ncftp(1)
ncftp(1)



NNAAMMEE
       ncftp - Browser program for the File Transfer Protocol

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
       nnccffttpp [_h_o_s_t]

       nnccffttpp
       [_f_t_p_:_/_/_h_o_s_t_._n_a_m_e_/_d_i_r_e_c_t_o_r_y_/]

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       The purpose of _n_c_f_t_p is to provide a
       powerful and flexible interface to the Internet
       standard  _F_i_l_e  _T_r_a_n_s_f_e_r
       _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l.   It  is  intended  to replace
       the stock _f_t_p program that comes with the system.

       Although  the  program  appears  to be rather
       spartan, you'll find that _n_c_f_t_p has a
       wealth of valuable performance  and  usage  features.
       The program was designed with an emphasis on usability,
       and it does as much as it can for you automatically
       so you can do what  you  expect  to  do with  a  file
       transfer  program,  which  is transfer files between
       two interconnected systems.

       Some of the cooler features include progress meters,
       filename  comple‐ tion,  command-line  editing,
       background processing, auto-resume down‐ loads,
       bookmarking, cached directory listings, host redialing,
       working with  firewalls  and proxies, downloading
       entire directory trees, etc., etc.

       The  _n_c_f_t_p  distribution  comes  with  the
       useful   utility   programs _n_c_f_t_p_g_e_t(1)
       and _n_c_f_t_p_p_u_t(1) which were designed
       to do command-line FTP.  In particular, they are
       very handy for shell scripts.  This version  of
       _n_c_f_t_p  no longer does command-line FTP,
       since the main _n_c_f_t_p program is more of a
       browser-type program.

   OOPPTTIIOONNSS
       The program allows you to specify a host or directory
       URL on  the  com‐ mand line.  This is a synonym for
       running _n_c_f_t_p and then using the _o_p_e_n
       command.  A few command-line flags are allowed with
       this mode:

       --uu _X_X   Use username _X_X instead of
       anonymous.

       --pp _X_X   Use password _X_X with the username.

       --jj _X_X   Use account _X_X in supplement to
       the username and password (dep‐
               recated).

       --PP _X_X   Use  port  number  _X_X  instead
       of the default FTP service port
               (21).

   IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN TTOO TTHHEE
   CCOOMMMMAANNDD SSHHEELLLL
       Upon running the program you are presented a command
       prompt  where  you type  commands to the program's
       shell.  Usually you will want to open a remote
       filesystem to transfer files to and from  your  local
       machine's filesystem.   To  do  that,  you  need to
       know the symbolic name of the remote system, or its
       _I_n_t_e_r_n_e_t _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l
       (IP) address.  For  example,  a symbolic name might
       be ``typhoon.unl.edu,'' and its IP address could be
       ``129.93.33.24.''  To open a connection to that  system,
       you  use  the program's _o_p_e_n command:

            open typhoon.unl.edu open 129.93.33.24

       Both  of these try to open the machine called
       typhoon at the _U_n_i_v_e_r_s_i_t_y _o_f
       _N_e_b_r_a_s_k_a.  Using the symbolic name is
       the preferred way, because  IP addresses  may  change
       without notice, while the symbolic names usually stay
       the same.

       When you open a remote filesystem, you need to  have
       permission.   The _F_T_P _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l's
       authentication system is very similar to that of logging
       in to your account.  You have to give an account name,
       and its password for  access to that account's files.
       However, most remote systems that have anything
       you might be interested in don't require an account
       name for use.  You can often get anonymous access to a
       remote filesystem and exchange files that have been made
       publicly  accessible.   The  program attempts  to  get
       anonymous  permission to a remote system by default.
       What actually happens is that the program tries to
       use ``anonymous'' as the  account  name,  and when
       prompted for a password, uses your E-mail address as a
       courtesy to the remote system's maintainer.  You can
       have the program try to use a specific account also.
       That will be explained later.

       After the _o_p_e_n command completes successfully,
       you are connected to the remote  system  and  logged
       in.  You should now see the command prompt change to
       reflect the name of the current  remote  directory.
       To  see what's  in  the  current remote directory, you
       can use the program's _l_s and _d_i_r commands.
       The former is terse, preferring more remote files
       in less  screen  space,  and  the  latter is more
       verbose, giving detailed information about each item
       in the directory.

