lftp(1)lftp(1)NAMElftp - Sophisticated file transfer program
SYNTAXlftp [-d] [-e cmd] [-p port] [-u user[,pass]] [site]
lftp-f script_file
lftp-c commands
lftp--version
lftp--help
VERSION
This man page documents lftp version 2.6.0.
DESCRIPTIONlftp is a program that allows sophisticated ftp and http
connections to other hosts. If host is specified then lftp
will connect to that host otherwise a connection has to be
established with the open command.
lftp can handle six file access methods - ftp, ftps, http,
https, hftp, fish and file (https and ftps are only avail-
able when lftp is compiled with openssl library). You can
specify the method to use in `open URL' command, e.g.
`open http://www.us.kernel.org/pub/linux'. hftp is ftp-
over-http-proxy protocol. It can be used automatically
instead of ftp if ftp:proxy is set to
`http://proxy[:port]'. Fish is a protocol working over an
ssh connection.
Every operation in lftp is reliable, that is any not fatal
error is ignored and the operation is repeated. So if
downloading breaks, it will be restarted from the point
automatically. Even if ftp server does not support REST
command, lftp will try to retrieve the file from the very
beginning until the file is transferred completely.
lftp has shell-like command syntax allowing you to launch
several commands in parallel in background (&). It is also
possible to group commands within () and execute them in
background. All background jobs are executed in the same
single process. You can bring a foreground job to back-
ground with ^Z (c-z) and back with command `wait' (or `fg'
which is alias to `wait'). To list running jobs, use com-
mand `jobs'. Some commands allow redirecting their output
(cat, ls, ...) to file or via pipe to external command.
Commands can be executed conditionally based on termina-
tion status of previous command (&&, ||).
If you exit lftp when some jobs are not finished yet, lftp
will move itself to nohup mode in background. The same
happens when you have a real modem hangup or when you
close an xterm.
lftp has builtin mirror which can download or update a
whole directory tree. There is also reverse mirror (mirror
-R) which uploads or updates a directory tree on server.
Mirror can also synchronize directories between two remote
servers, using FXP if available.
There is command `at' to launch a job at specified time in
current context, command `queue' to queue commands for
sequential execution for current server, and much more.
On startup, lftp executes /etc/lftp.conf and then ~/.lft-
prc and ~/.lftp/rc. You can place aliases and `set' com-
mands there. Some people prefer to see full protocol
debug, use `debug' to turn the debug on. Use `debug 3' to
see only greeting messages and error messages.
lftp has a number of settable variables. You can use `set
-a' to see all variables and their values or `set -d' to
see list of defaults. Variable names can be abbreviated
and prefix can be omitted unless the rest becomes ambigu-
ous.
If lftp was compiled with ssl support, then it includes
software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the
OpenSSL Toolkit. (http://www.openssl.org/)
Commands
! shell command
Launch shell or shell command.
!ls
To do a directory listing of the local host.
alias [name [value]]
Define or undefine alias name. If value is omitted, the
alias is undefined, else it takes the value value. If no
argument is given the current aliases are listed.
alias dir ls -lF
alias less zmore
anon
Sets the user to anonymous. This is the default.
at time [ -- command ]
Wait until the given time and execute given (optional)
command. See also at(1).
bookmark [subcommand]
The bookmark command controls bookmarks.
add <name> [<loc>] add current place or given location
to bookmarks and bind to given name
del <name> remove bookmark with name
edit start editor on bookmarks file
import <type> import foreign bookmarks
list list bookmarks (default)
cache [subcommand]
The cache command controls local memory cache. The fol-
lowing subcommands are recognized:
stat print cache status (default)
on|off turn on/off caching
flush flush cache
size lim set memory limit, -1 means unlimited
expire Nx set cache expiration time to N seconds (x=s)
minutes (x=m) hours (x=h) or days (x=d)
cat files
cat outputs the remote file(s) to stdout. (See also more,
zcat and zmore)
cd rdir
Change current remote directory. The previous remote
directory is stored as `-'. You can do `cd -' to change
the directory back. The previous directory for each site
is also stored on disk, so you can do `open site; cd -'
even after lftp restart.
chmod mode files
Change permission mask on remote files. The mode must be
an octal number.
close [-a]
Close idle connections. By default only with the current
server, use -a to close all idle connections.
command cmd args...
execute given command ignoring aliases.
debug [-o file] level|off
Switch debugging to level or turn it off. Use -o to redi-
rect the debug output to a file.
echo [-n] string
guess what it does.
exit code
exit bg
exit will exit from lftp or move to background if jobs are
active. If no jobs are active, code is passed to operat-
ing system as lftp's termination status. If code is omit-
ted, the exit code of last command is used.
