What is Lftp?
lftp is a sophisticated file transfer program for Linux and Unix systems that supports multiple network protocols. It is most commonly used as an FTP/SFTP client to transfer files to and from remote servers.
Some key features of lftp include:
- Supports common protocols: FTP, FTPS, SFTP, HTTP, HTTPS
- Resume broken downloads and uploads
- Automatic retry of failed transfers
- Powerful command-line interface with job control features
- Scripting capabilities to automate file transfers
- Proxy support and firewall bypass options
- Parallel transfers to speed up large file downloads/uploads
lftp has an extensive set of commands for tasks like navigating remote file systems, transferring directories recursively, and managing multiple background file transfers. Advanced users can benefit from lftp's scripting options to automate repetitive file transfer jobs.
With robustness features like automatic retry and resume, lftp excels at handling unstable network connections compared to most graphical FTP clients. Its versatility across different protocols also makes it a good choice for servers that need to handle both FTP and SFTP.