KERMIT(1C) USER COMMANDS KERMIT(1C)
NAME
kermit - kermit file transfer
SYNOPSIS
kermit [ option ...] [file ...]
DESCRIPTION
Kermit is a file transfer program that allows files to be
moved between machines of many different operating systems
and architectures. This man page describes version 4E(068)
of the program. See the C-Kermit documentation (ckuker.doc)
or the Kermit book for further information.
Arguments are optional. If Kermit is executed without argu-
ments, it will enter command mode. Otherwise, kermit will
read the arguments off the command line and interpret them.
The following notation is used in command descriptions:
fn A Unix file specification, possibly containing
either of the "wildcard" characters '*' or '?' ('*'
matches all character strings, '?' matches any sin-
gle character).
fn1 A Unix file specification which may not contain '*'
or '?'.
rfn A remote file specification in the remote system's
own syntax, which may denote a single file or a
group of files.
rfn1 A remote file specification which should denote only
a single file.
n A decimal number, in most cases between 0 and 94.
c A decimal number between 0 and 127 representing the
value of an ASCII character.
cc A decimal number between 0 and 31, or else exactly
127, representing the value of an ASCII control
character.
[ ] Any field in square braces is optional.
{x,y,z} Alternatives are listed in curly braces.
Kermit command line options may specify either actions or
settings. If Kermit is invoked with a command line that
specifies no actions, then it will issue a prompt and begin
interactive dialog. Action options specify either protocol
transactions or terminal connection.
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COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
-s fn Send the specified file or files. If fn contains
wildcard (meta) characters, the Unix shell expands
it into a list. If fn is '-' then Kermit sends from
standard input, which may come from a file:
kermit -s - < foo.bar
or a parallel process:
ls -l | kermit -s -
You cannot use this mechanism to send terminal
typein. If you want to send a file whose name is
"-" you can precede it with a path name, as in
kermit -s ./-
-r Receive a file or files. Wait passively for files
to arrive.
-k Receive (passively) a file or files, sending them to
standard output. This option can be used in several
ways:
kermit -k
Displays the incoming files on your screen; to be
used only in "local mode" (see below).
kermit -k > fn1
Sends the incoming file or files to the named file,
fn1. If more than one file arrives, all are con-
catenated together into the single file fn1.
kermit -k | command
Pipes the incoming data (single or multiple files)
to the indicated command, as in
kermit -k | sort > sorted.stuff
-a fn1 If you have specified a file transfer option, you
may specify an alternate name for a single file with
the -a option. For example,
kermit -s foo -a bar
sends the file foo telling the receiver that its
name is bar. If more than one file arrives or is
sent, only the first file is affected by the -a
option:
kermit -ra baz
stores the first incoming file under the name baz.
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-x Begin server operation. May be used in either local
or remote mode.
Before proceeding, a few words about remote and local opera-
tion are necessary. Kermit is "local" if it is running on
a PC or workstation that you are using directly, or if it is
running on a multiuser system and transferring files over an
external communication line - not your job's controlling
terminal or console. Kermit is remote if it is running on a
multiuser system and transferring files over its own con-
trolling terminal's communication line, connected to your PC
or workstation.
If you are running Kermit On most systems, Kermit runs in
remote mode by default, so on a PC or workstation, you will
have to put it into local mode. The following command sets
Kermit's "mode":
-l dev Line - Specify a terminal line to use for file
transfer and terminal connection, as in
kermit -l /dev/ttyi5
When an external line is being used, you might also need
some additional options for successful communication with
the remote system:
-b n Baud - Specify the baud rate for the line given in the
-l option, as in
kermit -l /dev/ttyi5 -b 9600
This option should always be included with the -l
option, since the speed of an external line is not
necessarily what you might expect.
-p x Parity - e, o, m, s, n (even, odd, mark, space, or
none). If parity is other than none, then the 8th-bit
prefixing mechanism will be used for transferring 8-bit
binary data, provided the opposite Kermit agrees. The
default parity is none.
-t Specifies half duplex, line turnaround with XON as the
handshake character.
The following commands may be used only with a Kermit which
is local - either by default or else because the -l option
has been specified.
-g rfn Actively request a remote server to send the named
file or files; rfn is a file specification in the
remote host's own syntax. If fn happens to contain
any special shell characters, like '*', these must
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be quoted, as in
kermit -g x\*.\?
-f Send a 'finish' command to a remote server.
-c Establish a terminal connection over the specified
or default communication line, before any protocol
transaction takes place. Get back to the local sys-
tem by typing the escape character (normally
Control-Backslash) followed by the letter 'c'.
-n Like -c, but after a protocol transaction takes
place; -c and -n may both be used in the same com-
mand. The use of -n and -c is illustrated below.
On a timesharing system, the -l and -b options will also
have to be included with the -r, -k, or -s options if the
other Kermit is on a remote system.
If kermit is in local mode, the screen (stdout) is con-
tinously updated to show the progress of the file transer.
A dot is printed for every four data packets, other packets
are shown by type (e.g. 'S' for Send-Init), 'T' is printed
when there's a timeout, and '%' for each retransmission. In
addition, you may type (to stdin) certain "interrupt" com-
mands during file transfer:
Control-F: Interrupt the current File, and go on to
the next (if any).
Control-B: Interrupt the entire Batch of files, ter-
minate the transaction.
Control-R: Resend the current packet
Control-A: Display a status report for the current
transaction.
These interrupt characters differ from the ones used in
other Kermit implementations to avoid conflict with Unix
shell interrupt characters. With System III and System V
implementations of Unix, interrupt commands must be pre-
ceeded by the escape character (e.g. control-\).
