netrc(4) File Formats netrc(4)NAMEnetrc - file for ftp remote login data
DESCRIPTION
The .netrc file contains data for logging in to a remote host over the
network for file transfers by ftp(1). This file resides in the user's
home directory on the machine initiating the file transfer. Its permis‐
sions should be set to disallow read access by group and others. See
chmod(1).
Tokens can be separated by SPACE, TAB, or NEWLINE characters. The fol‐
lowing tokens are supported:
account string Supply an additional account password. If this token is
present, the auto-login process supplies the specified
string if the remote server requires an additional
account password. If the remote server does not require
an additional account password, the auto-login process
initiates an ACCT command.
default Same as machine name, except that default matches any
name. There can be only one default token, and it must
be after all machine tokens. The default token is nor‐
mally used as follows:
default login anonymous password user@site
Such an entry gives the user automatic anonymous ftp
login to machines not specified in .netrc.
login name Identify a user on the remote machine. If this token is
present, the auto-login process initiates a login using
the specified name.
machine name Identify a remote machine name. The auto-login process
searches the .netrc file for a machine token that
matches the remote machine specified on the ftp command
line or as an open command argument. Once a match is
made, the subsequent .netrc tokens are processed, stop‐
ping when the EOF is reached or another machine token
is encountered.
macdef name Define a macro. This token functions the same as ftp
macdef. A macro is defined with the specified name; its
contents begin with the next .netrc line and continue
until a null line (consecutive NEWLINE characters) is
encountered. If a macro named init is defined, it is
automatically executed as the last step in the auto-
login process.
password string Supply a password. If this token is present, the auto-
login process supplies the specified string if the
remote server requires a password as part of the login
process. If this token is present in the .netrc file,
ftp aborts the auto-login process if the .netrc is
readable by anyone besides the user.
skipsyst Skip the SYST command that is sent by default to all
remote servers upon connection. The system command is
what enables the automatic use of binary mode rather
than the protocol default ascii mode.
As some older servers cannot handle the ftp command,
this directive is provided to allow inter-operability
with these servers.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: A Sample .netrc File
A .netrc file containing the following line:
machine ray login demo password mypassword
allows an autologin to the machine ray using the login name demo with
password mypassword.
FILES
~/.netrc
SEE ALSOchmod(1), ftp(1), in.ftpd(1M)SunOS 5.10 25 Aug 2006 netrc(4)
