Reading — step 1 of 5

Read

~2 min readFTP Basics

Control Commands

Common FTP commands (RFC 959):

Command	Args	Purpose
USER	username	Login
PASS	password	Password
ACCT	account	Optional account info
QUIT	-	Goodbye
CWD	path	Change directory
CDUP	-	Up one directory
PWD	-	Print working dir
LIST	[path]	Directory listing
NLST	[path]	Names-only listing
RETR	path	Retrieve file
STOR	path	Store file
DELE	path	Delete file
MKD	path	Make directory
RMD	path	Remove directory
RNFR	path	Rename from
RNTO	path	Rename to
TYPE	A/I	ASCII or Binary
MODE	S/B/C	Stream/Block/Compressed
STRU	F/R/P	File/Record/Page structure
PORT	h1,h2,h3,h4,p1,p2	Active mode endpoint
PASV	-	Passive mode
EPRT	-	Extended (IPv6 active)
EPSV	-	Extended passive
FEAT	-	List features
OPTS	option	Set option
HELP	[cmd]	Help
NOOP	-	Keep alive
AUTH	TLS	Start TLS
PROT	P	Protect data channel
ABOR	-	Abort transfer
ALLO	bytes	Allocate space (deprecated)
REIN	-	Reinitialize
STAT	[path]	Server status / file info
SIZE	path	File size
MDTM	path	File mtime

Reply codes:

1xx: Provisional (transfer starting).
2xx: Success.
3xx: More info needed (e.g., USER → 331 sent password).
4xx: Temporary failure (try later).
5xx: Permanent failure.

C: USER alice
S: 331 Password required for alice
C: PASS s3cret
S: 230 Login successful
C: PWD
S: 257 "/home/alice"
C: TYPE I
S: 200 Type set to I (Binary)
C: PASV
S: 227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,1,1,123,45)
C: RETR file.bin
S: 150 Opening data connection
[data flows on data channel]
S: 226 Transfer complete

next: Practice

Discussion

Ask a question, share an insight, or help someone who’s stuck.

Loading…