FTP Commands Supported by EFT

During FTP sessions, servers send and receive various numbered codes to/from FTP clients. Some codes represent errors; most others simply communicate the status of the connection.

When determining a course of action, review the entire log; some codes are informational only, others indicate that you have entered the wrong information, and others indicate what information you need to provide before continuing with your file transfer.

For brief explanations for the most common FTP status and error codes, refer to Knowledgebase article #10142 at https://kb.globalscape.com/KnowledgebaseArticle10142.aspx.

Below is the list of FTP commands that EFT supports and will give a known response to, followed by a few commands that it recognizes, but gives an error message of "202 Command not implemented, superfluous at this site."

Cmd

RFC

Description

ABOR

RFC959

Abort a file transfer

ALLO

RFC959

Allocates sufficient storage space to receive a file. e.g., ALLO size [R max-record-size]

APPE

RFC959

Append data to the end of a file on the remote host. e.g., APPE remote-filename

AUTH

RFC 2228

Used to initiate an SSL encrypted session

CCC

RFC 2228

Clear Command Channel for FTPS transfers

CDUP

RFC959

Change working directory to the parent of the current directory

CLNT

-

Used to identify the client software to the server. This command serves no functional purpose other than to provide information to the server. EFT does not alter its behavior based on the parameters provided in the CLNT command.

COMB

-

Combines file segments into a single file on EFT. (For information about using the COMB command with EFT, refer to Allowing Multipart Transfers (COMB Command).)

CWD

RFC 697

Change working directory. e.g., CWD remote-directory

DELE

RFC959

Delete remote file

EPRT

RFC 2428

Specifies an extended address and port to which the server should connect

EPSV

RFC 2428

Enter extended passive mode

FEAT

RFC 2389

List all FTP features that EFT supports

HELP

RFC959

Display a list of all available FTP commands

LANG

RFC 2640

Language Negotiation; defaults to English-US, even if a different language is requested.

LIST

RFC959

Send list of file names and details

MDTM

RFC 3659

Display date/time file was modified, in the format YYYYMMDDhhmmss. YYYY is the four-digit year, MM is the month from 01 to 12, DD is the day of the month from 01 to 31, hh is the hours from 00 to 23, mm is the minutes from 00 to 59, and ss is the seconds from 00 to 59.

MKD

RFC959

Create (make) a remote directory

MLSD

RFC 3659

Display an abbreviated list of a remote directory's files and subdirectories

MLST

RFC 3659

Display detailed file or directory information

MODE

RFC959

Sets the mode in which data is to be transferred to S (Stream) or Z (Compressed); The default mode is Stream. (Only "s" or "z" supported.)

NLST

RFC959

Send list of file names (no details)

NOOP

RFC959

Do nothing; often used to keep the session alive.

OPTS

RFC 2389

Used to specify optional parameters for the command that follows the OPTS command, if that command supports such optional parameters. (The commands "mslt" and "mode z level X," where x=1-9, are supported.)

PASS

RFC959

Send password. e.g.,  PASS <password>

PASV

RFC959

Enter passive mode

PBSZ

RFC 2228

Protection Buffer Size. If EFT receives this command, it sets it to 0.

PORT

RFC959

Specifies the host and port to which EFT should connect for the next file transfer.

PROT

RFC 2228

Data Channel Protection Level. Used to set the protection level to be used for data transfers. PROT P is used to secure the data channel; PROT C is used to clear the data channel.

PWD

RFC959

Display current directory (print working directory)

QUIT

RFC959

Closes the connection and terminates the FTP session.

REIN

RFC959

Reinitialize the connection and cancels the current user/password/account information

REST

RFC 3659

Sets the point at which a file transfer should start. e.g.,  REST position

RETR

RFC959

Begins transmission of a file from the remote host. Must be preceded by either a PORT command or a PASV command to indicate where EFT should send data. e.g., RETR remote-filename

RMD

RFC959

Deletes the named directory on the remote host. e.g., RMD remote-directory

RNFR

RFC959

Rename from (followed by an RNTO command to specify the new name for the file) e.g., RNFR from-filename

RNTO

RFC959

Rename to (after sending an RNFR command to specify the file to rename, this command is used to specify the new name for the file) e.g., RNTO to-filename

SITE

RFC959

Site-specific commands. e.g., SITE site-specific-command

SIZE

RFC 3659

Display size of a file. e.g., SIZE remote-filename

SSCN

-

(Set Secured Client Negotiation) Extension for secure site-to-site transfers over SSL/TLS connections

STAT

RFC959

Display server status. e.g., STAT [remote-filespec]

STOR

RFC959

Begins transmission of a file to the remote site. Must be preceded by either a PORT command or a PASV command so that EFT knows from where to accept data. e.g., STOR remote-filename

STOU

RFC959

Begins transmission of a file to the remote site; the remote filename will be unique in the current directory.

SYST

RFC959

Displays a string of "215 UNIX Type: L8"

TYPE

RFC959

Sets the type of file to be transferred. For example: TYPE type-character [second-type-character] "type-character" can be A (ASCII text) or I (image, binary data) The second-type-character specifies how the text should be interpreted. It can be N (Non-print; not destined for printing. This is the default if second-type-character is omitted), T (Telnet format control <CR>, <FF>, etc.), or C (ASA Carriage Control).

USER

RFC959

Send username. e.g., USER username

XCUP

RFC 775

(same as CDUP)

XCWD

-

(same as CWD)

XMKD

RFC 775

(same as MKD)

XNOP

-

(same as NOOP)

XPWD

RFC 775

(same as PWD)

XRMD

RFC 775

(same as RMD)

XCRC

-

Compute CRC32 checksum on specified file

The following commands are recognized, but not supported:

Cmd

RFC

Description

ACCT

RFC959

Send account information

SMNT

RFC959

Mount a different file system data structure without altering login or accounting information

STRU

RFC959

Set file transfer structure