307 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
307 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
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Archive-Name: ftp-list/faq
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Last-Modified: 1992/07/30
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Version: 1.7
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Anonymous FTP List
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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This FAQ is posted to the following groups monthly: comp.archives.admin,
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comp.misc, comp.sources.wanted, alt.sources.wanted, & news.answers.
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Comments welcome - Tom Czarnik (aftp-list@netcom.com)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I keep a directory of Internet sites accepting anonymous FTP and mail
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retrieval of their files. A listing of these sites is posted to Usenet:
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comp.sources.wanted alt.sources.wanted
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news.answers comp.misc
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Lists available:
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SITES
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o Site name o Date of last audit (ISO format)
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o IP address(s) o UT/GMT difference
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o Comments/problems address o Country (ISO format)
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o Organization o Types of files
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o E-mail server if available o Restrictions
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FILES
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o Site name o Date of last audit (ISO format)
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o IP address(s) o UT/GMT difference
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o Types of files o Country (ISO format)
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* Topics *
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(1) Understanding the ISO date.
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(2) Retrieving the list from alternate sources.
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(3) Retrieving it directly from the coordinator.
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(4) Using FTP without direct Internet access.
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(5) Problems with a site.
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(6) Information presented is wrong or outdated.
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(7) Getting a site listed or changes made.
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(8) Making the list publicly available.
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(9) Using the general mail server at DEC's Western Research Labs.
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(10) What is Archie and how does it relate to the list?
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(11) What is and how do I use the FTP program?
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* Answers *
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(1) Understanding the ISO date.
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A) Format: Year.Month.Day (1991.12.30 is 30 December 1991).
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(2) Retrieving the list from alternate sources.
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A) It is available from various FTP sites which archive the Usenet
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news.answers: ftp-list. Also look for 'ftp-list' in either the
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Sites or Files list. Or as a last resort, all the public lists
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can be retrieved from gator.netcom.com 192.100.81.102 in
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/pub/profile during NON-PEAK hours only!
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(3) Retrieving it directly from the coordinator.
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A) I don't have time to mail copies to people.
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I make exceptions to people who redistribute it to closed systems
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or areas that don't have access to the newsgroups. Don't abuse
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this! Send me mail to be put on the mailing list.
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(4) Using FTP without direct Internet access.
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A) It is possible to get files from a site by using a general mail
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server or many sites have their own servers. If you're on BITNET,
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ask your sysadmin or technical support group about PUCC. For
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non-BITNET sites, try using DEC's; you will find instructions
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for using it below, in answer #9.
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Please make sure your system admin has approved the the use of
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a mail server, as files can take system resources of not only
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your site, but several sites down the stream.
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(5) Problems with a site.
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A) Mail the problems to the address shown in the Sites list. If a FTP
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comments address is not shown, attempt to use 'ftp@site_name';
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subsitute 'site_name' with the name of the troublesome site. If
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that fails, post a note to comp.archives.admin (the newsgroup for
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archive administrators).
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(6) Information is wrong or outdated.
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A) Send mail to me detailing the incorrect information and the
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corrections. If you are the site manager for the archive, please
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see below (topic #7) for the information I need.
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(7) Getting a site listed or changes made.
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A) Send the following information to aftp-list@netcom.com.
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o Site name (and aliases you wanted listed).
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o IP address.
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o Manager(s) full name & email address(es).
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o Address for FTP related issues (problems, comments, etc...).
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o General description of the types of files available.
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o Directories that are for anonymous FTP use (besides /pub).
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o Site's location (country) & ISO code.
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o Organization operating site.
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o UT/GMT difference (include daylight savings time).
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o Are there any special restrictions?
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o Can it be used 24 hours/day?
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o Is an E-mail server available for the site's files only?
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(8) Making the list publicly available.
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A) Please let me know if there is a site that archives either the
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Sites or Files list. I will include it in future updates; the
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more people who have access, the better.
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All I ask: update the list as changes are made.
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(9) Using the general mail server at DEC's Western Research Labs.
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A) Send mail to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com with 'help' in the body of
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the letter. You CANNOT send a blank letter, commands are not
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optional.
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(10) What is Archie and how does it relate to the list?
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A) Archie is a special server that keeps file listings from different
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FTP sites. You can Telnet to a server or use a client program to
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search for specific files. There are sites which do not appear in
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an Archie server and you can use the lists for these.
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Here are some sites; send mail to 'archie@site_name' for a help file.
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archie.ans.net (North America)
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archie.sura.net (North America)
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archie.mcgill.ca (Canada)
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archie.funet.fi (Finland/Mainland Europe)
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archie.au (Australia/New Zealand)
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archie.doc.ic.ac.uk (Great Britain/Ireland)
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archie.unl.edu (North America)
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cs.huji.ac.il (Israel)
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(11) What is and how do I use the FTP program?
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A) This information file was originally maintained by John Granrose.
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Mike Jones added the info about the existence and location of the
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compression data chart maintained by David Lemson. I added some,
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too little to be thanked or hated for its content.
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By:
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John Granrose (odin@pilot.njin.net)
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Mike Jones (mjones@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu)
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Tom Czarnik (profile@netcom.com)
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This is not a definitive guide to FTP, but will give a novice a
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general idea of what it is and how to do it.
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What is FTP?
