lftp
| Original author(s) | Alexander V. Lukyanov |
|---|---|
| Repository | |
| Operating system | UNIX-like |
| Type | FTP client |
| License | GPL |
| Website | lftp.yar.ru |
lftp is a command-line file transfer program (FTP client) for UNIX and Unix-like systems. It was written by Alexander Lukyanov and is made available under the GNU General Public License.
Besides FTP, it also supports FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, HFTP, FISH, and SFTP. The program also supports FXP, allowing for data transfers between two FTP servers bypassing the client machine. A simple BitTorrent client is also included via the torrent command.
In addition to features common in advanced FTP clients, such as recursively mirroring entire directory trees and resuming downloads, lftp also supports more advanced functionality. Transfers can be scheduled for execution at a later time, bandwidth can be throttled, transfer queues can be created, and Unix shell-like job control is supported. The client can be used interactively or automated with scripts.
It also has an option called segmented file transfer that allows more than one connection for the same file, bypassing a maximum download speed per file when some servers establish a maximum speed per connection.
Development history
Lftp was initially developed as part of the ftpclass package (announced August 1, 1996 in relcom.tcpip). Subsequently it grew and become a more capable program (e.g., mirroring capability was added), and therefore[1] the package was renamed to lftp in February 1997. The initial goals of development were robustness, automatic resuming of transfers, and increasing transfer speed by transferring parts of a file in parallel using several connections as well as by protocol pipelining. Version 2.0 introduced HTTP and IPv6 support in 1999, more protocols were added later.
See also
References
- Dee-Ann LeBlanc (May 22, 2003) Moving Files In Linux: lftp, LinuxPlanet
- Richard Petersen, Fedora 10 Linux Desktop, Surfing Turtle Press, 2008, ISBN 0-9820998-2-7, p. 255
- Michael Jang, Linux annoyances for geeks, O'Reilly Media, 2006, ISBN 0-596-00801-5, pp. 127–128
- Ellen Siever, Stephen Figgins, Robert Love, Arnold Robbins, Linux in a Nutshell, Edition 6, O'Reilly Media, 2009, ISBN 0-596-15448-8, pp. 244–247
Further reading
- Dmitri Popov (December 4, 2007) CLI Magic: Quick and easy backup with lftp, Linux.com [dead link]
External links
- Official website
- lftp man page
- lftp documentation wiki covering advanced topics, with links to other basic tutorials.
- lftp-vi: a module that adds editing capability to lftp
- LftpFS – filesystem based on FUSE and lftp
- lftp-gtk – Gui for lftp