The FTAM Startup File

If you want to simplify your day-to-day use of FTAM, you can create a "startup" file called .ftamrc, usually in your home directory. The .ftamrc file contains two types of information:

The logins and passwords for connecting to remote hosts.
Special default settings for FTAM operation.




	CAUTION: A startup file that contains password information is a potential security hazard . This may be an unacceptable risk in some situations. In such cases, startup files should not contain password information.

General Rules about .ftamrc

There are two general rules to follow when setting up your .ftamrc file:

Use the chmod command to set the permissions on .ftamrc as follows:
user group other r * * - - - - - -
The file owner must have read access. Permissions marked by '*' can be set as you wish. All other permissions must be off.
The HP-UX environment variable FTAMRC specifies the full pathname for the FTAM startup file. If FTAMRC is not set, FTAM looks for .ftamrc in your $HOME directory.

Automating Logins with .ftamrc

For each host you want to connect to, you can create a line in .ftamrc like this:

machine hostname login login_name [password pswd] [account acct_name]

For example, examine the following line from a .ftamrc file:

machine chicago login betty password sesame

Having this line in .ftamrc can simplify using FTAM with the host named chicago. FTAM uses the login name betty, and the password sesame to gain access to chicago. The default directory on the remote host (chicago) depends on the FTAM implementation there.

Each item on the line is separated from its neighbors with "white space" (tabs or spaces).

Alternative Hostname Forms

The hostname entry is commonly an alias for a remote FTAM responder, such as chicago in the above example.

The hostname can also be the Presentation Address for the remote FTAM responder, or its Directory Distinguished Name . Both of these are more complicated than an alias, and prone to typing errors. All the examples in this guide use the alias form; see the online man pages for more information about the other two forms.

Setting Overwrite Mode with .ftamrc

When you copy or move a file, there is always the possibility that a file by the target name already exists. In this case, FTAM has to decide whether or not to overwrite the existing file.

You can use your .ftamrc file to set a default overwrite mode. To do this, insert only one of the following lines in your .ftamrc file:

o y

This line means "overwrite yes". It directs FTAM to overwrite existing files that have the same name as the one FTAM is trying to create.

o n

This line means "overwrite no." It prevents FTAM from overwriting existing files. Instead, it issues an error message and averts potential data loss.




	NOTE: FTAM (like HP-UX itself) ordinarily defaults overwrite mode to "yes". Therefore, if you do not explicitly set overwrite to "no" in your `.ftamrc`, you can accidently overwrite files using FTAM file transfer commands. Note also that you can have only one "overwrite" entry in your `.ftamrc` file.

The FTAM Startup File

Technical documentation

» Table of Contents

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General Rules about .ftamrc

Automating Logins with .ftamrc

Alternative Hostname Forms

Setting Overwrite Mode with .ftamrc