       You can use the program's _c_d command to move to
       other  directories  on the  remote  system.  The cd
       command behaves very much like the command of the same
       name in the _B_o_u_r_n_e and _K_o_r_n shell.

       The purpose of the program is to exchange data with
       other systems.  You can use the program's _g_e_t
       command to copy a file from the remote system to your
       local system:

            get README.txt

       The program will display the progress of the transfer
       on the screen, so you  can  tell  how much needs to be
       done before the transfer finishes.  When the transfer
       does finish, then you can enter more commands to  the
       program's command shell.

       You  can  use the program's _p_u_t command to copy
       a file from your system to the remote system:

            put something.tar

       When you are finished using the remote system, you
       can open another one or use the _q_u_i_t

       Before  quitting,  you  may want to save the current
       FTP session's set‐ tings for later.  You can use the
       _b_o_o_k_m_a_r_k command  to  save  an  entry
       into  your $HOME/.ncftp/bookmarks file.  When you use
       the _b_o_o_k_m_a_r_k com‐ mand, you also
       specify a bookmark name, so the  next  time  instead
       of opening  the  full  hostname  you  can use the
       name of the bookmark.  A bookmark acts just like one
       for your  web  browser,  so  it  saves  the remote
       directory  you  were  in,  the account name you used,
       etc., and other information it learned so that the
       next time you use the bookmark it should require as
       little effort from you as possible.

   CCOOMMMMAANNDD RREEFFEERREENNCCEE
       help   The first command to know is _h_e_l_p.
       If you just type

                   help

              from  the  command shell, the program prints
              the names of all of the supported commands.
              From there, you can get  specific  help for a
              command by typing the command after, for example:

                   help open

              prints information about the _o_p_e_n
              command.

       ascii  This command sets the transfer type to ASCII
       text.  This is use‐
              ful for text-only transfers because the concept
              of  text  files differs  between operating
              systems.  For example on UNIX, a text file
              denotes line breaks with the linefeed character,
              while  on MS-DOS a line break is denoted by
              both a carriage return charac‐ ter and a
              line feed character.  Therefore,  for  data
              transfers that  you  consider the data as text
              you can use _a_s_c_i_i to ensure that both
              the remote system and local system  translate
              accord‐ ingly.   The default transfer type
              that _n_c_f_t_p uses is not ASCII, but
              straight binary.

       bgget and bgput
              These commands correspond to the _g_e_t
              and _p_u_t commands  explained below,
              except that they do the job in the background.
              Normally when you do a _g_e_t then the
              program  does  the  download  immedi‐ ately,
              and  does  not  return control to you until the
              download completes.  The background transfers
              are nice  because  you  can continue browsing
              the remote filesystem and even open other
              sys‐ tems.  In fact, they are done by a
              daemon process,  so  even  if you  log  off
              your  UNIX  host  the daemon should still
              do your transfers.  The daemon will also
              automatically continue to retry the  transfers
              until they finish.  To tell when background
              jobs have finished, you have to  examine  the
              _$_H_O_M_E_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_s_p_o_o_l_/_l_o_g
              file, or run the _j_o_b_s command from
              within _N_c_F_T_P.

              Both  the _b_g_g_e_t and _b_g_p_u_t
              commands allow you to schedule when to do the
              transfers.  They take a ``-@'' parameter, whose
              argument is  a  date  of the form YYYYMMDDhhmmss
              (four digit year, month, day, hour, minute,
              second).  For example, to schedule a download
              at 3 AM on November 6, you could try:

                   bgget -@ 19971106030000
                   /pub/idstuff/quake/q2_100.zip

       bgstart
              This  command  tells  _n_c_f_t_p  to
              immediately start the background transfers
              you've requested, which simply  runs  a  copy
              of  the _n_c_f_t_p_b_a_t_c_h program
              which is responsible for the background jobs.
              Normally the program will start the background
              job  as  soon  as you  close  the  current
              site, open a new site, or quit the pro‐ gram.
              The reason for this is because since so many
              users  still use  slow  dialup  links  that
              starting the transfers would slow things to a
              crawl, making it difficult to browse the remote
              sys‐ tem.   An  added  bonus  of starting
              the background job when you close the site is
              that _n_c_f_t_p can pass off that  open
              connection to the _n_c_f_t_p_b_a_t_c_h
              program.  That is nice when the site is always
              busy, so that the background job doesn't have
              to  wait  and  get re-logged on to do its job.

