- sx, rx
The sx and rx
command set serves to transfer files to and from a remote
host using the xmodem protocol. These
are generally part of a communications package, such as
minicom.
- sz, rz
The sz and rz
command set serves to transfer files to and from a remote
host using the zmodem protocol.
Zmodem has certain advantages over
xmodem, such as faster transmission
rate and resumption of interrupted file transfers.
Like sx and rx,
these are generally part of a communications package.
- ftp
Utility and protocol for uploading / downloading
files to or from a remote host. An ftp session can be automated
in a script (see Example 17-7, Example A-5, and Example A-14).
- uucp
UNIX to UNIX copy. This is a
communications package for transferring files between UNIX
servers. A shell script is an effective way to handle a
uucp command sequence.
Since the advent of the Internet and e-mail,
uucp seems to have faded into obscurity,
but it still exists and remains perfectly workable in
situations where an Internet connection is not available
or appropriate.
- cu
Call Up
a remote system and connect as a simple terminal. This
command is part of the uucp package. It
is a sort of dumbed-down version of telnet.
- telnet
Utility and protocol for connecting to a remote host.
 | The telnet protocol contains security holes and
should therefore probably be avoided. |
- wget
The wget utility
non-interactively retrieves or
downloads files from a Web or ftp site. It works well in a
script.
wget -p http://www.xyz23.com/file01.html
wget -r ftp://ftp.xyz24.net/~bozo/project_files/ -o $SAVEFILE |
- lynx
The lynx Web and file browser
can be used inside a script (with the
-dump option) to retrieve a file from a Web or
ftp site non-interactively.
lynx -dump http://www.xyz23.com/file01.html >$SAVEFILE |
- rlogin
Remote login, initates a
session on a remote host. This command has security issues,
so use ssh instead.
- rsh
Remote shell, executes
command(s) on a remote host. This has security issues,
so use ssh instead.
- rcp
Remote copy, copies files
between two different networked machines. Using
rcp and similar utilities with
security implications in a shell script may not be
advisable. Consider, instead, using ssh
or an expect script.
- ssh
Secure shell, logs onto
a remote host and executes commands there. This
secure replacement for telnet,
rlogin, rcp, and
rsh uses identity authentication
and encryption. See its manpage
for details.
