FTP is used mainly to transfer files between systems. You can also use FTP to run remote commands, but our focus here is the file transfer capability. You can use FTP to transfer files to or from your System i, but FTP doesn't support the transfer of other i5/OS objects, such as libraries, programs, commands, or data areas.

To transfer these types of objects, you must first save them into an i5/OS save file. Because a save file is a file, you can then use FTP to transfer the file to another system.

Download an i5/OS Library to a File on Your PC

Here are the steps to download an i5/OS library to a file on your PC:

1. Create a save file on the System i:

     CRTSAVF FILE(MYLIBRARY/MYSAVF)
             TEXT('Save file for FTP')
   

2. Save the objects, library, or IFS files to the save file:

     SAVLIB LIB(MYFTPTEST) DEV(*SAVF)
            SAVF(MYLIBRARY/MYSAVF)
        

3. Run the FTP client from your PC:

a. Go to a DOS prompt.

b. Start the FTP client to connect to your System i:

     C:\>ftp 10.0.1.177

c. Log in to FTP with your i5/OS user ID and password.

d. Set your directories as required (to keep from having to enter a long nasty path).

e. Set the i5/OS current library to the library that contains the save file:

     ftp> cd mylibrary

f. Set the PC's local current directory where you want to place the save file:

    ftp> lcd c:

g. Switch to binary transfer mode (to prevent data translation from occurring):

    ftp> bin

h. Transfer the save file to your PC. Get the i5/OS save file into a new file on your PC. I like to use the extension .sav to help me identify save files on my PC:

     ftp> get  mysavf  mysavf.sav

i. Log out of FTP:

     ftp> quit

You now have the save file on your PC. You can send the save file via e-mail or simply upload it to another system on your network.

Upload a Save File to Your System i

Here are the steps to upload a save file to your System i and restore the objects stored in the save file. The procedure is almost exactly the same as downloading the file, except you use FTP PUT instead of GET, and you do an i5/OS restore operation instead of a save.

1. On the System i, create a save file to later receive the transferred file:

  CRTSAVF FILE(MYLIB/SAVF)
   TEXT('Save file for FTP')

2. Run the FTP client from your PC:

a. Go to a DOS prompt.

b. Start the FTP client to connect to your System i:

C:\>ftp 10.0.1.179

c. Log in to FTP with your i5/OS user ID and password.

d. Set your directories as required (to keep from having to enter a long nasty path):

e. Set the i5/OS current library where the save file exists:

ftp> cd mylib

f. Set the PC's local current directory where the save file exists:

ftp> lcd c:\

g. Switch to binary transfer mode (to prevent data translation from occurring):

ftp> bin

h. Transfer the save file to the System i. Put the i5/OS save file into the save file you created in step 1:

ftp> put  mysavf.sav  savf

i. Log out of FTP:

ftp> quit

3. On the System i, use the Restore Library (RSTLIB), Restore Object (RSTOBJ), or Restore (RST) command to restore the library or the objects:

RSTLIB SAVLIB(MYFTPTEST)
   DEV(*SAVF) SAVF(MYLIB/SAVF)

What About Security?

As for system integrity and security, you must control who has permission to save and restore objects. You cannot let users save and restore objects on your system when the administrator is out of the loop.

On a related topic, you should keep tight reins on who can use FTP on your system. You can use iSeries Access Application Administration for FTP to get some measure of control, but for the best protection -- and to create an audit trail of who did what through FTP -- use object-level security and FTP exit-point programs to control access.