       binary Sets  the transfer type to raw binary, so that
       no translation is
              done on the data transferred.  This is the
              default anyway, since most files are in binary.

       bookmark
              Saves  the current session settings for later
              use.  This is use‐ ful to save the remote
              system and remote  working  directory  so you
              can quickly resume where you left off some
              other time.  The bookmark data is stored in your
              _$_H_O_M_E_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_b_o_o_k_m_a_r_k_s
              file.

       bookmarks
              Lists the contents of  your
              _$_H_O_M_E_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_b_o_o_k_m_a_r_k_s
              file  in  a human-readable  format.   You can
              use this command to recall the bookmark name
              of a previously saved bookmark, so  that  you
              can use the _o_p_e_n command with it.

       cat    Acts  like the ``/bin/cat'' _U_N_I_X command,
       only for remote files.
              This downloads the file you specify and dumps
              it directly to the screen.   You  will  probably
              find the _p_a_g_e command more useful, since
              that lets you view the file one screen at a  time
              instead of printing the entire file at once.

       cd     Changes the working directory on the remote host.
       Use this com‐
              mand to move to different areas on the remote
              server.   If  you just  opened  a  new  site,
              you might be in the root directory.  Perhaps
              there      was       a       directory
              called ``/pub/news/comp.sources.d''  that
              someone told you about.  From the root directory,
              you could:

                   cd pub cd news cd comp.sources.d

              or, more concisely,

                   cd /pub/news/comp.sources.d

              Then, commands such as _g_e_t, _p_u_t,
              and _l_s could be used  to  refer to items
              in that directory.

              Some shells in the _U_N_I_X environment
              have a feature I like, which is switching to
              the previous directory.  Like those shells,
              you can do:

                   cd -

              to change to the last directory you were in.

       chmod  Acts  like  the  ``/bin/chmod''  _U_N_I_X
       command,  only for remote
              files.  However, this is not a standard command,
              so  remote  FTP servers may not support it.

       close  Disconnects  you  from the remote server.
       The program does this
              for you automatically when needed, so you can
              simply open  other sites  or  quit  the  program
              without worrying about closing the connection
              by hand.

       debug  This command is mostly for internal testing.
       You could type

                   debug 1

              to turn debugging mode on.  Then  you  could
              see  all  messages between  the  program
              and the remote server, and things that are
              only printed in debugging mode.  However,
              this  information  is also  available in the
              _$_H_O_M_E_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_t_r_a_c_e
              file, which is created each time you run
              _n_c_f_t_p.  If you need to report a  bug,
              send  a _t_r_a_c_e file if you can.

       dir    Prints  a  detailed  directory listing.
       It tries to behave like
              _U_N_I_X's ``/bin/ls -l'' command.  If the
              remote server seems to be a  _U_N_I_X host,
              you can also use the same flags you would with
              _l_s, for instance

                   dir -rt

              would try to act like

                   /bin/ls -lrt

              would on _U_N_I_X.

       edit   Downloads into a temporary file for editing on
       the  local  host,
              then uploads the changed file back to the
              remote host.

       get    Copies  files  from  the current working
       directory on the remote
              host to your machine's current working
              directory.   To  place  a copy  of  ``README''
              and ``README.too'' in your local directory,
              you could try:

                   get README README.too

              You could also accomplish that by using a
              wildcard  expression, such as:

                   get README*

              This  command  is similar to the behavior
              of other FTP programs' _m_g_e_t command.
              To retrieve a remote file but give it a different
              name  on  your  host, you can use the ``-z''
              flag.  This example shows how to download a
              file  called  _R_e_a_d_M_e_._t_x_t
              but  name  it locally as _R_E_A_D_M_E:

                   get -z ReadMe.txt README

              The  program  tries  to  ``resume''  downloads
              by default.  This means that if the remote
              FTP server lost the connection and  was only
              able  to  send  490  kilobytes of a 500 kilobyte
              file, you could reconnect to the FTP server and
              do another _g_e_t on the same file  name
              and  it  would get the last 10 kilobytes,
              instead of retrieving the entire file  again.
              There  are  some  occasions where  you  may
              not want that behavior.  To turn it off you
              can use the ``-f'' flag.

