get1 [OPTS] rfile

Transfer a single file. Options:

-o <lfile>      destination file name (default - basename of rfile)
-c              continue, reget
-E              delete source files after successful transfer
-a              use ascii mode (binary is the default)
--source-region=<from-to>
                transfer specified region of source file
--target-position=<pos>
                position in target file to write data at

glob [-d] [-a] [-f] command patterns

Glob given patterns containing metacharacters and pass result to given command. E.g. ``glob echo *''.

-f      plain files (default)
-d      directories
-a      all types

help [cmd]

Print help for cmd or if no cmd was specified print a list of available commands.

jobs [-v]

List running jobs. -v means verbose, several -v can be specified.

kill all|job_no

Delete specified job with job_no or all jobs. (For job_no see jobs)

lcd ldir

Change current local directory ldir. The previous local directory is stored as `-'. You can do `lcd -' to change the directory back.

lpwd

Print current working directory on local machine.

ls params

List remote files. You can redirect output of this command to file or via pipe to external command. By default, ls output is cached, to see new listing use rels or cache flush.

mget [-c] [-d] [-a] [-E] [-O base] files

Gets selected files with expanded wildcards.

-c              continue, reget.
-d              create directories the same as file names and get
                the files into them instead of current directory.
-E              delete source files after successful transfer
-a              use ascii mode (binary is the default)
-O <base>       specifies base directory or URL where files should be placed

mirror [OPTS] [source [target]]

Mirror specified source directory to local target directory. If target directory ends with a slash, the source base name is appended to target directory name. Source and/or target can be URLs pointing to directories.

-c, --continue          continue a mirror job if possible
-e, --delete            delete files not present at remote site
    --delete-first              delete old files before transferring new ones
-s, --allow-suid                set suid/sgid bits according to remote site
    --allow-chown               try to set owner and group on files
    --ignore-time               ignore time when deciding whether to download
    --ignore-size               ignore size when deciding whether to download
    --only-missing              download only missing files
-n, --only-newer                download only newer files (-c won't work)
-r, --no-recursion              don't go to subdirectories
    --no-symlinks               don't create symbolic links
-p, --no-perms          don't set file permissions
    --no-umask          don't apply umask to file modes
-R, --reverse           reverse mirror (put files)
-L, --dereference               download symbolic links as files
-N, --newer-than=SPEC   download only files newer than specified time
    --older-than=SPEC   download only files older than specified time
    --size-range=RANGE  download only files with size in specified range
-P, --parallel[=N]              download N files in parallel
    --use-pget[-n=N]    use pget to transfer every single file
    --loop                      loop until no changes found
-i RX, --include RX     include matching files
-x RX, --exclude RX     exclude matching files
-I GP, --include-glob GP        include matching files
-X GP, --exclude-glob GP        exclude matching files
-v, --verbose[=level]   verbose operation
    --log=FILE          write lftp commands being executed to FILE
    --script=FILE               write lftp commands to FILE, but don't execute them
    --just-print, --dry-run     same as --script=-
    --use-cache         use cached directory listings
--Remove-source-files   remove files after transfer (use with caution)
-a                      same as --allow-chown --allow-suid --no-umask

When using -R, the first directory is local and the second is remote. If the second directory is omitted, base name of first directory is used. If both directories are omitted, current local and remote directories are used.

RX is an extended regular expression, just like in egrep(1).

GP is a glob pattern, e.g. `*.zip'.

Include and exclude options can be specified multiple times. It means that a file or directory would be mirrored if it matches an include and does not match to excludes after the include, or does not match anything and the first check is exclude. Directories are matched with a slash appended.

Note that symbolic links are not created when uploading to remote server, because ftp protocol cannot do it. To upload files the links refer to, use `mirror -RL' command (treat symbolic links as files).

For option --newer-than you can either specify a file or time specification like that used by at(1) command, e.g. `now-7days' or `week ago'. If you specify a file, then modification time of that file will be used.

