Status of this Memo

This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

This document provides information for the novice Internet user about using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). It explains what FTP is, what anonymous FTP is, and what an anonymous FTP archive site is. It shows a sample anonymous FTP session. It also discusses common ways files are packaged for efficient storage and transmission.

Acknowledgements

This document is the result of work done in the Internet Anonymous FTP Archives (IAFA) working group of the IETF. Special thanks are due to Mark Baushke (Cisco), John Curran (BBN), Aydin Edguer (CWRU), Rafal Maszkowski (Onsala Space Observatory), Marsha Perrott (PREPnet), Bob Peterson (Texas Instruments), Nathan Torkington (Victoria University of Wellington), and Stephen Tihor (NYU) for excellent comments and contributions.

What is FTP?

FTP refers to the File Transfer Protocol [1], one of the protocols within the TCP/IP protocol suite used on the Internet. The File Transfer Protocol makes it possible to transfer files from one computer (or host) on the Internet to another. There are many FTP implementations built on the specification of the FTP protocol. A user of an FTP program must log in to both hosts in order to transfer a file from one to the other.

It is common...