              There are also times where you want to  append
              to  an  existing file.  You can do this by
              using the ``-A'' flag, for example

                   get -A log.11

              would append to a file named ``log.11'' if it
              existed locally.

              Another thing you can do is delete a remote
              file after you down‐ load it.  This can be
              useful when a remote host expects  a  file to  be
              removed  when  it  has been retrieved.  Use the
              double-D flag, such as ``get -DD'' to do this.

              The _g_e_t command lets you retrieve entire
              directory  trees,  too.  Although  it  may not
              work with some remote systems, you can try
              ``get -R'' with a directory to download the
              directory  and  its contents.

              When  using the ``-R'' flag, you can also use the
              ``-T'' flag to disable automatic on-the-fly  TAR
              mode  for  downloading  whole directory  trees.
              The program uses TAR whenever possible since
              this usually preserves symbolic links and
              file permissions.  TAR mode  can  also  result
              in faster transfers for directories con‐
              taining many small files, since a single data
              connection can  be used rather than an FTP data
              connection for each small file. The downside
              to using TAR is that it forces downloading of
              the whole directory, even if you had previously
              downloaded a portion of it earlier, so you may
              want to use  this  option  if  you  want  to
              resume downloading of a directory.

       jobs   Views  the  list  of currently executing
       _N_c_F_T_P background tasks.
              This actually just runs
              _n_c_f_t_p_b_a_t_c_h _-_l for you.

       lcd    The _l_c_d command is the first of a few
       ``l'' commands  that  work
              with the local host.  This changes the current
              working directory on the local host.  If you want
              to download files into a differ‐ ent  local
              directory, you could use _l_c_d to change
              to that direc‐ tory and then do your downloads.

       lchmod Runs ``/bin/chmod'' on the local host.

       lls    Another local command that comes in handy is
       the  _l_l_s  command,
              which  runs  ``/bin/ls''  on  the  local  host
              and displays the results in the program's window.
              You can  use  the  same  flags with  _l_l_s
              as  you  would  in  your command shell, so you
              can do things like:

                   lcd ~/doc lls -lrt p*.txt

       lmkdir Runs ``/bin/mkdir'' on the local host.

       lookup The program also has a built-in interface to
       the  name  service
              via  the  _l_o_o_k_u_p command.  This means
              you can lookup entries for remote hosts, like:

                   lookup cse.unl.edu ftp.cs.unl.edu
                   sphygmomanometer.unl.edu

              prints:

                   cse.unl.edu               129.93.33.1
                   typhoon.unl.edu           129.93.33.24
                   sphygmomanometer.unl.edu  129.93.33.126

              There is also a more detailed option, enabled
              with ``-v,'' i.e.:

                   lookup -v cse.unl.edu ftp.cs.unl.edu

              prints:

                   cse.unl.edu:
                       Name:     cse.unl.edu Address:
                       129.93.33.1

                   ftp.cs.unl.edu:
                       Name:     typhoon.unl.edu Alias:
                       ftp.cs.unl.edu Address:  129.93.33.24

              You can also give _I_P addresses, so this
              would work too:

                   lookup 129.93.33.24

              prints:

                   typhoon.unl.edu           129.93.33.24

       lpage  Views a local file one page  at  a  time,
       with  your  preferred
              $PAGER program.

       lpwd   Prints  the  current local directory.  Use this
       command when you
              forget where you are on your local machine.

       lrename
              Runs ``/bin/mv'' on the local host.

       lrm    Runs ``/bin/rm'' on the local host.

       lrmdir Runs ``/bin/rmdir'' on the local host.

       ls     Prints a directory listing from the remote
       system.  It tries  to
              behave  like  _U_N_I_X's  ``/bin/ls -CF''
              command.   If  the remote server seems to be
              a _U_N_I_X host, you can also use the same
              flags you would with _l_s, for instance

                   ls -rt

              would try to act like

                   /bin/ls -CFrt

              would on _U_N_I_X.

