ftp

What is ftp?

The ftp npm package is a client for the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which allows for the transfer of files between a client and a server on a computer network. It provides methods to read and write files, navigate the directory structure, and manage files and directories on the server.

What are ftp's main functionalities?

Connecting to an FTP server

This code sample demonstrates how to establish a connection to an FTP server using the ftp package. You need to provide the host, user, and password to connect.

const FTP = require('ftp');
const client = new FTP();
client.connect({ host: 'ftp.example.com', user: 'username', password: 'password' });

Listing files in a directory

This code sample shows how to list all files in a specific directory on the FTP server.

client.list('/path/to/directory', (err, list) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.dir(list);
});

Downloading a file

This code sample illustrates how to download a file from the FTP server. It saves the file to a local path.

client.get('remote/file/path.txt', (err, stream) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  stream.once('close', () => { client.end(); });
  stream.pipe(fs.createWriteStream('local/file/path.txt'));
});

Uploading a file

This code sample demonstrates how to upload a file to the FTP server from a local path.

client.put('local/file/path.txt', 'remote/file/path.txt', (err) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  client.end();
});

Deleting a file

This code sample shows how to delete a file from the FTP server.

client.delete('remote/file/path.txt', (err) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('File deleted successfully');
});

Other packages similar to ftp

basic-ftp

The basic-ftp package is an alternative to ftp that provides an easy-to-use API for interacting with an FTP server, including support for modern JavaScript features like async/await. It is designed to be both powerful and beginner-friendly.

jsftp

jsftp is a simple and lightweight FTP client for Node.js, with an emphasis on simplicity and ease of use. It offers a similar set of features to the ftp package but with a different API design.

promise-ftp

promise-ftp is an FTP client that wraps the ftp package's functionality in Promises, making it more suitable for use in modern asynchronous JavaScript code that utilizes async/await syntax.

ftp-srv

ftp-srv is a module for creating an FTP server rather than a client. It is useful for when you want to set up your own FTP server programmatically in Node.js, as opposed to connecting to an existing one.

README

Description

node-ftp is an FTP client module for node.js that provides an asynchronous interface for communicating with an FTP server.

Requirements

• node.js -- v0.8.0 or newer

Install

npm install ftp

Examples

• Get a directory listing of the current (remote) working directory:

  var Client = require('ftp');

  var c = new Client();
  c.on('ready', function() {
    c.list(function(err, list) {
      if (err) throw err;
      console.dir(list);
      c.end();
    });
  });
  // connect to localhost:21 as anonymous
  c.connect();

• Download remote file 'foo.txt' and save it to the local file system:

  var Client = require('ftp');
  var fs = require('fs');

  var c = new Client();
  c.on('ready', function() {
    c.get('foo.txt', function(err, stream) {
      if (err) throw err;
      stream.once('close', function() { c.end(); });
      stream.pipe(fs.createWriteStream('foo.local-copy.txt'));
    });
  });
  // connect to localhost:21 as anonymous
  c.connect();

• Upload local file 'foo.txt' to the server:

  var Client = require('ftp');
  var fs = require('fs');

  var c = new Client();
  c.on('ready', function() {
    c.put('foo.txt', 'foo.remote-copy.txt', function(err) {
      if (err) throw err;
      c.end();
    });
  });
  // connect to localhost:21 as anonymous
  c.connect();

API

Events

• greeting(< string >msg) - Emitted after connection. msg is the text the server sent upon connection.

• ready() - Emitted when connection and authentication were sucessful.

• close(< boolean >hadErr) - Emitted when the connection has fully closed.

• end() - Emitted when the connection has ended.

• error(< Error >err) - Emitted when an error occurs. In case of protocol-level errors, err contains a 'code' property that references the related 3-digit FTP response code.

Methods

* Note: As with the 'error' event, any error objects passed to callbacks will have a 'code' property for protocol-level errors.

• (constructor)() - Creates and returns a new FTP client instance.

• connect(< object >config) - (void) - Connects to an FTP server. Valid config properties:

  • host - string - The hostname or IP address of the FTP server. Default: 'localhost'

  • port - integer - The port of the FTP server. Default: 21

  • secure - mixed - Set to true for both control and data connection encryption, 'control' for control connection encryption only, or 'implicit' for implicitly encrypted control connection (this mode is deprecated in modern times, but usually uses port 990) Default: false

  • secureOptions - object - Additional options to be passed to tls.connect(). Default: (none)

  • user - string - Username for authentication. Default: 'anonymous'

  • password - string - Password for authentication. Default: 'anonymous@'

  • connTimeout - integer - How long (in milliseconds) to wait for the control connection to be established. Default: 10000

  • pasvTimeout - integer - How long (in milliseconds) to wait for a PASV data connection to be established. Default: 10000

  • keepalive - integer - How often (in milliseconds) to send a 'dummy' (NOOP) command to keep the connection alive. Default: 10000

• end() - (void) - Closes the connection to the server after any/all enqueued commands have been executed.

