])
359 Send a command, that Net::FTP does not directly support, to the
360 remote server and wait for a response.
361 Returns most significant digit of the response code.
363 WARNING This call should only be used on commands that do not
365 require data connections. Misuse of this method can hang the con‐
366 nection.
367
369 Some of the methods defined in "Net::FTP" return an object which will
370 be derived from this class.The dataconn class itself is derived from
371 the "IO::Socket::INET" class, so any normal IO operations can be per‐
372 formed. However the following methods are defined in the dataconn
373 class and IO should be performed using these.
374 read ( BUFFER, SIZE [, TIMEOUT ] )
376 Read "SIZE" bytes of data from the server and place it into "BUF‐
377 FER", also performing any <CRLF> translation necessary. "TIMEOUT"
378 is optional, if not given, the timeout value from the command con‐
379 nection will be used.
380 Returns the number of bytes read before any <CRLF> translation.
382 write ( BUFFER, SIZE [, TIMEOUT ] )
384 Write "SIZE" bytes of data from "BUFFER" to the server, also per‐
385 forming any <CRLF> translation necessary. "TIMEOUT" is optional, if
386 not given, the timeout value from the command connection will be
387 used.
388 Returns the number of bytes written before any <CRLF> translation.
390 bytes_read ()
392 Returns the number of bytes read so far.
393 abort ()
395 Abort the current data transfer.
396 close ()
398 Close the data connection and get a response from the FTP server.
399 Returns true if the connection was closed successfully and the
400 first digit of the response from the server was a '2'.
401
403 The following RFC959 commands have not been implemented:
404 SMNT
406 Mount a different file system structure without changing login or
407 accounting information.
408 HELP
410 Ask the server for "helpful information" (that's what the RFC says)
411 on the commands it accepts.
412 MODE
414 Specifies transfer mode (stream, block or compressed) for file to
415 be transferred.
416 SYST
418 Request remote server system identification.
419 STAT
421 Request remote server status.
422 STRU
424 Specifies file structure for file to be transferred.
425 REIN
427 Reinitialize the connection, flushing all I/O and account informa‐
428 tion.
429
431 When reporting bugs/problems please include as much information as pos‐
432 sible. It may be difficult for me to reproduce the problem as almost
433 every setup is different.
434 A small script which yields the problem will probably be of help. It
436 would also be useful if this script was run with the extra options
437 "Debug =" 1> passed to the constructor, and the output sent with the
438 bug report. If you cannot include a small script then please include a
439 Debug trace from a run of your program which does yield the problem.
440
442 Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com>
443
445 Net::Netrc Net::Cmd
446 ftp(1), ftpd(8), RFC 959
448 http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/htbin/rfc/rfc959.html
449
451 For an example of the use of Net::FTP see
452 http://www.csh.rit.edu/~adam/Progs/
454 "autoftp" is a program that can retrieve, send, or list files via
455 the FTP protocol in a non-interactive manner.
456
458 Henry Gabryjelski <henryg@WPI.EDU> - for the suggestion of creating
459 directories recursively.
460 Nathan Torkington <gnat@frii.com> - for some input on the documenta‐
462 tion.
463 Roderick Schertler <roderick@gate.net> - for various inputs
465
467 Copyright (c) 1995-2004 Graham Barr. All rights reserved. This program
468 is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
469 same terms as Perl itself.
470perl v5.8.8 2001-09-21 Net::FTP(3pm)