              _n_c_f_t_p  has a powerful built-in
              system for dealing with directory listings.
              It tries to cache each one, so if you list  the
              same directory,  odds  are  it  will  display
              instantly.  Behind the scenes, _n_c_f_t_p
              always tries a long listing, and then reformats
              it as  it  needs  to.  So even if your first
              listing of a directory was a regular ``ls''
              which displayed the files in columns,  your next
              listing could be ``ls -lrt'' and _n_c_f_t_p
              would still use the cached directory listing
              to quickly display the information  for you!

       mkdir  Creates a new directory on the remote host.
       For many public ar‐
              chives, you won't have the proper access
              permissions to do that.

       open   Establishes an FTP control connection  to  a
       remote  host.   By
              default,  _n_c_f_t_p logs in anonymously
              to the remote host.  You may want to use a
              specific user account when you log in, so you
              can use  the  ``-u'' flag to specify which user.
              This example shows how to _o_p_e_n the host
              ``bowser.nintendo.co.jp'' using  the  user‐
              name ``mario:''

                   open -u mario bowser.nintendo.co.jp

              Here  is  a list of options available for use
              with the _o_p_e_n com‐ mand:

              --uu _X_X Use username _X_X instead
              of anonymous.

              --pp _X_X Use password _X_X with the
              username.

              --jj _X_X Use account _X_X in supplement
              to the username and  password (deprecated).

              --PP _X_X Use port number _X_X instead
              of the default FTP service port (21).

       page   Browses a remote file one page at a time,
       using your $PAGER pro‐
              gram.   This  is  useful for reading README's on
              the remote host without downloading them first.

       pdir and pls
              These commands are equivalent to _d_i_r and
              _l_s  respectively,  only they feed their
              output to your pager.  These commands are useful
              if the directory listing scrolls off your screen.

       put    Copies files from the local host to the remote
       machine's current
              working directory.  To place a copy of ``xx.zip''
              and ``yy.zip'' in the remote directory, you
              could try:

                   put xx.zip yy.zip

              You could also accomplish that by using a
              wildcard  expression, such as:

                   put *.zip

              This  command  is similar to the behavior
              of other FTP programs' _m_p_u_t command.
              To send a remote file but  give  it  a  different
              name  on  your  host, you can use the ``-z''
              flag.  This example shows how to upload a file
              called  ``ncftpd-2.0.6.tar.gz''  but name it
              remotely as ``NFTPD206.TGZ:''

                   put -z ncftpd-2.0.6.tar.gz NFTPD206.TGZ

              The  program  _d_o_e_s _n_o_t try to
              ``resume'' uploads by default.  If you do want
              to resume an upload, use the ``-z'' flag.

              There are also times where you want to  append
              to  an  existing remote  file.   You  can  do
              this by using the ``-A'' flag, for example

                   put -A log11.txt

              would append to a file named ``log11.txt''
              if it existed on  the remote server.

              Another thing you can do is delete a local file
              after you upload it.  Use the double-D flag,
              such as ``put -DD'' to do this.

              The _p_u_t command lets you send entire
              directory trees,  too.   It should  work  on
              all  remote systems, so you can try ``put -R''
              with a directory to upload the directory and
              its contents.

       pwd    Prints the current remote working directory.
       A portion  of  the
              pathname is also displayed in the shell's prompt.

       quit   Of  course,  when you finish using the program,
       type _q_u_i_t to end
              the program (You could also use _b_y_e,
              _e_x_i_t, or _^_D).

       quote  This can be used to send a direct _F_T_P
       _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l  command  to  the
              remote  server.   Generally this isn't too
              useful to the average user.

       rename If you need to change the name of a remote file,
       you can use the
              _r_e_n_a_m_e command, like:

                   rename SPHYGMTR.TAR
                   sphygmomanometer-2.3.1.tar

       rhelp  Sends a help request to the remote server.
       The list of _F_T_P _P_r_o_‐
              _t_o_c_o_l commands is often printed,
              and sometimes some other infor‐ mation  that
              is  actually  useful,  like  how to reach the
              site administrator.