Verbosity level can be selected using --verbose=level option or by several -v options, e.g. -vvv. Levels are:

0 - no output (default)
1 - print actions
2 - +print not deleted file names (when -e is not specified)
3 - +print directory names which are mirrored

--only-newer turns off file size comparison and uploads/downloads only newer files even if size is different. By default older files are transferred and replace newer ones.

You can mirror between two servers if you specify URLs instead of directories. FXP is used automatically for transfers between ftp servers, if possible.

Some ftp servers hide dot-files by default (e.g. .htaccess), and show them only when LIST command is used with -a option. In such case try to use `set ftp:list-options -a'.

mkdir [-p] dir(s)

Make remote directories. If -p is used, make all components of paths.

module module [ args ]

Load given module using dlopen(3) function. If module name does not contain a slash, it is searched in directories specified by module:path variable. Arguments are passed to module_init function. See README.modules for technical details.

more files

Same as `cat files | more'. if PAGER is set, it is used as filter. (See also cat, zcat and zmore)

mput [-c] [-d] [-a] [-E] [-O base] files

Upload files with wildcard expansion. By default it uses the base name of local name as remote one. This can be changed by `-d' option.

-c              continue, reput
-d              create directories the same as in file names and put the
                files into them instead of current directory
-E              delete source files after successful transfer (dangerous)
-a              use ascii mode (binary is the default)
-O <base>       specifies base directory or URL where files should be placed

mrm file(s)

Same as `glob rm'. Removes specified file(s) with wildcard expansion.

mv file1 file2

Rename file1 to file2.

nlist [args]

List remote file names

open [-e cmd] [-u user[,pass]] [-p port] host|url

Select an ftp server.

pget [OPTS] rfile [-o lfile]

Gets the specified file using several connections. This can speed up transfer, but loads the net and server heavily impacting other users. Use only if you really have to transfer the file ASAP. Options:

-c              continue transfer. Requires lfile.lftp-pget-status file.
-n maxconn      set maximum number of connections (default is taken from pget:default-n setting)

put [-E] [-a] [-c] [-O base] lfile [-o rfile]

Upload lfile with remote name rfile. If -o omitted, the base name of lfile is used as remote name. Does not expand wildcards, use mput for that.

-o <rfile>      specifies remote file name (default - basename of lfile)
-c              continue, reput
                it requires permission to overwrite remote files
-E              delete source files after successful transfer (dangerous)
-a              use ascii mode (binary is the default)
-O <base>       specifies base directory or URL where files should be placed

pwd [-p]

Print current remote URL. Use `-p' option to show password in the URL.

queue [-n num ] cmd

Add the given command to queue for sequential execution. Each site has its own queue. `-n' adds the command before the given item in the queue. Don't try to queue `cd' or `lcd' commands, it may confuse lftp. Instead do the cd/lcd before `queue' command, and it will remember the place in which the command is to be done. It is possible to queue up an already running job by `queue wait <jobno>', but the job will continue execution even if it is not the first in queue.

`queue stop' will stop the queue, it will not execute any new commands, but already running jobs will continue to run. You can use `queue stop' to create an empty stopped queue. `queue start' will resume queue execution. When you exit lftp, it will start all stopped queues automatically.

`queue' with no arguments will either create a stopped queue or print queue status.

queue --delete|-d [index or wildcard expression]

Delete one or more items from the queue. If no argument is given, the last entry in the queue is deleted.

queue --move|-m <index or wildcard expression> [index]

Move the given items before the given queue index, or to the end if no destination is given.

-q      Be quiet.
-v      Be verbose.
-Q      Output in a format that can be used to re-queue.
        Useful with --delete.

