NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20

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Xref: sparky comp.misc:3645 comp.sources.wanted:4291 alt.sources.wanted:1475 comp.archives.admin:420 news.answers:2867 Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.sources.wanted,alt.sources.wanted,comp.archives.admin,news.answers Path: sparky!uunet!sun-barr!decwrl!csus.edu!netcom.com!profile From: aftp-list@netcom.com (Tom Czarnik, Coordinator) Subject: Anonymous FTP List - FAQ Message-ID: <post.faq_716158159@netcom.com> Date: Thu, 10 Sep 92 20:49:25 GMT Expires: Thu, 08 Oct 92 20:49:19 GMT Organization: Anonymous FTP Directory Supersedes: <post.faq_712490962@netcom.com> Summary: The Intro/FAQ for the AnonymousFTP Directory and its listings. Keywords: annonymous ftp list public archive sites files faq Reply-To: aftp-list@netcom.com Followup-To: comp.archives.admin Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Lines: 324 Archive-Name: ftp-list/faq Last-Modified: 1992/09/10 Version: 1.9 Anonymous FTP List Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) This FAQ is posted monthly, to these Usenet newsgroups: comp.archives.admin, comp.misc, comp.sources.wanted, alt.sources.wanted, & news.answers. Comments always welcome. Tom Czarnik aftp-list@netcom.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I keep a directory of Internet sites accepting anonymous FTP and mail retrieval of their files. Two listings are posted to the Usenet, as a 3-part article, on a monthly basis. You can find them in the following: comp.sources.wanted alt.sources.wanted news.answers comp.misc * Topics * (1) What types of lists are available? (2) How do I read the ISO date? (3) Retrieving the list from alternate sources. (4) Retrieving it directly from the coordinator. (5) Using FTP without direct Internet access. (6) Problems with a site. (7) Information presented is wrong or outdated. (8) Getting a site listed or changes made. (9) Making the list publicly available. (10) Using the general mail server at DEC's Western Research Labs. (11) What is Archie and how does it relate to the list? (12) What is and how do I use the FTP program? * Answers * (1Q) What types of lists are available? (1A) Lists available and what is included in them: SITES - contains comphrensive information o Site name o Date of last audit (ISO format) o IP address(s) o UT/GMT difference o Comments/problems address o Country (ISO format) o Organization o Types of files o E-mail server if available o Restrictions FILES - useable with the Grep utility for file searches o Site name o Date of last audit (ISO format) o IP address(s) o UT/GMT difference o Types of files o Country (ISO format) (2Q) How do I read the ISO date? (2A) Format: Year.Month.Day (1991.12.30 is 30 December 1991). The dates will be upgraded to use the '/' character as the seperator, to comply with the standard use. (3Q) Retrieving the list from alternate sources. (3A) It is available from various FTP sites which archive the Usenet news.answers: ftp-list. Also look for 'ftp-list' in either the Sites or Files list. ftp.netcom.com 192.100.81.10 /pub/profile These sites mirror or conatin all or some of the lists maintained at ftp.netcom.com. If you used gator.netcom.com, discontinue! ftp.uwp.edu 131.210.1.4 in /pub/ftp.list nic.switch.ch 130.59.1.40 in /mirror/ftp-list garbo.uwasa.fi 128.214.87.1 (4Q) Retrieving it directly from the coordinator. (4A) I do NOT mail copies to individuals! I make exceptions to people who redistribute it to closed systems or areas that don't have access to the newsgroups. Don't abuse this! Send me mail to be put on the mailing list. (5Q) Using FTP without direct Internet access. (5A) It is possible to get files from a site by using a general mail server or many sites have their own servers. If you're on BITNET, ask your sysadmin or technical support group about PUCC. For non-BITNET sites, try using DEC's; you will find instructions for using it below, in answer #9. NOTE: Please make sure your system admin has approved the the use of a mail server, as files can take system resources of not only your site, but several sites down the stream. (6Q) Problems with a site. (6A) Mail the problems to the address shown in the Sites list. If a FTP comments address is not shown, attempt to use 'ftp@site_name'; replace 'site_name' with the name of the troublesome site. If that fails, post a note to comp.archives.admin (the newsgroup for archive administrators). (7Q) Information is wrong or outdated. (7A) Send mail to me detailing the incorrect information and the corrections. If you are the site manager for the archive, please see below (#7) for the information I need. (8Q) Getting a site listed or changes made. (8A) Send the following information to aftp-list@netcom.com. o Site name (and aliases you wanted listed). o IP address. o Manager(s) full name & email address(es). o Address for FTP related issues (problems, comments, etc...). o General description of the types of files available. o Directories that are for anonymous FTP use (besides /pub). o Site's location (country) & ISO code. o Organization operating site. o UT/GMT difference (include daylight savings time). o Are there any special restrictions? o Can it be used 24 hours/day? o Is an E-mail server available for the site's files only? And I do accept postcards, especially from those people outside the United States, telling me what a great or fantastic job I'm doing; I'm listed in the Whois Database, for snail mail verification. (9) Making the list publicly available. (9A) Please let me know if there is a site that archives either the Sites or Files list. I will include it in future updates; the more people who have access, the better. Please keep the list updated. (10Q) Using the general mail server at DEC's Western Research Labs. (10A) Send mail to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com with 'help' in the body of the letter. You CANNOT send a blank letter, commands are not optional. (11Q) What is Archie and how does it relate to the list? (11A) Archie is a special server that keeps file listings from different FTP sites. You can Telnet to a server or use a client program to search for specific files. There are sites which do not appear in an Archie server and you can use the lists for these. Here are some sites; send mail to 'archie@site_name' for a help file. archie.ans.net (North America) archie.sura.net (North America) archie.unl.edu (North America) archie.mcgill.ca (Canada) archie.funet.fi (Finland/Mainland Europe) archie.au (Australia/New Zealand) archie.doc.ic.ac.uk (Great Britain/Ireland) archie.ncu.edu.tw (Taiwan) archie.cs.huji.ac.il (Israel) o The above site only accepts client (Prospero) requests. (12Q) What is and how do I use the FTP program? (12A) This information file was originally maintained by John Granrose. Mike Jones added the info about the existence and location of the compression data chart maintained by David Lemson. I added some, too little to be thanked or hated for its content. By: John Granrose (odin@pilot.njin.net) Mike Jones (mjones@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu) Tom Czarnik (profile@netcom.com) This is not a definitive guide to FTP, but will give a novice a general idea of what it is and how to do it. What is FTP? FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allows a person to transfer files between two computers, generally connected via the Internet. If your system has FTP and is connected to the Internet, you can access very large amounts of archives available on a number of systems. If you are on Bitnet or a UUCP host, you should look for servers that work through the mail. A good source of information on archives in general, is the Usenet newsgroup comp.archives. What is Anonymous FTP? Many systems throughout the Internet offer files through anonymous FTP. These include software, documents of various sorts, and files for configuring networks. Archives for electronic mailing lists are often stored on and available through anonymous FTP. Note that all this is subject to change. Commands All the normal FTP commands may be used to retrieve files. Some FTP commands are the same on different computers, but others are not. Usually, FTP will list the commands if you type 'help' or type a question mark (?). Also, your computer's help command may have information about FTP. Try 'man ftp' or 'man ftpd'. Some useful commands available on most systems include: get copy a file from the remote computer to yours ls/dir list the files in the current directory cd Change directory binary Switch to binary mode. For transferring binary files ascii Switch to ascii mode. Ascii mode is the default mode Procedure Anonymous FTP is a facility offered by many machines on the Internet. This permits you to log in with the user name 'anonymous' or the user name 'ftp'. When prompted for a password, type your e-mail address -- it's not necessary, but it's a courtesy for those sites that like to know who is making use of their facility. Be courteous. You can then look around and retrieve files. (Most anonymous ftp sites do not permit people to store files) Typically, a directory called 'pub' is where the interesting things are stored. Some sites will have a file with a name like ls-lR, that contains a complete list of the files on that site. Otherwise, you can type ls -lR and get such a listing -- for some sites, this can take a LONG time. Usually, files are grouped in archive files, so you don't have to get many small files separately. The most common archival file format for the Internet is tar. Occasionally, people use shell archives (shar) instead. Tar archives can be unpacked by running the 'tar' command -- you may want to first do a 'tar t' on the file to see what it contains before unpacking it. Be careful when unpacking shell archives since they have to be run through the Bourne shell to unpack them. (The simplest way is to use the unshar command) Files are often stored compressed -- for Unix, the most common scheme is the compress program, indicated by a .Z suffix on the file name. Sometimes, people use programs like Arc or Zoo, which are combined archival and compression formats. (There are probably other archival formats as well - talk to the systems staff if you encounter them and don't know how to deal with them) When retrieving non-text files, you must use binary mode, otherwise the file gets messed up. To do this, use the 'binary' command. (It's safe to set this for text files. If the site at the other end is non-Unix, you may need to use some other mode -- see the documents for that site and for FTP) The simplest way to initiate FTP would be to give the command 'ftp <system-name>'. The <system-name> is the remote system you are connecting to, either a name (wsmr-simtel20.army.mil, if you have an entry in /etc/hosts or are accessing a Domain Name Server) or the Internet address (192.88.110.20 for Simtel20). After a short wait, you will be prompted for your username. If you do not have an account on the remote system, some systems allow you to use 'anonymous'. This gives you a restricted access path. You would then be prompted for a password. Some systems will tell you to send your real identity as the password. What you type doesn't matter, but it is suggested to give your mail address. Other systems need a password of 'guest', or something similar. After that, you should receive the FTP prompt ( usually ftp> ) and have access. You can get a directory of files be giving a 'dir' command or if the remote system is Unix-based, 'ls -l' will give the familiar output. On Simtel20, there is a file available in the default anonymous ftp directory that explains what Simtel20 is and where files are located. The name is 'SIMTEL-ARCHIVES.INFO.nn, where ".nn" is a file generation number. You don't need to specify the file generation number when requesting the file. In fact, it's better not to because you will always get the latest generation that way. Unix systems will all have the familiar directory structure, and moving around is done with the familiar 'cd' or 'cwd' command. TOPS-20 systems have a different structure, but movement is still accomplished with the 'cd' command. Different systems have different organizations for their files, and the above example is the way most archives have it set up. By looking around other systems, you can learn how their files are arranged and move around much faster. Note, however, that FTP will not allow you outside the FTP 'root' directory. Moving about the entire system is not permitted. These are the common Unix file types: SUFFIX FTP TYPE ------ -------- .Z bin compress .arc bin ARChive .shar ascii SHell ARchive .tar bin Tape ARchive .uu ascii uuencode/uudecode .zip bin Zip .zoo bin Zoo To get a list of all file compression/archiving methods and the programs to uncompress/unarchive (on the PC, Mac, Unix, VM/CMS, AtariST and Amiga systems), FTP to the following sites and retrieve the listed file: ftp.cso.uiuc.edu /doc/pcnet/compression gator.netcom.com /pub/profile/compression.Z nic.switch.ch /mirror/ftp-list/compression.Z (make sure to set the binary mode with 'bin') This could be helpful to people new to FTP that don't know how to unpackage the file they have just transferred.