              Depending on the remote server, you may be able
              to give a param‐ eter to the server also, like:

                   rhelp NLST

              One server responded:

                   Syntax: NLST [ <sp> path-name ]

       rm     If  you need to delete a remote file you can
       try the _r_m command.
              Much of the time this won't work  because  you
              won't  have  the proper  access  permissions.
              This  command  doesn't accept any flags, so
              you can't nuke a whole tree  by  using  ``-rf''
              flags like you can on _U_N_I_X.

       rmdir  Similarly,  the _r_m_d_i_r command removes
       a directory.  Depending on
              the remote server, you may be able to remove
              a non-empty  direc‐ tory, so be careful.

       set    This  lets you configure some program variables,
       which are saved
              between runs in the
              _$_H_O_M_E_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_p_r_e_f_s
              file.  The  basic  syntax is:

                   set <option> <value>

              For example, to change the value you use for
              the anonymous pass‐ word, you might do:

                   set anon-password devnull@example.com

              See the next section for a list of things
              you change.

       show   This  lets  you  display  program   variables.
       You   can   do
              ``show all''  to display all of them, or give a
              variable name to just display that one, such as:

                   show anon-password

       site   One obscure command you may have to use someday
       is  _s_i_t_e.   The
              _F_T_P  _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l  allows  for
              ``site  specific''  commands.  These ``site''
              commands vary of course, such as:

                   site chmod 644 README

              Actually, _n_c_f_t_p's _c_h_m_o_d
              command really does the above.

              Try doing one of these to see what the remote
              server  supports, if any:

                   rhelp SITE site help

       type   You  may  need  to  change transfer types during
       the course of a
              session with a server.  You can use the
              _t_y_p_e command to do this.  Try one
              of these:

                   type ascii type binary type image

              The  _a_s_c_i_i  command  is equivalent to
              ``type a'', and the _b_i_n_a_r_y command
              is equivalent to ``type i'' and ``type b''.

       umask  Sets the process' _u_m_a_s_k on the remote
       server, if it has any con‐
              cept of a umask, i.e.:

                   umask 077

              However,  this  is not a standard command,
              so remote FTP servers may not support it.

       version
              This command dumps some information about the
              particular edition of  the  program you are
              using, and how it was installed on your system.

   VVAARRIIAABBLLEE RREEFFEERREENNCCEE
       anon-password
              Specifies what to use for the password when
              logging  in  anony‐ mously.  Internet
              convention has been to use your E-mail address
              as a courtesy to the site administrator.  If you
              change this, be aware that some sites require
              (i.e. they check for) valid E-mail addresses.

       auto-resume
              _N_c_F_T_P 3 now prompts the user by default
              when you try to download a  file  that  already
              exists  locally,  or  upload a file that already
              exists remotely.  Older versions of the program
              automat‐ ically guessed whether to overwrite
              the existing file or attempt to resume where it
              left off, but  sometimes  the  program  would
              guess  wrong.  If you would prefer that the
              program always guess which action to take,
              set this variable to _y_e_s, otherwise,
              leave it set to _n_o and the program will
              prompt you for which action to take.

       autosave-bookmark-changes
              With the advent of version 3 of _N_c_F_T_P,
              the program treats  book‐ marks  more  like
              they would with your web browser, which means
              that once you bookmark the site, the remote
              directory is static.  If you set this variable
              to _y_e_s, then the program will automati‐
              cally update the bookmark's starting remote
              directory  with  the directory  you  were in
              when you closed the site.  This behavior would
              be more like that of _N_c_F_T_P version 2.

       confirm-close
              By default the program will ask you  when  a
              site  you  haven't bookmarked  is about to
              be closed.  To turn this prompt off, you can
              set this variable to _n_o.

       connect-timeout
              Previous versions of the program used a single
              timeout value for everything.   You  can  now
              have different values for different operations.
              However, you probably do not need to  change
              these from the defaults unless you have special
              requirements.