`exit bg' forces moving to background when cmd:move-back-
ground is false.
fg
Alias for `wait'.
find [directory]
List files in the directory (current directory by default)
recursively. This can help with servers lacking ls -R
support. You can redirect output of this command.
ftpcopy
Obsolete. Use one of the following instead:
get ftp://... -o ftp://...
get -O ftp://... file1 file2...
put ftp://...
mput ftp://.../*
mget -O ftp://... ftp://.../*
or other combinations to get FXP transfer (directly
between two ftp servers). lftp would fallback to plain
copy (via client) if FXP transfer cannot be initiated or
ftp:use-fxp is false.
get [-E] [-a] [-c] [-O base] rfile [-o lfile] ...
Retrieve the remote file rfile and store it as the local
file lfile. If -o is omitted, the file is stored to local
file named as base name of rfile. You can get multiple
files by specifying multiple instances of rfile [and -o
lfile]. Does not expand wildcards, use mget for that.
-c continue, reget
-E delete remote files after successful transfer
-a use ascii mode (binary is the default)
-O <base> specifies base directory or URL where files should be placed
Examples:
get README
get README -o debian.README
get README README.mirrors
get README -o debian.README README.mirrors -o debian.mirrors
get README -o ftp://some.host.org/debian.README
get README -o ftp://some.host.org/debian-dir/ (end slash is important)
glob [-d] [-a] [-f] command patterns
Glob given patterns containing metacharacters and pass
result to given command. E.g. ``glob echo *''.
-f plain files (default)
-d directories
-a all types
help [cmd]
Print help for cmd or if no cmd was specified print a list
of available commands.
jobs [-v]
List running jobs. -v means verbose, several -v can be
specified.
kill all|job_no
Delete specified job with job_no or all jobs. (For job_no
see jobs)
lcd ldir
Change current local directory ldir. The previous local
directory is stored as `-'. You can do `lcd -' to change
the directory back.
lpwd
Print current working directory on local machine.
ls params
List remote files. You can redirect output of this command
to file or via pipe to external command. By default, ls
output is cached, to see new listing use rels or cache
flush.
mget [-c] [-d] [-a] [-E] [-O base] files
Gets selected files with expanded wildcards.
-c continue, reget.
-d create directories the same as file names and get
the files into them instead of current directory.
-E delete remote files after successful transfer
-a use ascii mode (binary is the default)
-O <base> specifies base directory or URL where files should be placed
mirror [OPTS] [source [target]]
Mirror specified source directory to local target direc-
tory. If target directory ends with a slash, the source
base name is appended to target directory name. Source
and/or target can be URLs pointing to directories.
-c, --continue continue a mirror job if possible
-e, --delete delete files not present at remote site
-s, --allow-suid set suid/sgid bits according to remote site
--allow-chown try to set owner and group on files
-n, --only-newer download only newer files (-c won't work)
-r, --no-recursion don't go to subdirectories
-p, --no-perms don't set file permissions
--no-umask don't apply umask to file modes
-R, --reverse reverse mirror (put files)
-L, --dereference download symbolic links as files
-N, --newer-than FILE download only files newer than the file
-P, --parallel[=N] download N files in parallel
-i RX, --include RX include matching files
-x RX, --exclude RX exclude matching files
-I GP, --include-glob GP include matching files
-X GP, --exclude-glob GP exclude matching files
-v, --verbose[=level] verbose operation
--use-cache use cached directory listings
--Remove-source-files remove files after transfer (use with caution)
-a same as --allow-chown --allow-suid --no-umask
When using -R, the first directory is local and the second
is remote. If the second directory is omitted, base name
of first directory is used. If both directories are omit-
ted, current local and remote directories are used.
RX is an extended regular expression, just like in
egrep(1).
GP is a glob pattern, e.g. `*.zip'.
Include and exclude options can be specified multiple
times. It means that a file or directory would be mirrored
if it matches an include and does not match to excludes
after the include, or does not match anything and the
first check is exclude. Directories are matched with a
slash appended.
Note that when -R is used (reverse mirror), symbolic links
are not created on server, because ftp protocol cannot do
it. To upload files the links refer to, use `mirror -RL'
command (treat symbolic links as files).
Verbosity level can be selected using --verbose=level
option or by several -v options, e.g. -vvv. Levels are:
0 - no output (default)
1 - print actions
2 - +print not deleted file names (when -e is not specified)
3 - +print directory names which are mirrored
--only-newer turns off file size comparision and
uploads/downloads only newer files even if size is differ-
ent. By default older files are downloaded/uploaded if
size is different.
