Date: 14 Feb 89 13:06:00 EST From: "ARTIC::HALPIN" 1. At the $ prompt, enter [FTP] NOTE: The brackets are NOT part of your entry, just my convention for delineating the keystrokes that you need to enter. 2. You will get an * This is the FTP processor prompt. 3. Enter [open sumex-aim.stanford.edu] Note the space between the command and the name. 4. Alternative: from the $ prompt you can enter [ftp sumex-aim.stanford.edu] and it will bypass steps 2-3. 5. If the gods are smiling, you will get a mesage telling you that the "connection is opened" and some other stuff. That will finish with a prompt for your name. DON'T enter your name unless you have an account on the sumex-aim system. Enter [anonymous]. 6. You will be asked for a password. Enter your name. Note that my userName on my system is the same as my realName. I don't know whether the login process cares which you use, but I would suggest using your userName rather than your realName if they are different. 7. You may then be told that there are already too many "anonymous" users and that you should try again later. NOTE that the connection between your system and the sumex-aim is still alive and well. You MAY leave it open, issue a [login] command a few minutes later to try again. Or you may enter [bye] to close the connection and get back to your VAX $. In either case, the first time you see the "too many users" message, you should repeat the following: "I, realName, do hereby take a solemn oath that I will not EVER take any more time than I need while connected to the sumex-aim system. I will never attempt a large file transfer during prime time unless it is absolutely necessary. I will in all ways act as though my connect time were being charged to me at the rate of $10 per minute." I can guarentee that the gods will be impressed with your nobel intentions, and are more likely to let you in the next time you try. 8. Note that, any time you have the FTP * prompt, entering [help] will give you a list of FTP commands with a brief description of their function. These are reproduced here: *help Commands: abort Terminate current operation ascii Set file transfer mode to ascii bget Retrieve a file in binary mode bput Send a file in binary mode bell Ring bell when file transfer completes binary Set file transfer mode to binary bye Close the connection and exit case Toggle mapping of local filenames to lower case cd Change current working directory on remote host chdirup Change working directory on remote host to parent directory commandfile Execute ftp commands from local file delete Delete a file on remote host directory Display contents of a directory in long form disconnect Close the connection file Set file transfer structure to FILE get Retrieve a file from remote host hash Print # for each packet sent or received help Display help messages for all ftp commands interactive Prompt with each filename for mget, mput and mdelete commands lcd Change current working directory on local host login Log into the remote system ls Display contents of a directory in short form mdelete Delete a group of files from the remote host mget Retrieve a group of files from the remote host mkdir Make a directory on the remote host mput Transfer a group of local files to the remote host nobell Do not ring bell when file transfer completes nohash Do not print # for each packet sent or received nointeractive Turn prompting off for mget, mput and mdelete commands open Open a connection to a remote host put Transfer a file from local host to the remote host pwd Print remote host's current working directory quiet Do not display transfer statistics quote Send the specified string to the remote ftp server record Set file transfer structure to RECORD remotehelp Display list of FTP commands implemented by the server rename Rename a file on the remote host rget Retrieve a file with record structure from the remote host rput Transfer a file with record structure to the remote host site Send site parameter stat Display contents of a directory in short form show Show current status structure Set file transfer structure tenex Set file transfer mode to tenex unix Set system type to UNIX verbose Display server replies and transfer statistics vget Retrieve a file with RMS record structure from the remote host vmode Set file transfer structure to RMS type file vms Set system type to VMS vput Transfer a file with RMS record structure to the remote host Aliases: cdup => chdirup close => disconnect cwd => cd end => bye exit => bye list => directory mrm => mdelete mv => rename nlist => ls quit => bye retrieve => get rm => delete store => put user => login ? => help 9. Once the system accepts your login, you are ready to go shopping. Enter [cd info-mac] to Change the working Directory to the info-mac directory. (Note that most of the commands you enter at the * prompt are commands to the remote system, not your home system; see the "help" list of commands to see how to change the directory on your local system while in an FTP session.) (Note that you don't have to cd; it just saves some keystrokes when you start typing fileNames.) 10. Enter [get /subdirectory/any-file-name-you-need.ext newFile.ext] Note that what you are doing here is giving the FTP processor the path and file name of the file you want to "get", followed by a space, followed by the name you are going to give that file in YOUR directory on YOUR system. In theory, if you omit the newFile.name, the file ought to transfer anyway, retaining its original name. That doesn't always work for me; when I try it I sometimes get an error message which LOOKS like it is saying that the target file doesn't exist on sumex-aim. 11. You be told that the transfer has started, then that it is finished. Do a few more, then enter [bye] and get out. (Note that you must have sufficient space on your VAX file system to acoomodate the files you are getting. If you don't, the transfer will fail, but the error message doesn't tell you why; it says something to the effect of "unexpected closure of the data connection..." Also note that deleting files on the VAX doesn't necessarily free up space; you may have to [compress] after deleting.) 12. What you have received are, usually, psuedo text files. Turn on the file capture switch in your Mac communications program, and at the $ prompt enter [type newFile.ext]. Once you have your file(s) safely snuggled into your Mac you will need to use binhex and stuffit to translate the psuedo text into its original form as a Mac program, DA, hypercard stack, or whatever. 13. SAMPLE SCRIPT: ITEMS in [brackets] are YOUR ENTRIES [ftp sumex-aim.stanford.edu] yoursite-abc2.army.mil Wollongong FTP User Process (Version 3.2) Connection Opened Using 8-bit bytes.