Files can be transferred from MVS to Unix via the network with the
ftp(1)
command. To connect to the ICC mainframe, one types
on the Unix command line ftp iccmvs3.unicc.org
. One it
prompted for one's user name and password on the MVS system. After
logging in, one can type ls
at the ftp>
prompt to
see a short list of files with the current MVS file prefix (normally
one's MVS user ID) or dir
for a more detailed list.
One can create a file on the Unix system called ~/.netrc
that
contains username-password information that allows automatic login
when using ftp. Here is an example of ~/.netrc
:
machine iccmvs3.unicc.org login rossen password spudmeister
Since the passwords are completely visible in this file, it is
essential that only the owner of the file have read-write permissions.
Most ftp(1)
clients will refuse to even start if ~/.netrc
is
insecure. Permissions are set with the chmod(1)
command. In this
case, we would type chmod u+rw,og-rw ~/.netrc
or chmod
600 ~/.netrc
to secure the ~/.netrc
file.
Aliases are macros usually set up by a user to be equivalent to
commands with many options preset. When the alias is entered on the
command line, it gets replaced by the associated command. If one is
constantly FTPing to the same machine, iccmvs3.unicc.org for
example, it makes sense to define an alias instead of having to type
ftp iccmvs3.unicc.org
all of the time. Aliases are defined on the
command line or in a script file like so:
$ alias mvs='ftp iccmvs3.unicc.org'
After this is done, all one has to do to open an FTP connection to the
ICC is type mvs
on the command line.
When transferring a file with ftp(1)
, one must first
specify if any translation is to be done.
By typing type binary
at the ftp>
prompt, one is
saying that files should be sent and received without any translation
whatsoever.
If one specifies type ascii
, one is saying that the files
should be translated to the 7-bit ASCII character set.
If one specifies type ebcdic
, the files will sent and
received in the 7-bit EBCDIC character set.
It is essential that binary files such as PKZIP
archives and SAS CPORT
files be transferred with
type
set to binary
.
It is common to send English-language text files with type
set to ascii
(or ebcdic
if one is sending to an IBM
mainframe), but this is not recommended for text files written with
accented characters that require 8 bits. It is necessary to use
type binary
for such text files.
cd
The cd
command in ftp(1)
is similar to the
cd(1)
command of Unix, but with a few nuances on MVS systems
due to different file naming conventions.
To go up a level in the directory tree, one types cd ..
at
the ftp>
prompt.
To go down a level in the directory tree, one types cd
name_of_a_subdirectory.
To go to a specific directory, one types cd
complete_name_of_directory.
On Unix systems, directory and file names are case-sensitive.
To remove the last level from the current file prefix, one types
cd ..
at the ftp>
prompt.
To add a level to the current file prefix, one types cd
name_of_the_level.
To change to a specific prefix, type the prefix in single quotes like this:
cd 'LOSTPC'
.
On MVS one can type directory and file names in upper or lower case - it does not matter.