Name

cozsftp — secure file transfer program for z/OS

Synopsis

cozsftp [-46AaCfNpqrv] [-B buffer_size] 
        [-b batchfile] [-c cipher]
        [-D sftp_server_path] [-F ssh_config] 
        [-i identity_file] [-J destination]
        [-k my-ring:my-cert] [-l limit]
        [-o ssh_option] [-P port] 
        [-R num_requests] [-S program]
        [-s subsystem | sftp_server] 
        destination
    

Description

cozsftp is an interactive file transfer program, similar to ftp(1), which performs all operations over an encrypted ssh(1) transport. It may also use many features of ssh, such as public key authentication and compression.

The destination may be specified either as [user@]host[:path] or as a URI in the form sftp://[user@]host[:port][/path].

If the destination includes a path and it is not a directory, sftp will retrieve files automatically if a non-interactive authentication method is used; otherwise it will do so after successful interactive authentication.

If no path is specified, or if the path is a directory, sftp will log in to the specified host and enter interactive command mode, changing to the remote directory if one was specified. An optional trailing slash can be used to force the path to be interpreted as a directory.

Since some usage formats use colon characters to delimit host names from path names, IPv6 addresses must be enclosed in square brackets to avoid ambiguity.

z/OS specific notes:

  • cozsftp is a z/OS specific version of the OpenSSH sftp command

  • Includes support for z/OS artifacts such as data sets and JES spool access

  • Features and options that are different from the base sftp command are noted below with [z/OS ...]

  • Starting in release 6.1.0, the exit code returned by the cozsftp command indicates more clearly where a failure occurred. When a non-zero return code is set, it will be one of 8 (failure in SFTP), 12 (failure starting an SSH connection), or 16 (the SSH connection failed after starting SFTP). If the original OpenSSH sftp exit codes are required, export environment variable COZ_SFTP_EXIT_CODES=OLD

Options

-4

Forces cozsftp to use IPv4 addresses only.

-6

Forces cozsftp to use IPv6 addresses only.

-A

Allows forwarding of ssh-agent(1) to the remote system. The default is not to forward an authentication agent.

-a

Attempt to continue interrupted transfers rather than overwriting existing partial or complete copies of files. If the partial contents differ from those being transferred, then the resultant file is likely to be corrupt.

-B buffer_size

Specify the size of the buffer that cozsftp uses when transferring files. Larger buffers require fewer round trips at the cost of higher memory consumption. The default is 32768 bytes.

-b batchfile

Batch mode reads a series of commands from an input batchfile instead of stdin. Since it lacks user interaction it should be used in conjunction with non-interactive authentication. A batchfile of `-' may be used to indicate standard input. cozsftp will abort if any of the following commands fail: get, put, reget, rename, ln, rm, mkdir, chdir, ls, lchdir, chmod, chown, chgrp, lpwd, df, symlink, and lmkdir. Termination on error can be suppressed on a command by command basis by prefixing the command with a `-' character (for example, -rm /tmp/blah*).

Co:Z SFTP V7.0.0 and later supports the conditional commands: %if, %then, %else, and %fi, which may only be used in batch mode. See more information below.

-C

Enables compression (via ssh's -C flag).

-c cipher

Selects the cipher to use for encrypting the data transfers. This option is directly passed to ssh(1).

-D sftp_server_path

Connect directly to a local sftp server (rather than via ssh(1)). This option may be useful in debugging the client and server.

-F ssh_config

Specifies an alternative per-user configuration file for ssh(1). This option is directly passed to ssh(1).

-f

Requests that files be flushed to disk immediately after transfer. When uploading files, this feature is only enabled if the server implements the "fsync@openssh.com" extension.

-i identity_file

Selects the file from which the identity (private key) for public key authentication is read. This option is directly passed to ssh(1).

-J destination

Connect to the target host by first making an sftp connection to the jump host described by destination and then establishing a TCP forwarding to the ultimate destination from there. Multiple jump hops may be specified separated by comma characters. This is a shortcut to specify a ProxyJump configuration directive. This option is directly passed to ssh(1).