> get file &
[1] get file
> queue wait 1
> queue get another_file
> cd a_directory
> queue get yet_another_file

queue -d 3              Delete the third item in the queue.
queue -m 6 4            Move the sixth item in the queue before the fourth.
queue -m "get*zip" 1    Move all commands matching "get*zip" to the beginning
                        of the queue.  (The order of the items is preserved.)
queue -d "get*zip"      Delete all commands matching "get*zip".

quote cmd

For FTP - send the command uninterpreted. Use with caution - it can lead to unknown remote state and thus will cause reconnect. You cannot be sure that any change of remote state because of quoted command is solid - it can be reset by reconnect at any time.

For HTTP - specific to HTTP action. Syntax: ``quote <command> [<args>]''. Command may be ``set-cookie'' or ``post''.

open http://www.site.net
quote set-cookie "variable=value; othervar=othervalue"
set http:post-content-type application/x-www-form-urlencoded
quote post /cgi-bin/script.cgi "var=value&othervar=othervalue" > local_file

For FISH - send the command uninterpreted. This can be used to execute arbitrary commands on server. The command must not take input or print ### at new line beginning. If it does, the protocol will become out of sync.

open fish://server
quote find -name zip

reget rfile [-o lfile]

Same as `get -c'.

rels [args]

Same as `ls', but ignores the cache.

renlist [args]

Same as `nlist', but ignores the cache.

repeat [ -c <count>] [[-d] delay] [command]

Repeat the command. Between the commands a delay is inserted, by default 1 second. Option `-c' limits number of repeations. Option `--while-ok' breaks loop when command returns non-zero exit code; `--until-ok' breaks on zero exit code. Examples:

repeat at tomorrow -- mirror
repeat 1d mirror

reput lfile [-o rfile]

Same as `put -c'.

rm [-r] [-f] files

Remove remote files. Does not expand wildcards, use mrm for that. -r is for recursive directory remove. Be careful, if something goes wrong you can lose files. -f suppress error messages.

rmdir dir(s)

Remove remote directories.

scache [session]

List cached sessions or switch to specified session.

set [var [val]]

Set variable to given value. If the value is omitted, unset the variable. Variable name has format ``name/closure'', where closure can specify exact application of the setting. See below for details. If set is called with no variable then only altered settings are listed. It can be changed by options:

-a      list all settings, including default values
-d      list only default values, not necessary current ones

site site_cmd

Execute site command site_cmd and output the result. You can redirect its output.

sleep interval

Sleep given time interval and exit. Interval is in seconds by default, but can be suffixed with 'm', 'h', 'd' for minutes, hours and days respectively. See also at.

slot [name]

Select specified slot or list all slots allocated. A slot is a connection to a server, somewhat like a virtual console. You can create multiple slots connected to different servers and switch between them. You can also use slot:name as a pseudo-URL evaluating to that slot location.

Default readline binding allows quick switching between slots named 0-9 using Meta-0 - Meta-9 keys (often you can use Alt instead of Meta).

source file source -e command

Execute commands recorded in file file or returned by specified external command.

source ~/.lftp/rc
source -e echo help

suspend

Stop lftp process. Note that transfers will be also stopped until you continue the process with shell's fg or bg commands.

user user [pass] user URL [pass]

Use specified info for remote login. If you specify an URL with user name, the entered password will be cached so that futute URL references can use it.

version

Print lftp version.

wait [jobno] wait all

Wait for specified job to terminate. If jobno is omitted, wait for last backgrounded job.

`wait all' waits for all jobs termination.

zcat files

Same as cat, but filter each file through zcat. (See also cat, more and zmore)

zmore files

Same as more, but filter each file through zcat. (See also cat, zcat and more)

On startup, lftp executes ~/.lftprc and ~/.lftp/rc. You can place aliases and `set' commands there. Some people prefer to see full protocol debug, use `debug' to turn the debug on.