You can mirror between two servers if you specify URLs
instead of directories. FXP is used automatically for
transfers between ftp servers, if possible.
mkdir [-p] dir(s)
Make remote directories. If -p is used, make all compo-
nents of paths.
module module [ args ]
Load given module using dlopen(3) function. If module name
does not contain a slash, it is searched in directories
specified by module:path variable. Arguments are passed
to module_init function. See README.modules for technical
details.
more files
Same as `cat files | more'. if PAGER is set, it is used as
filter. (See also cat, zcat and zmore)
mput [-c] [-d] [-a] [-E] [-O base] files
Upload files with wildcard expansion. By default it uses
the base name of local name as remote one. This can be
changed by `-d' option.
-c continue, reput
-d create directories the same as in file names and put the
files into them instead of current directory
-E delete remote files after successful transfer (dangerous)
-a use ascii mode (binary is the default)
-O <base> specifies base directory or URL where files should be placed
mrm file(s)
Same as `glob rm'. Removes specified file(s) with wildcard
expansion.
mv file1 file2
Rename file1 to file2.
nlist [args]
List remote file names
open [-e cmd] [-u user[,pass]] [-p port] host|url
Select an ftp server.
pget [OPTS] rfile [-o lfile ]
Gets the specified file using several connections. This
can speed up transfer, but loads the net heavily impacting
other users. Use only if you really have to transfer the
file ASAP, or some other user may go mad :) Options:
-n maxconn set maximum number of connections (default 5)
put [-E] [-a] [-c] [-O base] lfile [-orfile]
Upload lfile with remote name rfile. If -o omitted, the
base name of lfile is used as remote name. Does not expand
wildcards, use mput for that.
-o <rfile> specifies remote file name (default - basename of lfile)
-c continue, reput
it requires permission to overwrite remote files
-E delete local files after successful transfer (dangerous)
-a use ascii mode (binary is the default)
-O <base> specifies base directory or URL where files should be placed
pwd
Print current remote directory.
queue [-n num ] cmd
Add the given command to queue for sequential execution.
Each site has its own queue. `-n' adds the command before
the given item in the queue. Don't try to queue `cd' or
`lcd' commands, it may confuse lftp. Instead do the cd/lcd
before `queue' command, and it will remember the place in
which the command is to be done. It is possible to queue
up an already running job by `queue wait <jobno>', but the
job will continue execution even if it is not the first in
queue.
`queue stop' will stop the queue, it will not execute any
new commands, but already running jobs will continue to
run. You can use `queue stop' to create an empty stopped
queue. `queue start' will resume queue execution. When
you exit lftp, it will start all stopped queues automati-
cally.
`queue' with no arguments will either create a stopped
queue or print queue status.
queue --delete|-d [index or wildcard expression]
Delete one or more items from the queue. If no argument is
given, the last entry in the queue is deleted.
queue --move|-m <index or wildcard expression> [index]
Move the given items before the given queue index, or to
the end if no destination is given.
-q Be quiet.
-v Be verbose.
-Q Output in a format that can be used to re-queue.
Useful with --delete.
> get file &
[1] get file
> queue wait 1
> queue get another_file
> cd a_directory
> queue get yet_another_file
queue -d 3 Delete the third item in the queue.
queue -m 6 4 Move the sixth item in the queue before the fourth.
queue -m "get*zip" 1 Move all commands matching "get*zip" to the beginning
of the queue. (The order of the items is preserved.)
queue -d "get*zip" Delete all commands matching "get*zip".
quote cmd
For FTP - send the command uninterpreted. Use with caution
- it can lead to unknown remote state and thus will cause
reconnect. You cannot be sure that any change of remote
state because of quoted command is solid - it can be reset
by reconnect at any time.
For HTTP - specific to HTTP action. Syntax: ``quote <com-
mand> [<args>]''. Command may be ``set-cookie'' or
``post''.
open http://www.site.net
quote set-cookie "variable=value; othervar=othervalue"
set http:post-content-type application/x-www-form-urlencoded
quote post /cgi-bin/script.cgi "var=value&othervar=othervalue" > local_file
For FISH - send the command uninterpreted. This can be
used to execute arbitrary commands on server. The command
must not take input or print ### at new line beginning. If
it does, the protocol will become out of sync.
open fish://server
quote find -name zip
reget rfile [-o lfile]
Same as `get -c'.
rels [args]
Same as `ls', but ignores the cache.
renlist [args]
Same as `nlist', but ignores the cache.