              The
              _c_o_n_n_e_c_t_-_t_i_m_e_o_u_t
              variable controls how long to wait, in sec‐
              onds, for a connection establishment to complete
              before  consid‐ ering  it  hopeless.  You can
              choose to not use a timeout at all by setting
              this to -1.

       control-timeout
              This is the timer used when _n_c_f_t_p sends
              an FTP command over  the control  connection
              to the remote server.  If the server hasn't
              replied in that many seconds, it considers the
              session lost.

       logsize
              This is controls how large the transfer  log
              ($HOME/.ncftp/log) can  grow  to,  in kilobytes.
              The default is 200, for 200kB; if you don't
              want a log, set this to 0.

       pager  This is the external program to use to view a
       text file, and  is
              _m_o_r_e by default.

       passive
              This  controls _n_c_f_t_p's behavior
              for data connections, and can be set to
              one of _o_n, _o_f_f, or the default,
              _o_p_t_i_o_n_a_l.   When  passive mode
              is  on,  _n_c_f_t_p uses the FTP command
              primitive _P_A_S_V to have the client
              establish  data  connections  to  the  server.
              The default  FTP  protocol behavior is to use
              the FTP command primi‐ tive _P_O_R_T which
              has the server establish data connections to the
              client.  The default setting for this variable,
              _o_p_t_i_o_n_a_l, allows _n_c_f_t_p
              to choose whichever method it deems necessary.

       progress-meter
              You can change how the program  reports  file
              transfer  status.  Select from meter _2, _1,
              or _0.

       redial-delay
              When  a host is busy or unavailable, the program
              waits this num‐ ber of seconds before trying
              again.  The smallest  you  can  set this is to
              10 seconds -- so if you were planning on being
              incon‐ siderate, think again.

       save-passwords
              If you set this variable to _y_e_s,
              the program will save passwords along  with
              the bookmarks you save.  While this makes
              non-anony‐ mous logins more convenient, this
              can be  very  dangerous  since your    account
              information    is    now   sitting   in   the
              $HOME/.ncftp/bookmarks file.   The  passwords
              aren't  in  clear text, but it is still trivial
              to decode them if someone wants to make a
              modest effort.

       so-bufsize
              If your operating system supports TCP Large
              Windows, you can try setting  this  variable to
              the number of bytes to set the TCP/IP socket
              buffer to.  This option won't be of much use
              unless  the remote  server  also supports large
              window sizes and is pre-con‐ figured with
              them enabled.

       xfer-timeout
              This timer controls how long to wait for  data
              blocks  to  com‐ plete.  Don't set this too
              low or else your transfers will time‐ out
              without completing.

   FFIIRREEWWAALLLL AANNDD PPRROOXXYY
   CCOONNFFIIGGUURRAATTIIOONN
       You may find that your network  administrator  has
       placed  a  firewall between your machine and the
       Internet, and that you cannot reach exter‐ nal hosts.

       The answer may be as simple as setting _n_c_f_t_p
       to use _p_a_s_s_i_v_e mode  only, which you
       can do from a _n_c_f_t_p command prompt like this:

            set passive on

       The  reason  for  this  is because many firewalls do
       not allow incoming connections to the site, but do
       allow users to establish outgoing  con‐ nections.
       A  passive  data connection is established by the
       client to the server, whereas the default is for the
       server to establish the con‐ nection  to  the client,
       which firewalls may object to.  Of course, you now may
       have problems with sites whose primitive  FTP  servers
       do  not support passive mode.

       Otherwise, if you know you need to have _n_c_f_t_p
       communicate directly with a   firewall   or
       proxy,   you   can   try   editing   the   separate
       _$_H_O_M_E_/_._n_c_f_t_p_/_f_i_r_e_w_a_l_l
       configuration  file.  This file is created auto‐
       matically the first time you run the  program,  and
       contains  all  the information you need to get the
       program to work in this setup.

       The  basics  of this process are configuring a firewall
       (proxy) host to go through, a user account and password
       for authentication on the fire‐ wall,  and which
       type of firewall method to use.  You can also setup
       an exclusion list, so that _n_c_f_t_p does not
       use the firewall  for  hosts  on the local network.

FFIILLEESS
       $HOME/.ncftp/bookmarks
              Saves bookmark and host information.

