What Is FTP (File Transfer Protocol)?

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a standard network protocol used to transfer computer files between a client and server on a computer network.

The original specification for the File Transfer Protocol was written by Abhay Bhushan and published as RFC 114 on 16 April 1971. The latest specification of FTP is defined in RFC 2428.

Here is typical session of using the FTP client command to download a file from a FTP server:

C:\fyicenter>ftp apache.cs.utah.edu
Connected to mirror-vip.cs.utah.edu.
220 Welcome to the UofU School of Computing FTP Mirror
User (mirror-vip.cs.utah.edu:(none)): anonymous
331 Please specify the password.
Password:
230 Login successful.

ftp> dir
200 Port command successful
150 Opening data channel for directory listing of "/"
drwxr-xr-x    10/6/2016   5:27:00 AM      apache.org
...
226 Successfully transferred "/"

ftp> cd apache.org
250 Directory successfully changed.

ftp> cd commons/io
250 Directory successfully changed.

ftp> dir
150 Opening data channel for directory listing of "/apache.org/commons/io"
-r--r--r-- 1    4/22/2016   12:00:00 AM     RELEASE-NOTES.txt
...

ftp> get RELEASE-NOTES.txt
200 Port command successful
150 Opening data channel for file download from server of "..."
226 Successfully transferred "/apache.org/commons/io/RELEASE-NOTES.txt"

ftp> quit
C:\fyicenter>

⇒ FTP Control Connection and Data Connection

⇐ Understanding FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

⇑ Understanding FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

⇑⇑ FTP - Frequently Asked Questions