FTP Commands for Linux and UNIX
List of commonly used FTP Linux and UNIX platforms commands
FTP definition
FTP is the simplest file transfer protocol to exchange files to and from a remote computer or network. Similar to Windows, Linux and UNIX operating systems also have built-in command-line prompts that can be used as FTP clients to make an FTP connection. Here’s a list of commonly used FTP Linux and UNIX platforms commands.
FTP commands for Linux command prompt
| FTP Command | | | Description of Command | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ! | | | Escape to the shell. | |
| $ | | | Execute macro | |
| ? | | | Print local help information. | |
| account | | | Send account command to remote server. | |
| append | | | Append to a file. | |
| ascii | | | Set ascii transfer type. | |
| beep | | | Beep when command completed. | |
| binary | | | Set binary transfer type. | |
| bye | | | Terminate FTP session and exit. | |
| case | | | Toggle mget upper/lower case id mapping. | |
| cd | | | Change remote working directory. | |
| Change remote working directory to parent directory. | | ||
| chmod | | | Change file permissions of remote file. | |
| close | | | Terminate FTP session. | |
| cr | | | Toggle carriage return stripping on ascii gets. | |
| debug | | | Toggle/set debugging mode. | |
| delete | | | Delete remote file | |
| dir | | | List contents of remote directory. | |
| disconnect | | | Terminate FTP session. | |
| exit | | | Terminate FTP sessions and exit. | |
| form | | | Set file transfer format. | |
| get | | | Receive file. | |
| glob | | | Toggle meta character expansion of local file names. | |
| hash | | | Toggle printing ‘#’ for each buffer transferred. | |
| help | | | Display local help information. | |
| idle | | | Get (set) idle timer on remote side. | |
| image | | | Set binary transfer type. | |
| ipany | | | Allow use of any address family. | |
| ipv4 | | | Restrict address usage to IPv4. | |
| ipv6 | | | Restrict address usage to IPv6. | |
| lcd | | | Change local working directory. | |
| ls | | | List contents of remote directory. | |
| macdef | | | Define a macro. | |
| mdelete | | | Delete multiple files. | |
| mdir | | | List contents of multiple remote directories. | |
| mget | | | Get multiple files. | |
| mkdir | | | Make directory on remote machine. | |
| mls | | | List contents of multiple remote directories. | |
| Set file transfer mode. | | ||
| modtime | | | Show last modification time of remote file. | |
| mput | | | Send multiple files. | |
| newer | | | Get file if remote file is newer than local file. | |
| nlist | | | List remote directory nlist contents. | |
| nmap | | | Set templates for default file name mapping. | |
| ntrans | | | Set translation table for default file name mapping. | |
| open | | | Connect to remote ftp. | |
| passive | | | Enter passive transfer mode. | |
| prompt | | | Force interactive prompting on multiple commands. | |
| proxy | | | Issue command on an alternate connection. | |
| put | | | Send one file. | |
| Print working directory on remote machine. | | ||
| qc | | | Print ? in place of control characters on stdout. | |
| Terminate ftp session and exit. | | ||
| quote | | | Send arbitrary ftp command. | |
| recv | | | Receive file. | |
| reget | | | Get file restarting at end of local file. | |
| rename | | | Rename file. | |
| reset | | | Clear queued command replies. | |
| restart | | | Restart file transfer at bytecount. | |
| rhelp | | | Get help from remote server. | |
| rmdir | | | Remove directory on remote machine. | |
| rstatus | | | Show status of remote machine. | |
| runique | | | Toggle store unique for local files. | |
| send | | | Send one file. | |
| sendport | | | Toggle use of PORT cmd for each data connection. | |
| Send site specific command to remote server. | | ||
| size | | | Show size of remote file. | |
| status | | | Show current status. | |
| struct | | | Set file transfer structure. | |
| sunique | | | Toggle store unique on remote machine. | |
| system | | | Show remote system type. | |
| tenex | | | Set tenex file transfer type. | |
| tick | | | Toggle printing byte counter during transfers. | |
| trace | | | Toggle packet tracing. | |
| Set file transfer type. | | ||
| umask | | | Get (set) umask on remote site. | |
| Send new user information. | | ||
| verbose | | | Toggle verbose mode. | |
FTP command-line options for Linux and UNIX
| Command-Line Option | | | Description of Command | |
|---|---|---|---|
| -4 | | | Use only IPv4 to contact any host. | |
| -6 | | | Use IPv6 only. | |
| -e | | | Disables command editing and history support, if it was compiled into the ftp executable. Otherwise, it does nothing. | |
| -p | | | Use passive mode for data transfers. Allows the use of ftp in environments where a firewall prevents connections from the outside world back to the client machine. Requires the ftp server to support the PASV command. | |
| -i | | | Turns off interactive prompting during multiple file transfers. | |
| -n | | | Restrains ftp from attempting auto-login upon initial connection. If auto-login is enabled, ftp checks the .netrc (see netrc ) file in the user’s home directory for an entry describing an account on the remote machine. If no entry exists, ftp prompts for the remote machine login name (the default is the user identity on the local machine), and, if necessary, prompt for a password and an account with which to login. | |
| -g | | | Disables file name globbing. | |
| -v | | | The verbose option forces ftp to show all responses from the remote server, as well as report on data transfer statistics. | |
| -d | | | Enables debugging. | |