• destroy() - (void) - Closes the connection to the server immediately.

Required "standard" commands (RFC 959)

• list([< string >path, ][< boolean >useCompression, ]< function >callback) - (void) - Retrieves the directory listing of path. path defaults to the current working directory. useCompression defaults to false. callback has 2 parameters: < Error >err, < array >list. list is an array of objects with these properties:

  * type - _string_ - A single character denoting the entry type: 'd' for directory, '-' for file (or 'l' for symlink on **\*NIX only**).
  
  * name - _string_ - The name of the entry.
  
  * size - _string_ - The size of the entry in bytes.
  
  * date - _Date_ - The last modified date of the entry.
  
  * rights - _object_ - The various permissions for this entry **(*NIX only)**.
  
      * user - _string_ - An empty string or any combination of 'r', 'w', 'x'.
  
      * group - _string_ - An empty string or any combination of 'r', 'w', 'x'.
  
      * other - _string_ - An empty string or any combination of 'r', 'w', 'x'.
  
  * owner - _string_ - The user name or ID that this entry belongs to **(*NIX only)**.
  
  * group - _string_ - The group name or ID that this entry belongs to **(*NIX only)**.
  
  * target - _string_ - For symlink entries, this is the symlink's target **(*NIX only)**.
  
  * sticky - _boolean_ - True if the sticky bit is set for this entry **(*NIX only)**.
  

• get(< string >path, [< boolean >useCompression, ]< function >callback) - (void) - Retrieves a file at path from the server. useCompression defaults to false. callback has 2 parameters: < Error >err, < ReadableStream >fileStream.

• put(< mixed >input, < string >destPath, [< boolean >useCompression, ]< function >callback) - (void) - Sends data to the server to be stored as destPath. input can be a ReadableStream, a Buffer, or a path to a local file. useCompression defaults to false. callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.

• append(< mixed >input, < string >destPath, [< boolean >useCompression, ]< function >callback) - (void) - Same as put(), except if destPath already exists, it will be appended to instead of overwritten.

• rename(< string >oldPath, < string >newPath, < function >callback) - (void) - Renames oldPath to newPath on the server. callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.

• logout(< function >callback) - (void) - Logout the user from the server. callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.

• delete(< string >path, < function >callback) - (void) - Deletes a file, path, on the server. callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.

• cwd(< string >path, < function >callback) - (void) - Changes the current working directory to path. callback has 2 parameters: < Error >err, < string >currentDir. Note: currentDir is only given if the server replies with the path in the response text.

• abort(< function >callback) - (void) - Aborts the current data transfer (e.g. from get(), put(), or list()). callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.

• site(< string >command, < function >callback) - (void) - Sends command (e.g. 'CHMOD 755 foo', 'QUOTA') using SITE. callback has 3 parameters: < Error >err, < _string >responseText, < integer >responseCode.

• status(< function >callback) - (void) - Retrieves human-readable information about the server's status. callback has 2 parameters: < Error >err, < string >status.

• ascii(< function >callback) - (void) - Sets the transfer data type to ASCII. callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.

• binary(< function >callback) - (void) - Sets the transfer data type to binary (default at time of connection). callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.

Optional "standard" commands (RFC 959)

• mkdir(< string >path, [< boolean >recursive, ]< function >callback) - (void) - Creates a new directory, path, on the server. recursive is for enabling a 'mkdir -p' algorithm and defaults to false. callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.

• rmdir(< string >path, [< boolean >recursive, ]< function >callback) - (void) - Removes a directory, path, on the server. If recursive, this call will delete the contents of the directory if it is not empty. callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.

• cdup(< function >callback) - (void) - Changes the working directory to the parent of the current directory. callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.

• pwd(< function >callback) - (void) - Retrieves the current working directory. callback has 2 parameters: < Error >err, < string >cwd.

• system(< function >callback) - (void) - Retrieves the server's operating system. callback has 2 parameters: < Error >err, < string >OS.

• listSafe([< string >path, ][< boolean >useCompression, ]< function >callback) - (void) - Similar to list(), except the directory is temporarily changed to path to retrieve the directory listing. This is useful for servers that do not handle characters like spaces and quotes in directory names well for the LIST command. This function is "optional" because it relies on pwd() being available.

Extended commands (RFC 3659)

• size(< string >path, < function >callback) - (void) - Retrieves the size of path. callback has 2 parameters: < Error >err, < integer >numBytes.

• lastMod(< string >path, < function >callback) - (void) - Retrieves the last modified date and time for path. callback has 2 parameters: < Error >err, < Date >lastModified.

• restart(< integer >byteOffset, < function >callback) - (void) - Sets the file byte offset for the next file transfer action (get/put) to byteOffset. callback has 1 parameter: < Error >err.