--- title: "FTP" description: "Rclone docs for FTP backend" --- # {{< icon "fa fa-file" >}} FTP FTP is the File Transfer Protocol. Rclone FTP support is provided using the [github.com/jlaffaye/ftp](https://godoc.org/github.com/jlaffaye/ftp) package. [Limitations of Rclone's FTP backend](#limitations) Paths are specified as `remote:path`. If the path does not begin with a `/` it is relative to the home directory of the user. An empty path `remote:` refers to the user's home directory. To create an FTP configuration named `remote`, run rclone config Rclone config guides you through an interactive setup process. A minimal rclone FTP remote definition only requires host, username and password. For an anonymous FTP server, use `anonymous` as username and your email address as password. ``` No remotes found - make a new one n) New remote r) Rename remote c) Copy remote s) Set configuration password q) Quit config n/r/c/s/q> n name> remote Type of storage to configure. Enter a string value. Press Enter for the default (""). Choose a number from below, or type in your own value [snip] XX / FTP Connection \ "ftp" [snip] Storage> ftp ** See help for ftp backend at: https://rclone.org/ftp/ ** FTP host to connect to Enter a string value. Press Enter for the default (""). Choose a number from below, or type in your own value 1 / Connect to ftp.example.com \ "ftp.example.com" host> ftp.example.com FTP username, leave blank for current username, $USER Enter a string value. Press Enter for the default (""). user> FTP port, leave blank to use default (21) Enter a string value. Press Enter for the default (""). port> FTP password y) Yes type in my own password g) Generate random password y/g> y Enter the password: password: Confirm the password: password: Use FTP over TLS (Implicit) Enter a boolean value (true or false). Press Enter for the default ("false"). tls> Use FTP over TLS (Explicit) Enter a boolean value (true or false). Press Enter for the default ("false"). explicit_tls> Remote config -------------------- [remote] type = ftp host = ftp.example.com pass = *** ENCRYPTED *** -------------------- y) Yes this is OK e) Edit this remote d) Delete this remote y/e/d> y ``` To see all directories in the home directory of `remote` rclone lsd remote: Make a new directory rclone mkdir remote:path/to/directory List the contents of a directory rclone ls remote:path/to/directory Sync `/home/local/directory` to the remote directory, deleting any excess files in the directory. rclone sync -i /home/local/directory remote:directory ### Example without a config file ### rclone lsf :ftp: --ftp-host=speedtest.tele2.net --ftp-user=anonymous --ftp-pass=`rclone obscure dummy` ### Implicit TLS ### Rlone FTP supports implicit FTP over TLS servers (FTPS). This has to be enabled in the FTP backend config for the remote, or with [`--ftp-tls`](#ftp-tls). The default FTPS port is `990`, not `21` and can be set with [`--ftp-port`](#ftp-port). {{< rem autogenerated options start" - DO NOT EDIT - instead edit fs.RegInfo in backend/ftp/ftp.go then run make backenddocs" >}} ### Standard Options Here are the standard options specific to ftp (FTP Connection). #### --ftp-host FTP host to connect to - Config: host - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_HOST - Type: string - Default: "" - Examples: - "ftp.example.com" - Connect to ftp.example.com #### --ftp-user FTP username, leave blank for current username, $USER - Config: user - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_USER - Type: string - Default: "" #### --ftp-port FTP port, leave blank to use default (21) - Config: port - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_PORT - Type: string - Default: "" #### --ftp-pass FTP password **NB** Input to this must be obscured - see [rclone obscure](/commands/rclone_obscure/). - Config: pass - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_PASS - Type: string - Default: "" #### --ftp-tls Use Implicit FTPS (FTP over TLS) When using implicit FTP over TLS the client connects using TLS right from the start which breaks compatibility with non-TLS-aware servers. This is usually served over port 990 rather than port 21. Cannot be used in combination with explicit FTP. - Config: tls - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_TLS - Type: bool - Default: false #### --ftp-explicit-tls Use Explicit FTPS (FTP over TLS) When