repeat [delay] [command]
Repeat the command. Between the commands a delay inserted,
by default 1 second. Example:
repeat at tomorrow -- mirror
repeat 1d mirror
reput lfile [-o rfile]
Same as `put -c'.
rm [-r] [-f] files
Remove remote files. Does not expand wildcards, use mrm
for that. -r is for recursive directory remove. Be care-
ful, if something goes wrong you can lose files. -f
supress error messages.
rmdir dir(s)
Remove remote directories.
scache [session]
List cached sessions or switch to specified session.
set [var [val]]
Set variable to given value. If the value is omitted,
unset the variable. Variable name has format ``name/clo-
sure'', where closure can specify exact application of the
setting. See below for details. If set is called with no
variable then only altered settings are listed. It can be
changed by options:
-a list all settings, including default values
-d list only default values, not necessary current ones
site site_cmd
Execute site command site_cmd and output the result. You
can redirect its output.
sleep interval
Sleep given time interval and exit. Interval is in seconds
by default, but can be suffixed with 'm', 'h', 'd' for
minutes, hours and days respectively. See also at.
slot [name]
Select specified slot or list all slots allocated. A slot
is a connection to a server, somewhat like a virtual con-
sole. You can create multiple slots connected to different
servers and switch between them. You can also use
slot:name as a pseudo-URL evaluating to that slot loca-
tion.
Default readline binding allows quick switching between
slots named 0-9 using Meta-0 - Meta-9 keys (often you can
use Alt instead of Meta).
source file
Execute commands recorded in file file.
suspend
Stop lftp process. Note that transfers will be also
stopped until you continue the process with shell's fg or
bg commands.
user user [pass]
user URL [pass]
Use specified info for remote login. If you specify an URL
with user name, the entered password will be cached so
that futute URL references can use it.
version
Print lftp version.
wait [jobno]
wait all
Wait for specified job to terminate. If jobno is omitted,
wait for last backgrounded job.
`wait all' waits for all jobs termination.
zcat files
Same as cat, but filter each file through zcat. (See also
cat, more and zmore)
zmore files
Same as more, but filter each file through zcat. (See also
cat, zcat and more)
Settings
On startup, lftp executes ~/.lftprc and ~/.lftp/rc. You
can place aliases and `set' commands there. Some people
prefer to see full protocol debug, use `debug' to turn the
debug on.
There is also a system-wide startup file in
/etc/lftp.conf. It can be in different directory, see
FILES section.
lftp has the following settable variables (you can also
use `set -a' to see all variables and their values):
bmk:save-passwords (bool)
save plain text passwords in ~/.lftp/bookmarks on
`bookmark add' command. Off by default.
cmd:at-exit (string)
the commands in string are executed before lftp
exits.
cmd:csh-history (bool)
enables csh-like history expansion.
cmd:default-protocol (string)
The value is used when `open' is used with just
host name without protocol. Default is `ftp'.
cmd:fail-exit (bool)
if true, exit when an unconditional (without || and
&& at begin) command fails.
cmd:long-running (seconds)
time of command execution, which is considered as
`long' and a beep is done before next prompt. 0
means off.
cmd:ls-default (string)
default ls argument
cmd:move-background (boolean)
when false, lftp refuses to go to background when
exiting. To force it, use `exit bg'.
cmd:prompt (string)
The prompt. lftp recognizes the following back-
slash-escaped special characters that are decoded
as follows:
\@ insert @ if current user is not default
\a an ASCII bell character (07)
\e an ASCII escape character (033)
\h the hostname you are connected to
\n newline
\s the name of the client (lftp)
\S current slot name
\u the username of the user you are logged in
as
\U the URL of the remote site (e.g.,
ftp://g437.ub.gu.se/home/james/src/lftp)
\v the version of lftp (e.g., 2.0.3)
\w the current working directory at the remote
site
\W the base name of the current working direc-
tory at the remote site
\nnn the character corresponding to the octal
number nnn
\\ a backslash
\? skips next character if previous substitu-
tion was empty.
\[ begin a sequence of non-printing characters,
which could be used to embed a terminal con-
trol sequence into the prompt
\] end a sequence of non-printing characters
cmd:remote-completion (bool)
a boolean to control whether or not lftp uses
remote completion.
cmd:verify-host (bool)
if true, lftp resolves host name immediately in
`open' command. It is also possible to skip the
check for a single `open' command if `&' is given,
or if ^Z is pressed during the check.
