FTP Daemon Overview and Concepts

Purpose

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) daemon is a server-side implementation of FTP, which processes file transfer requests from an FTP client. The FTP daemon processes file transfer requests from multiple FTP clients. It enables remote host that are capable of using the standard IP stack to communicate with a Symbian platform device. Besides processing file transfer requests, the daemon also enables a remote host to perform the following tasks on the device:

  • List the files and folders in a directory

  • List the available drives

  • Rename or move a file

  • Create a directory

  • Delete a file or directory

Note: The commands used to perform the tasks listed earlier depends on the FTP client you are using and not on the FTP daemon. For information about the commands supported by the FTP client you are using, refer to its documentation.

Key concepts

Host terminal

A terminal (a Symbian platform device) on which the FTP daemon is running is referred to as a host terminal. It processes file transfer requests.

User terminal

A terminal (a remote PC) on which the FTP client is running is referred to as a user terminal. It can send a file transfer request to the FTP daemon running on a Symbian platform device.

How the FTP daemon works

The following illustration shows how remote PCs using an FTP client send requests to the FTP daemon running on the Symbian platform device.

Remote PCs communicating with a Symbian...


Remote PCs communicating with a Symbian platform device over an IP network.

Typical uses

Transferring a file

You can request a file transfer between the host terminal and the user terminal. To send a file transfer request, the user terminal must open an FTP session with the host terminal. For example, use the following FTP command to store a file on the host terminal:

> stor <file_name_with_relative_path>

Use the following FTP command to retrieve a file from the host terminal:

> retr <file_name_with_relative_path>

Listing the files and subdirectories

You can list the files and subdirectories in a given directory on the device with their attributes. To do this, open an FTP session and use the following command to list the files and subdirectories in the current working directory:

> list

To list only the name of the files in a given directory, use the following command:

> nlist

Renaming or moving a file

You can rename a file or move it to another location on the Symbian platform device. After opening an FTP session with the host terminal, use the following commands to rename a file:

> rnfr <old_file_name> | rnto <new_file_name>

Deleting a file or directory

You can delete a file or an empty directory from the host terminal. To delete a file, use the following command:

> dele <file_name>

To delete an empty directory, use the following command:

> rmd <directory_name>