There is also a system-wide startup file in /etc/l. It can be in different directory, see FILES section.

lftp has the following settable variables (you can also use `set -a' to see all variables and their values):

bmk:save-passwords (boolean)

save plain text passwords in ~/.lftp/bookmarks on `bookmark add' command. Off by default.

cmd:at-exit (string)

the commands in string are executed before lftp exits.

cmd:csh-history (boolean)

enables csh-like history expansion.

cmd:default-protocol (string)

The value is used when `open' is used with just host name without protocol. Default is `ftp'.

cmd:fail-exit (boolean)

if true, exit when an unconditional (without || and && at begin) command fails.

cmd:long-running (seconds)

time of command execution, which is considered as `long' and a beep is done before next prompt. 0 means off.

cmd:ls-default (string)

default ls argument

cmd:move-background (boolean)

when false, lftp refuses to go to background when exiting. To force it, use `exit bg'.

cmd:prompt (string)

The prompt. lftp recognizes the following backslash-escaped special characters that are decoded as follows:

\@

insert @ if current user is not default

\a

an ASCII bell character (07)

\e

an ASCII escape character (033)

\h

the hostname you are connected to

\n

newline

\s

the name of the client (lftp)

\S

current slot name

\u

the username of the user you are logged in as

\U

the URL of the remote site (e.g., ftp://g437.ub.gu.se/home/james/src/lftp)

\v

the version of lftp (e.g., 2.0.3)

\w

the current working directory at the remote site

\W

the base name of the current working directory at the remote site

\nnn

the character corresponding to the octal number nnn

\\

a backslash

\?

skips next character if previous substitution was empty.

\[

begin a sequence of non-printing characters, which could be used to embed a terminal control sequence into the prompt

\]

end a sequence of non-printing characters

cmd:parallel (boolean)

Number of jobs run in parallel in non-interactive mode. For example, this may be useful for scripts with multiple `get' commands. Note that setting this to a value greater than 1 changes conditional execution behaviour, basically makes it inconsistent.

cmd:queue-parallel (boolean)

Number of jobs run in parallel in a queue.

cmd:time-style (string)

This setting is the default value for cls --time-style option.

cache:cache-empty-listings (boolean)

When false, empty listings are not cached.

cache:enable (boolean)

When false, cache is disabled.

cache:expire (time interval)

Positive cache entries expire in this time interval.

cache:expire-negative (time interval)

Negative cache entries expire in this time interval.

cache:size (number)

Maximum cache size. When exceeded, oldest cache entries will be removed from cache.

cmd:remote-completion (boolean)

a boolean to control whether or not lftp uses remote completion.

cmd:verify-host (boolean)

if true, lftp resolves host name immediately in `open' command. It is also possible to skip the check for a single `open' command if `&' is given, or if ^Z is pressed during the check.

cmd:verify-path (boolean)

if true, lftp checks the path given in `cd' command. It is also possible to skip the check for a single `cd' command if `&' is given, or if ^Z is pressed during the check. Examples:

set cmd:verify-path/hftp://* false
cd directory &

cmd:verify-path-cached (boolean)

When false, `cd' to a directory known from cache as existent will succeed immediately. Otherwise the verification will depend on cmd:verify-path setting.

dns:SRV-query (boolean)

query for SRV records and use them before gethostbyname. The SRV records are only used if port is not explicitly specified. See RFC2052 for details.

dns:cache-enable (boolean)

enable DNS cache. If it is off, lftp resolves host name each time it reconnects.

dns:cache-expire (time interval)

time to live for DNS cache entries. It has format <number><unit>+, e.g. 1d12h30m5s or just 36h. To disable expiration, set it to `inf' or `never'.

dns:cache-size (number)

maximum number of DNS cache entries.

dns:fatal-timeout (time interval)

limit the time for DNS queries. If DNS server is unavailable too long, lftp will fail to resolve a given host name. Set to `never' to disable.

dns:order (list of protocol names)

sets the order of DNS queries. Default is ``inet6 inet'' which means first look up address in inet6 family, then inet and use them in that order. To disable inet6 (AAAA) lookup, set this variable to ``inet''.