cmd:verify-path (bool)
if true, lftp checks the path given in `cd' com-
mand. It is also possible to skip the check for a
single `cd' command if `&' is given, or if ^Z is
pressed during the check. Examples:
set cmd:verify-path/hftp://* false
cd directory &
dns:SRV-query (bool)
query for SRV records and use them before gethost-
byname. The SRV records are only used if port is
not explicitly specified. See RFC2052 for details.
dns:cache-enable (bool)
enable DNS cache. If it is off, lftp resolves host
name each time it reconnects.
dns:cache-expire (time interval)
time to live for DNS cache entries. It has format
<number><unit>+, e.g. 1d12h30m5s or just 36h. To
disable expiration, set it to `inf' or `never'.
dns:cache-size (number)
maximum number of DNS cache entries.
dns:fatal-timeout (seconds)
limit the time for DNS queries. If DNS server is
unavailable too long, lftp will fail to resolve a
given host name. 0 means unlimited, the default.
dns:order (list of protocol names)
sets the order of DNS queries. Default is ``inet
inet6'' which means first look up address in inet
family, then inet6 and use first matched.
dns:use-fork (bool)
if true, lftp will fork before resolving host
address. Default is true.
fish:shell (string)
use specified shell on server side. Default is
/bin/sh. On some systems, /bin/sh exits when doing
cd to a non-existent directory. lftp can handle
that but it has to reconnect. Set it to /bin/bash
for such systems if bash is installed.
ftp:acct (string)
Send this string in ACCT command after login. The
result is ignored. The closure for this setting
has format user@host.
ftp:anon-pass (string)
sets the password used for anonymous ftp access
authentication. Default is "-name@", where name is
the username of the user running the program.
ftp:anon-user (string)
sets the user name used for anonymous ftp access
authentication. Default is "anonymous".
ftp:auto-sync-mode (regex)
if first server message metches this regex, turn on
sync mode for that host.
ftp:bind-data-socket (bool)
bind data socket to the interface of control con-
nection (in passive mode). Default is true, excep-
tion is the loopback interface.
ftp:fix-pasv-address (bool)
if true, lftp will try to correct address returned
by server for PASV command in case when server
address is in public network and PASV returns an
address from a private network. In this case lftp
would substitute server address instead of the one
returned by PASV command, port number would not be
changed. Default is true.
ftp:fxp-passive-source (bool)
if true, lftp will try to set up source ftp server
in passive mode first, otherwise destination one.
If first attempt fails, lftp tries to set them up
the other way. If the other disposition fails too,
lftp falls back to plain copy. See also ftp:use-
fxp.
ftp:home (string)
Initial directory. Default is empty string which
means auto. Set this to `/' if you don't like the
look of %2F in ftp URLs. The closure for this set-
ting has format user@host.
ftp:list-options (string)
sets options which are always appended to LIST com-
mand. It can be useful to set this to `-a' if
server does not show dot (hidden) files by default.
Default is empty.
ftp:nop-interval (seconds)
delay between NOOP commands when downloading tail
of a file. This is useful for ftp servers which
send "Transfer complete" message before flushing
data transfer. In such cases NOOP commands can
prevent connection timeout.
ftp:passive-mode (bool)
sets passive ftp mode. This can be useful if you
are behind a firewall or a dumb masquerading
router.
ftp:port-range (from-to)
allowed port range for active mode. Format is min-
max, or `full' or `any' to indicate any port.
Default is `full'.
ftp:proxy (URL)
specifies ftp proxy to use. To disable proxy set
this to empty string. Note that it is an ftp proxy
which uses ftp protocol, not ftp over http. Default
value is taken from environment variable ftp_proxy
if it starts with ``ftp://''. If your ftp proxy
requires authentication, specify user name and
password in the URL.
If ftp:proxy starts with http://, hftp (ftp over http
proxy) is used instead of ftp automatically.
ftp:rest-list (bool)
allow usage of REST command before LIST command.
This might be useful for large directories, but
some ftp servers silently ignore REST before LIST.
ftp:rest-stor (bool)
if false, lftp will not try to use REST before
STOR. This can be useful for some buggy servers
which corrupt (fill with zeros) the file if REST
followed by STOR is used.
ftp:retry-530 (regex)
Retry on server reply 530 for PASS command if text
matches this regular expression. This setting
should be useful to distinguish between overloaded
server (temporary condition) and incorrect password
(permanent condition).
ftp:retry-530-anonymous (regex)
Additional regular expression for anonymous login,
like ftp:retry-530.
ftp:site-group (string)
Send this string in SITE GROUP command after login.