using explicit FTP over TLS the client explicitly requests security from the server in order to upgrade a plain text connection to an encrypted one. Cannot be used in combination with implicit FTP. - Config: explicit_tls - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_EXPLICIT_TLS - Type: bool - Default: false ### Advanced Options Here are the advanced options specific to ftp (FTP Connection). #### --ftp-concurrency Maximum number of FTP simultaneous connections, 0 for unlimited - Config: concurrency - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_CONCURRENCY - Type: int - Default: 0 #### --ftp-no-check-certificate Do not verify the TLS certificate of the server - Config: no_check_certificate - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_NO_CHECK_CERTIFICATE - Type: bool - Default: false #### --ftp-disable-epsv Disable using EPSV even if server advertises support - Config: disable_epsv - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_DISABLE_EPSV - Type: bool - Default: false #### --ftp-disable-mlsd Disable using MLSD even if server advertises support - Config: disable_mlsd - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_DISABLE_MLSD - Type: bool - Default: false #### --ftp-idle-timeout Max time before closing idle connections If no connections have been returned to the connection pool in the time given, rclone will empty the connection pool. Set to 0 to keep connections indefinitely. - Config: idle_timeout - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_IDLE_TIMEOUT - Type: Duration - Default: 1m0s #### --ftp-close-timeout Maximum time to wait for a response to close. - Config: close_timeout - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_CLOSE_TIMEOUT - Type: Duration - Default: 1m0s #### --ftp-encoding This sets the encoding for the backend. See: the [encoding section in the overview](/overview/#encoding) for more info. - Config: encoding - Env Var: RCLONE_FTP_ENCODING - Type: MultiEncoder - Default: Slash,Del,Ctl,RightSpace,Dot - Examples: - "Asterisk,Ctl,Dot,Slash" - ProFTPd can't handle '*' in file names - "BackSlash,Ctl,Del,Dot,RightSpace,Slash,SquareBracket" - PureFTPd can't handle '[]' or '*' in file names - "Ctl,LeftPeriod,Slash" - VsFTPd can't handle file names starting with dot {{< rem autogenerated options stop >}} ### Limitations FTP servers acting as rclone remotes must support `passive` mode. The mode cannot be configured as `passive` is the only supported one. Rclone's FTP implementation is not compatible with `active` mode as [the library it uses doesn't support it](https://github.com/jlaffaye/ftp/issues/29). This will likely never be supported due to security concerns. Modified times are not supported. Times you see on the FTP server through rclone are those of upload. Rclone's FTP backend does not support any checksums but can compare file sizes. `rclone about` is not supported by the FTP backend. Backends without this capability cannot determine free space for an rclone mount or use policy `mfs` (most free space) as a member of an rclone union remote. See [List of backends that do not support rclone about](https://rclone.org/overview/#optional-features) See [rclone about](https://rclone.org/commands/rclone_about/) The implementation of : `--dump headers`, `--dump bodies`, `--dump auth` for debugging isn't the same as for rclone HTTP based backends - it has less fine grained control. `--timeout` isn't supported (but `--contimeout` is). `--bind` isn't supported. Rclone's FTP backend could support server-side move but does not at present. The `ftp_proxy` environment variable is not currently supported. #### Restricted filename characters In addition to the [default restricted characters set](/overview/#restricted-characters) the following characters are also replaced: File names cannot end with the following characters. Repacement is limited to the last character in a file name: | Character | Value | Replacement | | --------- |:-----:|:-----------:| | SP | 0x20 | ␠ | Not all FTP servers can have all characters in file names, for example: | FTP Server| Forbidden characters | | --------- |:--------------------:| | proftpd | `*` | | pureftpd | `\ [ ]` | This backend's interactive configuration wizard provides a selection of sensible encoding settings for major FTP servers: ProFTPd, PureFTPd, VsFTPd. Just hit a selection number when prompted.