-k my-ring:my-cert

[z/OS only] Specifies a SAF/RACF certificate for SSH authentication. if :mycert is not specified, the default certificate label for the given key ring will be used.

-l limit

Limits the used bandwidth, specified in Kbit/s.

-N

Disables quiet mode.

-o ssh_option

Can be used to pass options to ssh in the format used in ssh_config(5). This is useful for specifying options for which there is no separate sftp command-line flag. For example, to limit the number of password prompts allowed to one use: cozsftp -oNumberOfPasswordPrompts=1. For full details of the options allowed, and their possible values, see ssh_config(5).

-P port

Specifies the port to connect to on the remote host.

-p

[z/OS Unix files only] Preserves modification times, access times, and modes from the original files transferred.

-q

Quiet mode: disables the progress meter as well as warning and diagnostic messages from ssh(1).

-R num_requests

Specify how many requests may be outstanding at any one time. Increasing this may slightly improve file transfer speed but will increase memory usage. The default is 64 outstanding requests.

-r

[z/OS Unix files only] Recursively copy entire directories when uploading and downloading. Note that sftp does not follow symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal.

-S program

Name of the program to use for the encrypted connection. The program must understand ssh(1) options.

-s subsystem | sftp_server

Specifies the SSH2 subsystem or the path for an sftp server on the remote host.

-v

Raise logging level. This option is also passed to ssh.

Interactive Commands

cozsftp understands a set of commands similar to those of ftp(1). Commands are case insensitive. Pathnames that contain spaces, special characters recognized by glob(3), or '#' must be enclosed in quotes or these characters must be escaped with a backslash ('\'). If not quoted or escaped, the '#' character indicates that the remainder of the line is a comment. If the input commands are being processed within a shell 'here'-document, then normal UNIX shell substitutions will be made.

ascii

[z/OS added] Alias for: lzopts mode=text

append [-Pp] local-path [remote-path]

[z/OS added] Upload local-path and append it to the end of a remote file on the remote machine. If the remote path name is not specified, it is given the same name it has on the local machine. local-path may contain glob(3) characters and may match multiple files. If it does and remote-path is specified, then remote-path must specify a directory. The remote file is created if it does not exist.

[z/OS Unix files only] If either the -P or -p flag is specified, then full file permissions and access times are copied to the remote file.

[z/OS Note:] The append command is implemented by opening the remote file and then obtaining its current size as the initial offset for writing data. Some SFTP server products may not support this correctly. If the remote server is Co:Z SFTP, then the append command will be rejected if the current file transfer options (e.g. linerule, translation) allow the file size to be changed. The append command is not supported to a remote Co:Z SFTP data set; use the put command after setting the server option: ls /+disp=mod to append to the end of a remote z/OS data set.

binary

[z/OS added] Alias for: lzopts mode=binary

bye

Quit cozsftp.

cd path

Change remote directory to path.

chgrp [-h] grp path

[z/OS Unix files only] Change group of file path to grp. path may contain glob(3) characters and may match multiple files. grp must be a numeric GID.

If the -h flag is specified, then symlinks will not be followed. Note that this is only supported by servers that implement the "lsetstat@openssh.com" extension.

chmod [-h] mode path

[z/OS Unix files only] Change permissions of file path to own. path may contain glob(3) characters and may match multiple files.

If the -h flag is specified, then symlinks will not be followed. Note that this is only supported by servers that implement the "lsetstat@openssh.com" extension.

chown [-h] own path

[z/OS Unix files only] Change owner of file path to own. path may contain glob(3) characters and may match multiple files. own must be a numeric UID.

