How to use curl for FTP?
curl is the goto tool for anything HTTP related but you can also use it for your FTP and FTPS tasks. This post is a cheat sheet with a list of common curl commands you can use to:
- upload files on your FTP server
- download file stored on an FTP server
- authenticate to your FTP server
- list files on your FTP server
- delete files on your FTP server
List files on an FTP server
~/$ curl ftp://ftp.slackware.com
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 17 Jun 15 2015 debian -> pub/debian/debian
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 18 Jun 15 2015 debian-cd -> pub/debian-cdimage
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 18 Jun 15 2015 debian-cdimage -> pub/debian-cdimage
drwxr-xr-x 2 0 0 56 May 12 2016 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 4 0 0 4096 Jun 30 16:58 pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 754 May 13 2015 welcome.msg
~/$ curl ftp://ftp.slackware.com/debian-cd/
drwxr-sr-x 9 3064 1199 4096 Sep 27 00:23 10.6.0
drwxr-xr-x 5 3064 1199 58 Sep 27 00:23 10.6.0-live
lrwxrwxrwx 1 3064 1199 6 Sep 27 00:29 current -> 10.6.0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 3064 1199 12 Sep 27 00:29 current-live -> 10.6.0-live/
-rw-r--r-- 1 3064 1199 15496 Sep 29 04:12 ls-lR.gz
drwxr-xr-x 4 3064 1199 42 May 23 2005 project
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 17 Jun 15 2015 debian -> pub/debian/debian
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 18 Jun 15 2015 debian-cd -> pub/debian-cdimage
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 18 Jun 15 2015 debian-cdimage -> pub/debian-cdimage
drwxr-xr-x 2 0 0 56 May 12 2016 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 4 0 0 4096 Jun 30 16:58 pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 754 May 13 2015 welcome.msg
~/$ curl ftp://ftp.slackware.com/debian-cd/
drwxr-sr-x 9 3064 1199 4096 Sep 27 00:23 10.6.0
drwxr-xr-x 5 3064 1199 58 Sep 27 00:23 10.6.0-live
lrwxrwxrwx 1 3064 1199 6 Sep 27 00:29 current -> 10.6.0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 3064 1199 12 Sep 27 00:29 current-live -> 10.6.0-live/
-rw-r--r-- 1 3064 1199 15496 Sep 29 04:12 ls-lR.gz
drwxr-xr-x 4 3064 1199 42 May 23 2005 project
Downloading files on an FTP server
~/$ curl ftp://ftp.slackware.com/welcome.msg
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
R S Y N C . O S U O S L . O R G
Oregon State University
Open Source Lab
Unauthorized use is prohibited - violators will be prosecuted
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information about the OSL visit:
http://osuosl.org/services/hosting
This host is the home to the primary archives of several
projects. We would prefer that only primary/secondary
mirrors use this service. Thanks!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
~/$ curl -O "ftp://ftp.slackware.com/{welcome.msg,debian-cd/ls-lR.gz}"
[1/2]: ftp://ftp.slackware.com/welcome.msg --> welcome.msg
--_curl_--ftp://ftp.slackware.com/welcome.msg
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 754 100 754 0 0 347 0 0:00:02 0:00:02 --:--:-- 347
[2/2]: ftp://ftp.slackware.com/debian-cd/ls-lR.gz --> ls-lR.gz
--_curl_--ftp://ftp.slackware.com/debian-cd/ls-lR.gz
100 15496 100 15496 0 0 12201 0 0:00:01 0:00:01 --:--:-- 28537
~/$ ls # verify the files have been downloaded
ls-lR.gz welcome.msg
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
R S Y N C . O S U O S L . O R G
Oregon State University
Open Source Lab
Unauthorized use is prohibited - violators will be prosecuted
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information about the OSL visit:
http://osuosl.org/services/hosting
This host is the home to the primary archives of several
projects. We would prefer that only primary/secondary
mirrors use this service. Thanks!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
~/$ curl -O "ftp://ftp.slackware.com/{welcome.msg,debian-cd/ls-lR.gz}"
[1/2]: ftp://ftp.slackware.com/welcome.msg --> welcome.msg
--_curl_--ftp://ftp.slackware.com/welcome.msg
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 754 100 754 0 0 347 0 0:00:02 0:00:02 --:--:-- 347
[2/2]: ftp://ftp.slackware.com/debian-cd/ls-lR.gz --> ls-lR.gz
--_curl_--ftp://ftp.slackware.com/debian-cd/ls-lR.gz
100 15496 100 15496 0 0 12201 0 0:00:01 0:00:01 --:--:-- 28537
~/$ ls # verify the files have been downloaded
ls-lR.gz welcome.msg
Connect with your username and password
~/$ curl ftp://username:password@ftp.slackware.com/
curl: (67) Access denied: 530
~/$ curl -u "username:password" ftp://ftp.slackware.com/
curl: (67) Access denied: 530
~/$ curl -u "anonymous:password" ftp://ftp.slackware.com/
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 17 Jun 15 2015 debian -> pub/debian/debian
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 18 Jun 15 2015 debian-cd -> pub/debian-cdimage
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 18 Jun 15 2015 debian-cdimage -> pub/debian-cdimage
drwxr-xr-x 2 0 0 56 May 12 2016 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 4 0 0 4096 Jun 30 16:58 pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 754 May 13 2015 welcome.msg
curl: (67) Access denied: 530
~/$ curl -u "username:password" ftp://ftp.slackware.com/
curl: (67) Access denied: 530
~/$ curl -u "anonymous:password" ftp://ftp.slackware.com/
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 17 Jun 15 2015 debian -> pub/debian/debian
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 18 Jun 15 2015 debian-cd -> pub/debian-cdimage
lrwxrwxrwx 1 0 0 18 Jun 15 2015 debian-cdimage -> pub/debian-cdimage
drwxr-xr-x 2 0 0 56 May 12 2016 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 4 0 0 4096 Jun 30 16:58 pub
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 754 May 13 2015 welcome.msg
Uploading a file to your FTP server
~/$ curl -T welcome.msg -u "username:password" ftp://ftp.example.com/
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 754 0 0 100 754 0 194 0:00:03 0:00:03 --:--:-- 194
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 754 0 0 100 754 0 194 0:00:03 0:00:03 --:--:-- 194
Delete files on an FTP server
~/$ curl -u "username:password" --quote "DELE welcome.msg" ftp://ftpperso.free.fr
Related pages
