Wednesday 9 April 2014

Using FTP on mobile.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet.
FTP is built on a client-server architecture and uses separate control and data connections between the client and the server.[1] FTP users may authenticate themselves using aclear-text sign-in protocol, normally in the form of a username and password, but can connect anonymously if the server is configured to allow it.
This article is about using this protocol on mobile. The need arises when one wants to share his/her files on computer with mobile and vice-versa. FTP can be a life-saver when you have lost your data transfer cable and your bluetooth is not working for some reason.
For this we we need a FTP client which will be installed on the computer. Linux users have built-in ftp command utility.
Window users can download FileZilla(Download Here).
FileZilla is an easy-to-use GUI and doesnt require a whole a new article to be written about its usage.
Go to their wiki : Using FileZilla
Now you have to install FTPDroid(Download here) on your mobile to make it a ftp server. Run this app and get your IP address.
Now I' ll describe few commands for using  ftp on linux.
Let's say you want to connect to the mobile with IP 192.168.2.13
At the command line, type:

ashu@like-a-boss:ftp
         Now type open:
ftp>open 
  Now you will be prompted to enter IP address of mobile.
         ftp > open
         (to)  192.168.2.13
Press enter and then enter your username and password configured on FTPDroid.
        Connected to 192.168.43.1.
       220---------- Welcome to Pure-FTPd [TLS] ----------
      220-You are user number 1 of 50 allowed.
      220-Local time is now 22:57. Server port: 21.
      220-IPv6 connections are also welcome on this server.
      220 You will be disconnected after 15 minutes of inactivity.
      Name (192.168.43.1:ashu):ashu 
      Password:
After authentication,
     230 OK. Current directory is /mnt/sdcard
    Remote system type is UNIX.
    Using binary mode to transfer files.
    ftp> 
Now you can enter commands to play up and down the directory in your mobile file system. You may also download or upload files on from/to the server.

ls - To list all the files on the remote server(mobile).
cd - To change directory on remote server.
lcd -  To change directory on local system.
get - To download file from the server( get <file-name>)
put - To upload file on the server( put <file-name>)
mget/mput - To download/upload multiple files from/on the server( mget/mput <file-name>)

The ftp client supports using the bang (!) to run local commands. For example, to get a listing of files in your current local directory, do this:

ftp> !ls
Wouldn't it be nice if you could watch the progress while you're downloading a file with ftp? You can use the hash command to print out hash marks as you download a file:

ftp> hash
Hash mark printing on (1024 bytes/hash mark).

As you can tell, ftp will print a hash mark for every 1024 bytes of data you download.

There is also a tick option.

ftp> tick           
Tick counter printing on (10240 bytes/tick increment).

This will print something to this effect as you download a file:
 
Bytes transferred: 11680 


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