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Nicolas Raoul
Asked: 2011-01-11 22:46:29 +0800 CST

How to upload a directory recursively to an FTP server by just using ftp or lftp?

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I am writing a Linux shell script to copy a local directory to a remote server (removing any existing files).

Local server: ftp and lftp commands are available, no ncftp or any graphical tools.

Remote server: only accessible via FTP. No rsync nor SSH nor FXP.

I am thinking about listing local and remote files to generate a lftp script and then run it. Is there a better way?

Note: Uploading only modified files would be a plus, but not required.

synchronization ftp upload directory recursive

5 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    lftp should be able to do this in one step, in particular with lftp mirror:

    The lftp command syntax is confusing, original invocation I posted doesn't work. Try it like this:

    lftp -e "mirror -R {local dir} {remote dir}" -u {username},{password} {host}

    note the quotes around the arguments to the -e switch.

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  2. cd {local_dir}
lftp {server}
cd {remote_dir}
mput {local_dir}/*

    This worked for me, many other attempts were failing. Once in lftp, more info available via:

    help mput
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  3. Based on Phil's idea of using lftp's mirror mode, this command does the trick:

    lftp -c 'open -e "mirror /tmp/thedir ftp://nico:mypass@remotehost/~/destination/" ftp://nico:mypass@localhost'

    A drawback is that it requires the local server to have an FTP server running.

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  4. Rather than the common answer of using mirroring, I often find it preferable to use mput, especially if there are several directories to transfer.

    For example, given the following:

    lftp> !ls
mydir1
mydir2
mydir3
mydir4
mydir5

    ... if the goal is to transfer directories mydir[2-4], you can either clunkily use the mirror command:

    lftp mirror -R mydir2 mydir2

    ... and repeat serially for mydir3 and mydir4... or you can use mput as follows:

    lftp> mput -d mydir[2-4]/*

    ... and be done. The -d option is key here:

    lftp> help mput
Usage: mput [OPTS] <files>
Upload files with wildcard expansion
...
 -d  create directories the same as in file names and put the
     files into them instead of current directory
...
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  5. Finally got the answer!!! Create shell script ftpmirror.sh

    #!/bin/bash 
path = /local-dir-path
lftp -e "mirror -R $path /$path" -u username,password ftp-server-ip
    • Path = local directory which we want to copy into ftp server
    • username = ftp server user name
    • password = ftp server password
    • ftp-server-ip = IP address of ftp server

    If lftp package is not installed the installed it using yum.

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