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FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allows a person to transfer files
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between two computers, generally connected via the Internet. If
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your system has FTP and is connected to the Internet, you can
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access very large amounts of archives available on a number of
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systems. If you are on Bitnet or a UUCP host, you should look for
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servers that work through the mail. A good source of information
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on archives in general, is the Usenet newsgroup comp.archives.
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What is Anonymous FTP?
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Many systems throughout the Internet offer files through anonymous
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FTP. These include software, documents of various sorts, and files
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for configuring networks. Archives for electronic mailing lists are
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often stored on and available through anonymous FTP. Note that all
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this is subject to change.
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Commands
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All the normal FTP commands may be used to retrieve files. Some FTP
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commands are the same on different computers, but others are not.
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Usually, FTP will list the commands if you type 'help' or type a
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question mark (?). Also, your computer's help command may have
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information about FTP. Try 'man ftp' or 'man ftpd'.
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Some useful commands available on most systems include:
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get copy a file from the remote computer to yours
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ls/dir list the files in the current directory
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cd Change directory
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binary Switch to binary mode. For transferring binary files
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ascii Switch to ascii mode. Ascii mode is the default mode
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Procedure
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Anonymous FTP is a facility offered by many machines on the Internet.
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This permits you to log in with the user name 'anonymous' or the
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user name 'ftp'. When prompted for a password, type your e-mail
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address -- it's not necessary, but it's a courtesy for those sites
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that like to know who is making use of their facility. Be courteous.
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You can then look around and retrieve files. (Most anonymous ftp
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sites do not permit people to store files)
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Typically, a directory called 'pub' is where the interesting things
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are stored. Some sites will have a file with a name like ls-lR,
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that contains a complete list of the files on that site. Otherwise,
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you can type ls -lR and get such a listing -- for some sites, this
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can take a LONG time.
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Usually, files are grouped in archive files, so you don't have to
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get many small files separately. The most common archival file format
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for the Internet is tar. Occasionally, people use shell archives
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(shar) instead. Tar archives can be unpacked by running the 'tar'
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command -- you may want to first do a 'tar t' on the file to see what
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it contains before unpacking it. Be careful when unpacking shell
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archives since they have to be run through the Bourne shell to unpack
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them. (The simplest way is to use the unshar command)
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Files are often stored compressed -- for Unix, the most common scheme
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is the compress program, indicated by a .Z suffix on the file name.
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Sometimes, people use programs like Arc or Zoo, which are combined
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archival and compression formats. (There are probably other archival
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formats as well - talk to the systems staff if you encounter them and
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don't know how to deal with them)
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When retrieving non-text files, you must use binary mode, otherwise
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the file gets messed up. To do this, use the 'binary' command. (It's
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safe to set this for text files. If the site at the other end is
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non-Unix, you may need to use some other mode -- see the documents
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for that site and for FTP)
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The simplest way to initiate FTP would be to give the command 'ftp
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<system-name>'. The <system-name> is the remote system you are
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connecting to, either a name (wsmr-simtel20.army.mil, if you have
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an entry in /etc/hosts or are accessing a Domain Name Server) or
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the Internet address (192.88.110.20 for Simtel20). After a short
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wait, you will be prompted for your username. If you do not have
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an account on the remote system, some systems allow you to use
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'anonymous'. This gives you a restricted access path.
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You would then be prompted for a password. Some systems will tell
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you to send your real identity as the password. What you type doesn't
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matter, but it is suggested to give your mail address. Other systems
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need a password of 'guest', or something similar.
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After that, you should receive the FTP prompt ( usually ftp> ) and
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have access. You can get a directory of files be giving a 'dir'
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command or if the remote system is Unix-based, 'ls -l' will give
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the familiar output. On Simtel20, there is a file available in the
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default anonymous ftp directory that explains what Simtel20 is and
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where files are located. The name is 'SIMTEL-ARCHIVES.INFO.nn, where
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".nn" is a file generation number. You don't need to specify the file
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generation number when requesting the file. In fact, it's better not
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to because you will always get the latest generation that way.
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Unix systems will all have the familiar directory structure, and
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moving around is done with the familiar 'cd' or 'cwd' command.
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TOPS-20 systems have a different structure, but movement is still
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accomplished with the 'cd' command.
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Different systems have different organizations for their files, and
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the above example is the way most archives have it set up. By looking
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around other systems, you can learn how their files are arranged and
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move around much faster. Note, however, that FTP will not allow you
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outside the FTP 'root' directory. Moving about the entire system is
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not permitted.
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These are the common Unix file types:
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SUFFIX FTP TYPE
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------ --------
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.Z bin compress
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.arc bin ARChive
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.shar ascii SHell ARchive
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.tar bin Tape ARchive
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.uu ascii uuencode/uudecode
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.zip bin Zip
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.zoo bin Zoo
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To get a list of all file compression/archiving methods and the
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programs to uncompress/unarchive (on the PC, Mac, Unix, VM/CMS,
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AtariST and Amiga systems), FTP to the following sites and
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retrieve the listed file:
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ftp.cso.uiuc.edu /doc/pcnet/compression
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gator.netcom.com /pub/profile/compression.Z
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(make sure to set the binary mode with 'bin')
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This could be helpful to people new to FTP that don't know how
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to unpackage the file they have just transferred.
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