[Long time no command line FTP.]

Today I had to transfer 700Mb from one server to another in the same data center. SSH in to server #1 to grab the files from server #2 – but “a” wasn’t working as an answer to mget (multiple get) as it usually does – meaning “get all”: each file needed an individual yes/no answer a the command line to confirm that I really did want to download it. 

I really didn’t fancy having to watch/wait/click as 1400 files got copied over. 

Cut to the chase already

Type “prompt” into your ftp shell to toggle the prompting on and off.

Job done and all files sent over in a jiffy – without having to do a 4,000 km round trip to my desktop and back.


ssh user@host.com
cd path/to/your/files
ftp ftp.host.com
cd path/to/your/files
prompt
mget *
bye
exit

Last updated on 5th September 2018