This section provides a quick introduction of the FTP command line client program and a list of FTP commands supported by the client program.
Windows XP comes with a FTP command line client program, c:\windows\system32\ftp.exe.
Once it's launched, it takes FTP commands from the keyboard. Here are some useful
used FTP commands:
open "host_name" - Establishes a connect to the FTP server at the specified host.
disconnect - Stops the current connect.
user "user_name" - Provides user name and password to pass the access authentication.
quit - Quits the FTP program.
dir - Displays the contents of the current directory on the server.
cd "relative_path" - Changes the current directory to specified path on the server.
"cd .." changes the current directory one level up in the directory tree.
lcd "relative_path" - Changes the current directory to specified path on the local system.
get "file_name" - Downloads the specified file from the server.
put "file_name" - Uploads the specified file to the server.
mget "*.*" - Downloads the specified multiple files from the server.
mput "*.*" - Uploads the specified multiple files to the server.
!dir - Displays the contents of the current directory on the local system.
type "binary|ascii" - Changes the file transfer type to binary or ASCII. In binary type,
files will be transferred as is. In ASCII type, files will be transferred with automatic
conversion to match the receiving system file format. For example, a text file on a Unix FTP
server will be downloaded to a Windows local system with line feed character being converted
to two characters, line feed and carriage return.
prompt - Switches on or off the prompt for confirmation when using the mget and mput commands.
help - Displays all available commands supported by the FTP client program.
Below is a list of all available commands supported by Windows command line FTP client program:
ftp> help
Commands may be abbreviated. Commands are:
! delete literal prompt send
? debug ls put status
append dir mdelete pwd trace
ascii disconnect mdir quit type
bell get mget quote user
binary glob mkdir recv verbose
bye hash mls remotehelp
cd help mput rename
close lcd open rmdir