The result is ignored. The closure for this set-
ting has format user@host.
ftp:skey-allow (bool)
allow sending skey/opie reply if server appears to
support it. On by default.
ftp:skey-force (bool)
do not send plain text password over the network,
use skey/opie instead. If skey/opie is not avail-
able, assume failed login. Off by default.
ftp:ssl-allow (bool)
if true, try to negotiate SSL connection with ftp
server for non-anonymous access. Default is true.
This setting is only available if lftp was compiled
with openssl.
ftp:ssl-force (bool)
if trus, refuse to send password in clear when
server does not support SSL. Default is false.
This setting is only available if lftp was compiled
with openssl.
ftp:ssl-protect-data (bool)
if true, request ssl connection for data transfers.
This is cpu-intensive but provides privacy. Default
is false. This setting is only available if lftp
was compiled with openssl.
ftp:stat-interval (seconds)
interval between STAT commands. Default is 1.
ftp:sync-mode (bool)
if true, lftp will send one command at a time and
wait for response. This might be useful if you are
using a buggy ftp server or router. When it is off,
lftp sends a pack of commands and waits for
responses - it speeds up operation when round trip
time is significant. Unfortunately it does not
work with all ftp servers and some routers have
troubles with it, so it is on by default.
ftp:timezone (string)
Assume this timezone for time in listings returned
by LIST command. This setting can be GMT offset
[+|-]HH[:MM[:SS]] or any valid TZ value (e.g.
Europe/Moscow or MSK-3MSD,M3.5.0,M10.5.0/3). The
default is GMT. Set it to an empty value to assume
local timezone specified by environment variable
TZ.
ftp:use-abor (bool)
if false, lftp does not send ABOR command but
closes data connection immediately.
ftp:use-fxp (bool)
if true, lftp will try to set up direct connection
between two ftp servers.
ftp:use-site-idle (bool)
when true, lftp sends `SITE IDLE' command with
net:idle argument. Default is false.
ftp:use-stat (bool)
if true, lftp sends STAT command in FXP mode trans-
fer to know how much data has been transferred. See
also ftp:stat-interval. Default is true.
ftp:use-quit (bool)
if true, lftp sends QUIT before disconnecting from
ftp server. Default is true.
ftp:verify-address (bool)
verify that data connection comes from the network
address of control connection peer. This can possi-
bly prevent data connection spoofing which can lead
to data corruption. Unfortunately, this can fail
for sertain ftp servers with several network inter-
faces, when they do not set outgoing address on
data socket, so it is disabled by default.
ftp:verify-port (bool)
verify that data connection has port 20 (ftp-data)
on its remote end. This can possibly prevent data
connection spoofing by users of remote host. Unfor-
tunately, too many windows and even unix ftp
servers forget to set proper port on data connec-
tion, thus this check is off by default.
ftp:web-mode (bool)
disconnect after closing data connection. This can
be useful for totally broken ftp servers. Default
is false.
hftp:cache (bool)
allow server/proxy side caching for ftp-over-http
protocol.
hftp:proxy (URL)
specifies http proxy for ftp-over-http protocol
(hftp). The protocol hftp cannot work without a
http proxy, obviously. Default value is taken from
environment variable ftp_proxy if it starts with
``http://'', otherwise from environment variable
http_proxy. If your ftp proxy requires authentica-
tion, specify user name and password in the URL.
hftp:use-authorization (bool)
if set to off, lftp will send password as part of
URL to the proxy. This may be required for some
proxies (e.g. M-soft). Default is on, and lftp will
send password as part of Authorization header.
hftp:use-head (bool)
if set to off, lftp will try to use `GET' instead
of `HEAD' for hftp protocol. While this is slower,
it may allow lftp to work with some proxies which
don't understand or mishandle ``HEAD ftp://''
requests.
hftp:use-type (bool)
If set to off, lftp won't try to append `;type=' to
URLs passed to proxy. Some broken proxies don't
handle it correctly. Default is on.
http:accept, http:accept-charset, http:accept-language
(string)
specify corresponding HTTP request headers.
http:cache (bool)
allow server/proxy side caching.
http:cookie (string)
send this cookie to server. A closure is useful
here:
set cookie/www.somehost.com "param=value"
http:post-content-type (string)
specifies value of Content-Type http request header
for POST method. Default is ``application/x-www-
form-urlencoded''.
http:proxy (URL)
specifies http proxy. It is used when lftp works
over http protocol. Default value is taken from
environment variable http_proxy. If your proxy
requires authentication, specify user name and
password in the URL.
http:put-method (PUT or POST)
specifies which http method to use on put.
http:put-content-type (string)
specifies value of Content-Type http request header
for PUT method.
http:referer (string)
specifies value for Referer http request header.