If the -h flag is specified, then symlinks will not be followed. Note that this is only supported by servers that implement the "lsetstat@openssh.com" extension.

df [-hi] [path]

[z/OS Unix files only] Display usage information for the filesystem holding the current directory (or path if specified). If the -h flag is specified, the capacity information will be displayed using "human-readable" suffixes. The -i flag requests display of inode information in addition to capacity information. This command is only supported on servers that implement the ``statvfs@openssh.com'' extension.

exit

Quit cozsftp.

dsget [-dtu] remote-dataset [local-dataset]
dsput [-dtu] local-dataset [remote-dataset]

[z/OS data sets only] Copy data sets between the local and remote system. The target data set will be allocated with attributes similar to the source data set (multi-volume data sets are not supported and compression is not considered). Records will be transferred without modification between the source and target data sets. This feature was introduced in several phases. In order to use the following features, BOTH the Co:Z SFTP client and server must be at the level (or newer) that introduces the feature:

Version 5.5.0 introduces support for sequential data sets only. The source data set must be a sequential data set. The target data set (if it exists) must be a sequential data set. Relative GDGs are NOT supported.

Version 6.0.0 introduces support for partitioned data sets (both PDS and PDSE). Client DD names are NOT supported for either the source or target (note that DD names are never supported on the server). The IBM utility IEBCOPY is used to unload the source PDS(E) and to load the target PDS(E). If IEBCOPY completes with a non-zero return code, the dsget/dsput operation will fail and the IEBCOPY error message(s) will be written to the log (either the client or server, depending on where the error occurs). Notes: dsput/dsget do not copy member generations or the setting of PDSE V2 status or MAXGENS.

Relative GDGs are now supported for sequential data sets.

Version 6.2.0 introduces support for individual members of partitioned data sets (both PDS and PDSE). The source member is specified with the standard member syntax as a suffix to the data set name, enclosed in parentheses. The target data set must be specified without a member name. If the target data set exists the transfer will fail unless the -d or -u flag is also supplied. A new flag -t can be specified to trim the target data set of unused space after the transfer completes (see below).

If the source data set is a PDSE, the member and its aliases are copied. If the source data set is a PDS, only the member is copied.

local-dataset

The name of the source (dsput) or target (dsget) MVS dataset on the local system. A dataset name prefixed by "//" indicates an absolute name. If the dataset name does not start with "//", then the current local working directory must be a dataset qualifier "//..." which will be added as a prefix for the complete local dataset name.

remote-dataset

The name of the source (dsget) or target (dsput) MVS dataset on the remote system. A dataset name prefixed by "//" indicates an absolute name. If the dataset name does not start with "//", then the current remote working directory must be a dataset qualifier "//..." which will be added as a prefix for the complete remote dataset name.

If the target dataset name is not specified, then it will default to the same as the source dataset name (whether it be absolute or relative).

If the -d flag is specified and the target dataset exists, then it will be deleted and reallocated. If the -u flag is specified and the target dataset exists, it will be reused without reallocation. In this case, it is the user's responsibility to ensure that the record format is compatible and the space is sufficient. The -d and -u flags are mutually exclusive. If neither is specified and the target data set exists, then the command will fail. The -u flag and -d flags are data set level flags. This means that -u is required for single member transfers to an existing data set even if the target data set does not have a member of the same name.

If the -t flag is specified, the target data set will be trimmed of unused space after the transfer completes. Because the target data set is allocated with attributes similar to the source data set, this flag is most useful when transferring a single member to a target data set where all of the original allocation is not needed.

The following options will be copied/derived from the source dataset when allocating the target dataset: recfm,lrecl,blksize,space,dsntype,eattr. Space units will be converted to either cylinders or tracks. The primary space quantity will be the allocated size of the source dataset on its first volume. If the user wants a multi-volume target dataset, the maxvol option must be explicitly set. Compression will not be considered in space allocation: if the source dataset is compressed, the target dataset space may not be sufficient if an uncompressed data class is used.

get [-afpR] remote-path [local-path]

Retrieve the remote-path and store it on the local machine. If the local path name is not specified, it is given the same name it has on the remote machine. remote-path may contain glob(3) characters and may match multiple files. If it does and local-path is specified, then local-path must specify a directory.

If the -a flag is specified, then attempt to resume partial transfers of existing files. Note that resumption assumes that any partial copy of the local file matches the remote copy. If the remote file differs from the partial local copy then the resultant file is likely to be corrupt.