dns:use-fork (boolean)

if true, lftp will fork before resolving host address. Default is true.

dns:max-retries (number)

If zero, there is no limit on the number of times lftp will try to lookup an address. If > 0, lftp will try only this number of times to look up an address of each address family in dns:order.

file:charset (string)

local character set. It is set from current locale initially.

fish:charset (string)

the character set used by fish server in requests, replies and file listings. Default is empty which means the same as local.

fish:connect-program (string)

the program to use for connecting to remote server. It should support `-l' option for user name, `-p' for port number. Default is `ssh -a -x'. You can set it to `rsh', for example.

fish:shell (string)

use specified shell on server side. Default is /bin/sh. On some systems, /bin/sh exits when doing cd to a non-existent directory. lftp can handle that but it has to reconnect. Set it to /bin/bash for such systems if bash is installed.

ftp:acct (string)

Send this string in ACCT command after login. The result is ignored. The closure for this setting has format user@host.

ftp:anon-pass (string)

sets the password used for anonymous ftp access authentication. Default is "-name@", where name is the username of the user running the program.

ftp:anon-user (string)

sets the user name used for anonymous ftp access authentication. Default is "anonymous".

ftp:auto-sync-mode (regex)

if first server message matches this regex, turn on sync mode for that host.

ftp:charset (string)

the character set used by ftp server in requests, replies and file listings. Default is empty which means the same as local. This setting is only used when the server does not support UTF8.

ftp:client (string)

the name of ftp client to send with CLNT command, if supported by server. If it is empty, then no CLNT command will be sent.

ftp:bind-data-socket (boolean)

bind data socket to the interface of control connection (in passive mode). Default is true, exception is the loopback interface.

ftp:fix-pasv-address (boolean)

if true, lftp will try to correct address returned by server for PASV command in case when server address is in public network and PASV returns an address from a private network. In this case lftp would substitute server address instead of the one returned by PASV command, port number would not be changed. Default is true.

ftp:fxp-passive-source (boolean)

if true, lftp will try to set up source ftp server in passive mode first, otherwise destination one. If first attempt fails, lftp tries to set them up the other way. If the other disposition fails too, lftp falls back to plain copy. See also ftp:use-fxp.

ftp:home (string)

Initial directory. Default is empty string which means auto. Set this to `/' if you don't like the look of %2F in ftp URLs. The closure for this setting has format user@host.

ftp:ignore-pasv-address (boolean)

If true, lftp uses control connection address instead of the one returned in PASV reply for data connection. This can be useful for broken NATs. Default is false.

ftp:list-empty-ok (boolean)

if set to false, empty lists from LIST command will be treated as incorrect, and another method (NLST) will be used.

ftp:list-options (string)

sets options which are always appended to LIST command. It can be useful to set this to `-a' if server does not show dot (hidden) files by default. Default is empty.

ftp:nop-interval (seconds)

delay between NOOP commands when downloading tail of a file. This is useful for ftp servers which send "Transfer complete" message before flushing data transfer. In such cases NOOP commands can prevent connection timeout.

ftp:passive-mode (boolean)

sets passive ftp mode. This can be useful if you are behind a firewall or a dumb masquerading router. In passive mode lftp uses PASV command, not the PORT command which is used in active mode. In passive mode lftp itself makes the data connection to the server; in active mode the server connects to lftp for data transfer. Passive mode is the default.

ftp:port-ipv4 (ipv4 address)

specifies an IPv4 address to send with PORT command. Default is empty which means to send the address of local end of control connection.

ftp:port-range (from-to)

allowed port range for active mode. Format is min-max, or `full' or `any' to indicate any port. Default is `full'.

ftp:proxy (URL)

specifies ftp proxy to use. To disable proxy set this to empty string. Note that it is an ftp proxy which uses ftp protocol, not ftp over http. Default value is taken from environment variable ftp_proxy if it starts with ``ftp://''. If your ftp proxy requires authentication, specify user name and password in the URL.