OPERATORS GUIDE TO FTP (FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL)
CONTENTS
1. Overview
2. Running the spooler
3. Commands to the spooler
4. Examining the queues
5. Testing
6. References
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1.0 OVERVIEW
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is as a system which allows a
user to queue requests for file transfers to other machines.
This is achieved by having a monitor command called FTP
which puts a file transfer request into the FTP queue, and a
spooler called FTXSPL running on the DECsystem-10 to handle
the transfer itself.
The spooler handles the setting up of the necessary tasks
between the machines and handles the transfer and possible
subsequent respooling of the file (say to the IBM 360/195 or
to the line-printer or plotter).
2.0 RUNNING THE SPOOLER
The spooler is normally run as an OPSER sub-job with the
following sequence of commands:
:SLOG ;log in a sub-job
:DEF FTP= ;define the sub-job as FTP
FTP-R FTXSPL ;run the spooler
FTP-START ;start spooling
3.0 COMMANDS TO THE SPOOLER
Below are a list of all the commands available in FTXSPL.
They may all be abbreviated to their shortest unique form,
except that "S" or "ST" is interpreted as START rather than
STOP
CURRENT type the current settings of parameters
DEBUG run a test version of the spooler
DETACH detach the job and continue running detached.
All subsequent output to the terminal is
prefixed by "FTP- "
EXIT exit to monitor level immediately, aborting any
current transfer
GO continue with the next request after a PAUSE
HELP type a list of the available commands on the
console
KILL abort the current file transfer but continue
with any subsequent requests
LOG file open the named file as a log file. A log file
called FTPOPR.LOG[3,3] is automatically opened
when the spooler is run
MSGLEVEL n determines the level of logging in the log file,
the values are cumulative i.e. 30 includes 20,
10 and 0, and are as follows:
n=0 log the files being transferred and whether or
not they succeed but do not type anything
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n=1 type the files being transferred and whether or
not they succeed (default)
n=10 log protocol level 0 message headers
n=20 log parameters passed at protocol level 0
n=30 log messages passed at protocol level 1
n=40 log protocol level 2 header words
n=50 log protocol level 2 data i.e. the data bytes
of the file being transferred. Please note that
this produces a lot of output.
n=100 type the transport level start-up procedure and
each byte being received
NEXT seq do the request whose sequence number is given,
next
NODES type out a list of the nodes known to the
spooler and their status
PAUSE stop processing requests after the current
transfer and await operator action. When the
current transfer is finished "[FTP is pausing]"
is typed on the console
RESET reset all the variables to their original values
except for the name of the log file and the node
status
SET (NODE) <name> OFFLINE disables transfers either to or
from the named node
SET (NODE) <name> ONLINE enables file transfers both to and
from the named node (depending on the mode of
operation - see START command)
START (P or Q) start transferring files in the queue for
processing (P), or start accepting files from
other machines (Q), or both (when no P or Q
modifier is used)
STOP stop processing requests after the current
transfer and return to monitor level. This will
type "[FTP is stopping]" on the console when the
transfer is complete.
TASK <name> change name of listening task (default is FTX*)
WHAT types the file transfer in progress with an
indication of how far the transfer has
progressed and at what baud rate.
4.0 EXAMINING THE QUEUE
The queue of requests for transfers is examined by running
the FTP command with no parameters or with the switch /LIST.
This will print out the files involved and who submitted the
request See the document 3A55B in the Edinburgh Installation
Manual(1) for a full description of running FTP.
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5.0 TESTING
To test the spooler back to back you should run two versions
of the spooler one started as Q only, the other started as P
only. Note that it is necessary to open a different log
file on the first spooler before the second spooler is
started otherwise the second spooler will give an enter
error. You can use the DEBUG command in the spoolers, this
will create job-specific log files and set the MSG level to
31.
If you run both the spoolers and FTP from a disk other than
the system disk, the queues will go onto the disk from which
they are run, in the area [3,3] so that you can run a
parallel FTP system for testing purposes.
You can send a file to yourself, either using local ANF-10
tasks or using a call over the SRCNET gateway.
For the first, make sure that both P and Q spoolers have
your own node name set online (use the NODE and SET NODE
<name> ONLINE commands). Then do an FTP command: e.g.
FTP TEST_file2=file1
The second method using the gateway is as follows. Make
sure that the gateway is set online in both spoolers and
then use the SRCNET type of nodename e.g.
FTP EDXA_file2=file1
6.0 REFERENCES
1. The Edinburgh DECsystem-10 Installation Manual. section
3A55B