If the -f flag is specified, then fsync() will be called after the file transfer has completed to flush the file to disk.

If the -p flag is specified, then full file permissions and access times are copied too.

If the -R flag is specified then directories will be copied recursively. Note that sftp does not follow symbolic links when performing recursive transfers.

[z/OS Unix files only] No flags are supported if either the local or remote file is a z/OS data set. The -a is also not supported for z/OS Unix files if the current file transfer options (e.g. linerule, translation) allow the file size to be changed

help

Display help text.

lcd path

Change local directory to path.

lls [ls-options [path]]

Display local directory listing of either path or current directory if path is not specified. ls-options may contain any flags supported by the local system's ls(1) command. path may contain glob(3) characters and may match multiple files.

[z/OS] lls -h and -S are not supported because the z/OS ls command does support these options. The -n option is displayed as -l for data sets rather than displaying a numerical listing.

lmkdir path

[z/OS Unix files only] Create local directory specified by path.

ln [-s] oldpath newpath

[z/OS Unix files only] Create a link from oldpath to newpath. If the -s flag is specified the created link is a symbolic link, otherwise it is a hard link.

lpwd

Print local working directory.

ls [-1afhlnrSt] [path]

Display a remote directory listing of either path or the current directory if path is not specified. path may contain glob(3) characters and may match multiple files.

The following flags are recognized and alter the behaviour of ls accordingly:

-1

Produce single columnar output.

-a

List files beginning with a dot (`.').

-f

Do not sort the listing. The default sort order is lexicographical.

-h

When used with a long format option, use unit suffixes: Byte, Kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte, Terabyte, Petabyte, and Exabyte in order to reduce the number of digits to four or fewer using powers of 2 for sizes (K=1024, M=1048576, etc.).

If the remote server is Co:Z SFTP, the numerical long form listing is displayed data sets when -h is used with either -l or -n

-l

Display additional details including permissions and ownership information.

If the remote server is Co:Z SFTP, for data sets this returns the following (unless the Co:Z unixls option is set): Volume, Referred, Ext, Tracks, Used, Recfm, Lrecl, BlkSz, Dsorg, Dsname.

-n

Produce a long listing with user and group information presented numerically.

If the remote server is Co:Z SFTP, for data sets this displays the estimated data set size when possible.

-r

Reverse the sort order of the listing.

-S

Sort the listing by file size.

-t

Sort the listing by last modification time.

lumask umask

Set local umask to umask.

lzopts [-a] [option=value,...]

[z/OS added] Set local (client) file transfer options. These options are set prior to initiating file/dataset transfers from z/OS to a remote host.

Multiple options can be set by separating the option=value pairs with commas. An error is returned if one or more of the options was incorrectly specified, but the remaining options are set as requested.

The active options and their settings can be displayed by issuing the lzopts command without arguments. The -a option can be specified to list all available options, even those that are not active.

For the set of Co:Z SFTP Options, see the Co:Z SFTP - User's Guide.

mkdir path

Create remote directory specified by path. If the remote server is Co:Z SFTP, the path may be a //data-set-name in which case Co:Z SFTP serve will create a PDS or PDSE if no data set with this name alread exists.

progress

Toggle display of progress meter.

put [-afpR] local-path [remote-path]

Upload local-path and store it on the remote machine. If the remote path name is not specified, it is given the same name it has on the local machine. local-path may contain glob(3) characters and may match multiple files. If it does and remote-path is specified, then remote-path must specify a directory.

If the -a flag is specified, then attempt to resume partial transfers of existing files. Note that resumption assumes that any partial copy of the remote file matches the local copy. If the local file contents differ from the remote local copy then the resultant file is likely to be corrupt.

If the -f flag is specified, then a request will be sent to the server to call fsync() after the file has been transferred. Note that this is only supported by servers that implement the "fsync@openssh.com" extension.

If the -p flag is specified, then full file permissions and access times are copied too.

If the -R flag is specified then directories will be copied recursively. Note that sftp does not follow symbolic links when performing recursive transfers.