Single dot `.' expands to current directory URL.
Default is `.'. Set to empty string to disable Ref-
erer header.
http:set-cookies (boolean)
if true, lftp modifies http:cookie variables when
Set-Cookie header is received.
http:user-agent (string)
the string lftp sends in User-Agent header of HTTP
request.
https:proxy (string)
specifies https proxy. Default value is taken from
environment variable https_proxy.
mirror:exclude-regex (regex)
specifies default exclusion pattern. You can over-
ride it by --include option.
mirror:order (list of patterns)
specifies order of file transfers. E.g. setting
this to "*.sfv *.sum" makes mirror to transfer
files matching *.sfv first, then ones matching
*.sum and then all other files. To process directo-
ries after other files, add "*/" to end of pattern
list.
mirror:parallel-directories (boolean)
if true, mirror will start processing of several
directories in parallel when it is in parallel
mode. Otherwise, it will transfer files from a sin-
gle directory before moving to other directories.
mirror:parallel-transfer-count (number)
specifies number of parallel transfers mirror is
allowed to start. Default is 1. You can override
it with --parallel option.
module:path (string)
colon separated list of directories to look for
modules. Can be initialized by environment variable
LFTP_MODULE_PATH. Default is `PKGLIBDIR/VER-
SION:PKGLIBDIR'.
net:connection-limit (number)
maximum number of concurrent connections to the
same site. 0 means unlimited.
net:connection-takeover (bool)
if true, foreground connections have priority over
background ones and can interrupt background trans-
fers to complete a foreground operation.
net:idle (seconds)
disconnect from server after that number of idle
seconds.
net:limit-rate (bytes per second)
limit transfer rate on data connection. 0 means
unlimited. You can specify two numbers separated by
colon to limit download and upload rate separately.
net:limit-max (bytes)
limit accumulating of unused limit-rate. 0 means
unlimited.
net:limit-total-rate (bytes per second)
limit transfer rate of all connections in sum. 0
means unlimited. You can specify two numbers sepa-
rated by colon to limit download and upload rate
separately. Note that sockets have receive buffers
on them, this can lead to network link load higher
than this rate limit just after transfer beginning.
You can try to set net:socket-buffer to relatively
small value to avoid this.
net:limit-total-max (bytes)
limit accumulating of unused limit-total-rate. 0
means unlimited.
net:max-retries (number)
the maximum number of sequential retries of an
operation without success. 0 means unlimited.
net:no-proxy (string)
contains comma separated list of domains for which
proxy should not be used. Default is taken from
environment variable no_proxy.
net:persist-retries (number)
ignore this number of hard errors. Useful to login
to buggy ftp servers which reply 5xx when there is
too many users.
net:reconnect-interval-base (seconds)
sets the base minimal time between reconnects.
Actual interval depends on net:reconnect-interval-
multiplier and number of attempts to perform an
operation.
net:reconnect-interval-max (seconds)
sets maximum reconnect interval. When current
interval after multiplication by net:reconnect-
interval-multiplier reachs this value (or exceeds
it), it is reset back to net:reconnect-interval-
base.
net:reconnect-interval-multiplier (real number)
sets multiplier by which base interval is multi-
plied each time new attempt to perform an operation
fails. When the interval reachs maximum, it is
reset to base value. See net:reconnect-interval-
base and net:reconnect-interval-max.
net:socket-buffer (bytes)
use given size for SO_SNDBUF and SO_RCVBUF socket
options. 0 means system default.
net:socket-maxseg (bytes)
use given size for TCP_MAXSEG socket option. Not
all operating systems support this option, but
linux does.
net:timeout (seconds)
sets the network protocol timeout.
ssl:ca-file (path to file)
use specified file as Certificate Authority cer-
tificate.
ssl:ca-path (path to directory)
use specified directory as Certificate Authority
certificate repository.
ssl:crl-file (path to file)
use specified file as Certificate Revocation List
certificate.
ssl:crl-path (path to directory)
use specified directory as Certificate Revocation
List certificate repository.
ssl:key-file (path to file)
use specified file as your private key.
ssl:cert-file (path to file)
use specified file as your certificate.
ssl:verify-certificate (boolean)
if set to yes, then verify server's certificate to
be signed by a known Certificate Authority and not
be on Certificate Revocation List.
xfer:clobber (bool)
if this setting is off, get commands will not over-
write existing files and generate an error instead.
