Hi Need some help here with ftp I am ftping a .TAR file of huge size on different server...the tar file ftp'ed does not have permission for others to untar it.... even though the file i am ftping have rwx permissions after ftp it is changed to read only for others...is there a way the permissions are retained to rwx

it depends upon the umask set on the server where u are ftping the file too. If the umask is set something like 022 then even if you ftp the file with twx permission for others, it will make it read only. You could check the umask by giving "umask" at prompt.

The default umask for ftpd is 027 on most versions of unix. On linux, it is whatever the default umask for the system has been set to, as was explained above. When you connect to a system, you can see what the umask has been set to with the command "site umask" at the ftp prompt. Typing just umask will not work with some versions of unix but does work with linux. Not sure about Billyware (Windows). If you want to change the umask, type "site umask 000" or whatever you wish to change it to. Some versions of unix, such as AIX, allow the default umask to be set when the ftpd is started. With AIX, it is the -u option. Check you system documentation for the particular OS you are using. Jerry

Changing the umask only affects new files that are created. You don’t need to do that. After FTPing the file use chmod to set the RWX permissions you want, i.e. chmod 755. Also, don’t forget the owner will be whoever you logged on as in the FTP session, so if you did it as root no one else will be able to access it, use chown to set that.

If I use the site command to change the umask prior to beginning my file transfer, how is that less effective than your proposal that the user do a chmod on all the files after the transfer? With the "site umask 000" command, I set the permissions on all the files I'm transferring. I can put the site command in a .netrc and forget about it. What is the benefit of a chmod after the transfer? Also, please tell me what was wrong with my recommendation. I can hardly wait to get wisdom from a "Techy." Jerry