[z/OS Unix files only] No flags are supported if either the local or remote file is a z/OS data set. The -a is also not supported for z/OS Unix files if the current file transfer options (e.g. linerule, translation) allow the file size to be changed

pwd

Display remote working directory.

quit

Quit cozsftp.

reget [-fpR] remote-path [local-path]

[z/OS Unix files only] Resume download of remote-path. Equivalent to get with the -a flag set. Note: reget is not supported if the current file transfer options (e.g. linerule, translation) can cause the file size to be changed.

reput [-fpR] remote-path [local-path]

[z/OS Unix files only] Resume upload of remote-path. Equivalent to put with the -a flag set. Note: reput is not supported if the current file transfer options (e.g. linerule, translation) can cause the file size to be changed.

rename [-l] oldpath newpath

Rename remote file from oldpath to newpath.

By default, the rename command will use the extension posix-rename@openssh.com if the server supports it. This allows an existing "newpath" to be replaced without error. If the -l switch is specified, the original rename semantics will be used and the server should fail the operation if an existing file "newpath" exists.

Note: When renaming z/OS data sets or PDS members, the Co:Z SFTP server will always return an error if the "newpath" exists.

rm path

Delete remote file specified by path.

rmdir path

[z/OS Unix files only] Remove remote directory specified by path.

symlink oldpath newpath

[z/OS Unix files only] Create a symbolic link from oldpath to newpath.

version

Display the sftp protocol version.

zopts [-a] [option=value,...]

[z/OS added] Set server file transfer options, if the server is a Co:Z SFTP server. These options are set prior to initiating file/dataset transfers from z/OS to a remote host.

The zopts command is functionally equivalent to the ls /+[option=value,...] command used by existing clients to set Co:Z sftp-server file transfer options.

Multiple options can be set by separating the option=value pairs with commas. An error is returned if one or more of the options was incorrectly specified, but the remaining options are set as requested.

The active options and their settings can be displayed by issuing the zopts command without arguments. The -a option can be specified to list all available options, even those that are not active.

For the set of Co:Z SFTP Options, see the Co:Z SFTP - User's Guide.

%if

[z/OS added, batch mode only] Introduce a conditional block of commands. If no command in this block fails, then the %then block will run if present, otherwise the %else block will run if present.

Notes:

  • Normal commands within a block may be preceded by '-' to ignore failures. See the -b option above for more information.

  • A conditional %if / %then / %else / %fi block may not be nested.

  • %then and %else blocks are both optional, but if both are present %then must precede %else.

%then

[z/OS added, batch mode only] Introduce a block of commands that will run if the preceding %if block of commands all ran successfully. If any command in the %then block (not preceded by '-') fails, then the batch fails with a non-zero exit code.

%else

[z/OS added, batch mode only] Introduce a block of commands that will run if a command in the preceding %if block of commands failed. If any command in the %else block (not preceded by '-') fails, then the batch fails with a non-zero exit code.

%fi

[z/OS added, batch mode only] Terminates the preceding conditional %if/%then/%else/%fi block. %fi is optional, but if not present then the preceding %if, %then, or %else block will be terminated by the end of the batch file.

!command

Execute command in local shell.

!

Escape to local shell.

?

Synonym for help.

See Also

ftp(1), ls(1), scp(1), sftp(1), ssh(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-keygen(1), glob(3), ssh_config(5), sftp-server(8), sshd(8).

T. Ylonen and S. Lehtinen, SSH File Transfer Protocol, draft-ietf-secsh- filexfer-00.txt, January 2001, work in progress material.


Saint Charles, Missouri
info@coztoolkit.com
+1 636.300.0901

Copyright© 2009 - 2023 Dovetailed Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved. Co:Z® is a registered trademark and Co:Z Toolkit™ is a trademark of Dovetailed Technologies, LLC.

Saint Charles, Missouri
info@coztoolkit.com
+1 636.300.0901

Copyright© 2009 - 2023 Dovetailed Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved. Co:Z® is a registered trademark and Co:Z Toolkit™ is a trademark of Dovetailed Technologies, LLC.