Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

OWC: Plug & Play Hardware RAID up to 8.0TB. High Performance, Data Redundant Solutions. FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB2, or eSATA. Hot Swappable Bays, Data Rates over 200MB/s. Click here

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Linux to Mac

Automating FTP on the Mac

- 2009.03.04 - Tip Jar

Popularity: LEMLEMLEM

There is no shortage of GUI FTP programs, but kicking it old school on the command line allows you to easily automate uploads and downloads. The best part is, there is nothing to install. Everything you need waits patiently behind the warm glow of a Terminal session.

The Mac Command Line FTP Program

The default command line FTP program in OS X 10.5 resides at /usr/bin/ftp

By all outward appearances and behavior, the Mac FTP program is the standard BSD version. The man page is the standard BSD main page and contains a wealth of useful information.

A typical command line FTP session is interactive and goes something like this:

  • login to an FTP server
  • issue commands (ls (list), get (download), put (upload))
  • quit

If you have a repetitive FTP task, the fun quickly fades into a mind numbing exercise. This is where FTP automation shines.

The Magical .netrc File

What makes FTP automation possible is a magical, little known file called .netrc. The .netrc file is a plain text file that is hidden (the file name starts with a period) and lives in the root of your home directory. The .netrc file allows FTP to perform automatic logins to FTP servers based on the name.

The .netrc is not created by default. You have to create it manually. To create an empty .netrc file, open a Terminal and use the following commands: 
touch .netrc
chmod 700 .netrc

It is critical that you issue the chmod command to set the permissions so that only the owner of the file can view it. If the permissions are not set correctly, the FTP client will assume it has been compromised and will refuse to use it.

Inside the .netrc, you define a block of settings for each FTP server you use, including the machine name, the login ID, and the password. Here is a typical block for a mythical FTP server: 

machine myftpserver.com
   login myuser
   password mypassword
There are additional settings that can be included. Check the FTP man page for more. You can test your settings by typing "ftp myftpserver.com" at a Terminal prompt, and it should automatically login. Note that you can store multiple FTP server logins in the .netrc file.

Sending FTP Commands from a BASH Shell Script

Once logins are automated, the final piece of the puzzle is to script a set of FTP commands. The following example uses an advanced BASH shell scripting technique called a "here" document to group the FTP commands to be sent to the server.

#!/bin/bash
/usr/bin/ftp -d myftpserver.com << ftpEOF
   prompt
   put "*.html"
   quit
ftpEOF

The FTP command is issued with the -d flag (debug mode) to make it more verbose. That makes any kind of error more obvious. The connection is made to myftpserver.com using the ID and password from the .netrc file. Once the connection is made, the rest of the commands are issued one at a time until the end of the "here" document at the second "ftpEOF". Note that any valid FTP commands can be sent. In the example, the prompt command tells FTP not to prompt for multiple file operations, then the put uploads all files with an .html extension. If you want to go the extra mile, you can extend the shell script and do things like reconnect to the FTP server to verify the file sizes of your uploads.

While there are several ways you can automate FTP, the nice thing about this method is that it is portable to Linux or any other Unix system. LEM

Keith Winston is a recent Mac convert after five years of Linux on the desktop. He also writes for Linux.com and created CommandLineMac to focus on the Unix-y power of the Mac. If you find Keith's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Linux to Mac Columns

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.