       $HOME/.ncftp/firewall
              Firewall access configuration file.

       $HOME/.ncftp/prefs
              Program preferences.

       $HOME/.ncftp/trace
              Debugging output for entire program run.

       $HOME/.ncftp/v3init
              Used to tell if this version of the program
              has run before.

       $HOME/.ncftp/spool/
              Directory  where background jobs are stored in
              the form of spool configuration files.

       $HOME/.ncftp/spool/log
              Information for background data transfer
              processes.

EENNVVIIRROONNMMEENNTT
       PATH   User's search path, used to find the
       _n_c_f_t_p_b_a_t_c_h program,  pager,
              and some other system utilities.

       PAGER  Program to use to view text files one page at
       a time.

       TERM   If  the  program  was  compiled with support
       for _G_N_U _R_e_a_d_l_i_n_e it
              will need to know how to manipulate the terminal
              correctly  for line-editing,  etc.   The pager
              program will also take advantage of this setting.

       HOME   By default, the program  writes  its
       configuration  data  in  a
              _._n_c_f_t_p subdirectory of the
              _H_O_M_E directory.

       NCFTPDIR
              If   set,  the  program  will
              use  this  directory  instead  of
              _$_H_O_M_E_/_._n_c_f_t_p.
              This variable is optional except for those
              users whose home directory is the root directory.

       COLUMNS
              Both  the  built-in  _l_s command and the
              external _l_s command need this to determine
              how many screen columns the terminal has.

BBUUGGSS
       There are no such sites named
       _b_o_w_s_e_r_._n_i_n_t_e_n_d_o_._c_o_._j_p
       or  _s_p_h_y_g_m_o_m_a_n_o_m_e_‐
       _t_e_r_._u_n_l_._e_d_u.

       Auto-resume  should  check  the file timestamps instead
       of relying upon just the file sizes, but it is difficult
       to  do  this  reliably  within FTP.

       Directory  caching and recursive downloads depend on
       _U_N_I_X-like behavior of the remote host.

AAUUTTHHOORR
       Mike Gleason, NcFTP Software (http://www.ncftp.com).

SSEEEE AALLSSOO
       _n_c_f_t_p_p_u_t(1),
       _n_c_f_t_p_g_e_t(1),
       _n_c_f_t_p_b_a_t_c_h(1), _f_t_p(1),
       _r_c_p(1), _t_f_t_p(1).

       _L_i_b_N_c_F_T_P
       (http://www.ncftp.com/libncftp).

       _N_c_F_T_P_d (http://www.ncftp.com/ncftpd).

TTHHAANNKKSS
       Thanks to everyone who uses the program.  Your support
       is  what  drives me to improve the program!

       I thank Dale Botkin and Tim Russell at my former ISP,
       _P_r_o_b_e _T_e_c_h_n_o_l_o_g_y.

       Ideas and some code contributed by my partner,
       Phil Dietz.

       Thanks to Brad Mittelstedt and Chris Tjon, for driving
       and refining the development of the backbone of this
       project, _L_i_b_N_c_F_T_P.

       I'd like to thank my former system administrators,
       most notably Charles Daniel,  for making testing on
       a variety of platforms possible, letting me have some
       extra disk space, and for maintaining the UNL FTP site.

       For testing versions 1 and 2 above and beyond the call
       of  duty,  I  am especially  grateful to: Phil Dietz,
       Kok Hon Yin, and Andrey A. Chernov (ache@astral.msk.su).

       Thanks to Tim MacKenzie (t.mackenzie@trl.oz.au) for
       the original  file‐ name completion code for version
       2.3.0 and 2.4.2.

       Thanks to DaviD W. Sanderson (dws@ora.com), for helping
       me out with the man page.

       Thanks to those of you at UNL who appreciate my work.

       Thanks to Red Hat Software for honoring  my  licensing
       agreement,  but more  importantly, thanks for providing
       a solid and affordable develop‐ ment platform.

AAPPOOLLOOGGIIEESS
       To the users, for not being able to respond personally
       to most of  your inquiries.

       To Phil, for things not being the way they should be.



ncftp                           NcFTP Software
ncftp(1)