Default is on.
xfer:eta-period (seconds)
the period over which wheighted average rate is
calculated to produce ETA.
xfer:eta-terse (bool)
show terse ETA (only high order parts). Default is
true.
xfer:max-redirections (number)
maximum number of redirections. This can be useful
for downloading over HTTP. Default is 0, which
prohibits redirections.
xfer:rate-period (seconds)
the period over which wheighted average rate is
calculated to be shown.
The name of variables can be abbreviated unless it becomes
ambiguous. The prefix before `:' can be omitted too. You
can set one variable several times for different closures,
and thus you can get a particular settings for particular
state. The closure is to be specified after variable name
separated with slash `/'.
The closure for `dns:', `net:', `ftp:', `http:', `hftp:'
domain variables is currently just the host name as you
specify it in the `open' command (with some exceptions
where closure is meaningless, e.g. dns:cache-size). For
some `cmd:' domain variables the closure is current URL
without path. For other variables it is not currently
used. See examples in the sample lftp.conf.
Certain commands and settings take a time interval parame-
ter. It has the format Nx[Nx...], where N is time amount
and x is time unit: d - days, h - hours, m - minutes, s -
seconds. Default unit is second. E.g. 5h30m. Also the
interval can be `infinity', `inf', `never', `forever' - it
means infinite interval. E.g. `sleep forever' or `set
dns:cache-expire never'.
FTP asynchronous mode
Lftp can speed up ftp operations by sending several com-
mands at once and then checking all the responses. See
ftp:sync-mode variable. Sometimes this does not work, thus
synchronous mode is the default. You can try to turn syn-
chronous mode off and see if it works for you. It is known
that some network software dealing with address transla-
tion works incorrectly in the case of several FTP commands
in one network packet.
RFC959 says: ``The user-process sending another command
before the completion reply would be in violation of pro-
tocol; but server-FTP processes should queue any commands
that arrive while a preceding command is in progress''.
Also, RFC1123 says: ``Implementors MUST NOT assume any
correspondence between READ boundaries on the control con-
nection and the Telnet EOL sequences (CR LF).'' and ``a
single READ from the control connection may include more
than one FTP command''.
So it must be safe to send several commands at once, which
speeds up operation a lot and seems to work with all Unix
and VMS based ftp servers. Unfortunately, windows based
servers often cannot handle several commands in one
packet, and so cannot some broken routers.
OPTIONS-d Switch on debugging mode
-e commands
Execute given commands and don't exit.
-p port
Use the given port to connect
-u user[,pass]
Use the given username and password to connect
-f script_file
Execute commands in the file and exit
-c commands
Execute the given commands and exit
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables are processed by lftp:
HOME Used for (local) tilde (`~') expansion
SHELL Used by the ! command to determine the shell to
run.
PAGER This should be the name of the pager to use. It's
used by the more and zmore commands.
http_proxy, https_proxy
Used to set initial http:proxy, hftp:proxy and
https:proxy variables.
ftp_proxy
Used to set initial ftp:proxy or hftp:proxy vari-
ables, depending on URL protocol used in this envi-
ronment variable.
no_proxy
Used to set initial net:no-proxy variable.
LFTP_MODULE_PATH
Used to set initial module:path variable.
FILES
/etc/lftp.conf
system-wide startup file. Actual location depends
on --sysconfdir configure option. It is /etc when
prefix is /usr, /usr/local/etc by default.
~/.lftp/rc, ~/.lftprc
These files are executed on lftp startup after
/etc/lftp.conf.
~/.lftp/log
The file things are logged to when lftp moves into
the background in nohup mode.
~/.lftp/bookmarks
The file is used to store lftp's bookmarks. See
the bookmark command.
~/.lftp/cwd_history
The file is used to store old working directories
for each site visited.
~/.netrc
The file is consulted to get default login and
password to ftp server. Passwords are also
searched here if an URL with user name but with no
password is used.
SEE ALSOftpd(8), ftp(1)
RFC854 (telnet), RFC959 (ftp), RFC1123, RFC1945
(http/1.0), RFC2052 (SRV RR), RFC2068 (http/1.1), RFC2228
(ftp security extensions), RFC2428 (ftp/ipv6).
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-murray-auth-ftp-
ssl-05.txt (ftp over ssl).
AUTHOR
Alexander V. Lukyanov
lav@yars.free.net
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This manual page was originally written by Christoph Lame-
ter <clameter@debian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux
system. The page was improved by Nicolas Lichtmaier
<nick@Feedback.com.ar>, James Troup
<J.J.Troup@comp.brad.ac.uk> and Alexander V. Lukyanov
<lav@yars.free.net>.
02 Aug 2002 lftp(1)