Several other command-line options are provided:
-i Specifies that files should be sent or received
exactly "as is" with no conversions. This option is
necessary for transmitting binary files. It may
also be used to slightly boost efficiency in Unix-
to-Unix transfers of text files by eliminating
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CRLF/newline conversion.
-e n Specifies the (extended) receive-packet length, a
number between 10 and about 1000 (depending on the
system). Lengths of 95 or greater require that the
opposite Kermit support the long packet protocol
extension.
-w Write-Protect - Avoid filename collisions for incom-
ing files.
-q Quiet - Suppress screen update during file transfer,
for instance to allow a file transfer to proceed in
the background.
-d Debug - Record debugging information in the file
debug.log in the current directory. Use this option
if you believe the program is misbehaving, and show
the resulting log to your local Kermit maintainer.
-h Help - Display a brief synopsis of the command line
options.
The command line may contain no more than one protocol
action option.
INTERACTIVE OPERATION
Kermit's interactive command prompt is "C-Kermit>". In
response to this prompt, you may type any valid command.
Kermit executes the command and then prompts you for another
command. The process continues until you instruct the pro-
gram to terminate.
Commands begin with a keyword, normally an English verb,
such as "send". You may omit trailing characters from any
keyword, so long as you specify sufficient characters to
distinguish it from any other keyword valid in that field.
Certain commonly-used keywords (such as "send", "receive",
"connect") have special non-unique abbreviations ("s" for
"send", "r" for "receive", "c" for "connect").
Certain characters have special functions in interactive
commands:
? Question mark, typed at any point in a command, will
produce a message explaining what is possible or
expected at that point. Depending on the context,
the message may be a brief phrase, a menu of key-
words, or a list of files.
ESC (The Escape or Altmode key) - Request completion of
the current keyword or filename, or insertion of a
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default value. The result will be a beep if the
requested operation fails.
DEL (The Delete or Rubout key) - Delete the previous
character from the command. You may also use BS
(Backspace, Control-H) for this function.
^W (Control-W) - Erase the rightmost word from the com-
mand line.
^U (Control-U) - Erase the entire command.
^R (Control-R) - Redisplay the current command.
SP (Space) - Delimits fields (keywords, filenames,
numbers) within a command. HT (Horizontal Tab) may
also be used for this purpose.
CR (Carriage Return) - Enters the command for execu-
tion. LF (Linefeed) or FF (formfeed) may also be
used for this purpose.
\ (Backslash) - Enter any of the above characters into
the command, literally. To enter a backslash, type
two backslashes in a row (\\). A single backslash
immediately preceding a carriage return allows you
to continue the command on the next line.
You may type the editing characters (DEL, ^W, etc) repeat-
edly, to delete all the way back to the prompt. No action
will be performed until the command is entered by typing
carriage return, linefeed, or formfeed. If you make any
mistakes, you will receive an informative error message and
a new prompt - make liberal use of '?' and ESC to feel your
way through the commands. One important command is "help" -
you should use it the first time you run Kermit.
Interactive Kermit accepts commands from files as well as
from the keyboard. Upon startup, Kermit looks for the file
.kermrc in your home or current directory (first it looks in
the home directory, then in the current one) and executes
any commands it finds there. These commands must be in
interactive format, not Unix command-line format. A "take"
command is also provided for use at any time during an
interactive session. Command files may be nested to any
reasonable depth.
Here is a brief list of Kermit interactive commands:
! command Execute a Unix shell command. A space is
required after after the !.
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% text A comment. Useful in take-command files.
bye Terminate and log out a remote Kermit server.
close Close a log file.
connect Establish a terminal connection to a remote sys-
tem.
cwd Change Working Directory.
dial Dial a telephone number.
directory Display a directory listing.
echo Display arguments literally. Useful in take-
command files.
exit Exit from the program, closing any open logs.
finish Instruct a remote Kermit server to exit, but not
log out.
get Get files from a remote Kermit server.
help Display a help message for a given command.
log Open a log file - debugging, packet, session,
transaction.
quit Same as 'exit'.
receive Passively wait for files to arrive.
remote Issue file management commands to a remote Ker-
mit server.
script Execute a login script with a remote system.
send Send files.
server Begin server operation.
set Set various parameters.
show Display values of 'set' parameters, program ver-
sion, etc.
space Display current disk space usage.
statistics Display statistics about most recent transac-
tion.
take Execute commands from a file.
The 'set' parameters are:
block-check Level of packet error detection.
delay How long to wait before sending first
packet.
duplex Specify which side echoes during 'con-
nect'.
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escape-character Character to prefix "escape commands"
during 'connect'.
file Set various file parameters.
flow-control Communication line full-duplex flow
control.
handshake Communication line half-duplex tur-
naround character.
line Communication line device name.
modem-dialer Type of modem-dialer on communication
line.
parity Communication line character parity.
prompt Change the Kermit program's prompt.
receive Set various parameters for inbound
packets.
retry Set the packet retransmission limit.
send Set various parameters for outbound
packets.
speed Communication line speed.
The 'remote' commands are:
cwd Change remote working directory.
delete Delete remote files.
directory Display a listing of remote file names.
help Request help from a remote server.
host Issue a command to the remote host in its own
command language.
space Display current disk space usage on remote sys-
tem.
type Display a remote file on your screen.
who Display who's logged in, or get information
about a user.
FILES
$HOME/.kermrc Kermit initialization commands
./.kermrc more Kermit initialization commands
SEE ALSO
cu(1C), uucp(1C)
Frank da Cruz, Kermit User's Guide, Columbia University, 6th
Edition
Frank da Cruz,
Kermit, A File Transfer Protocol, Digital Press (1987)
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The file ckuker.doc.
DIAGNOSTICS
The diagnostics produced by Kermit itself are intended to be
self-explanatory.
BUGS
See recent issues of the Info-Kermit digest (on ARPANET or
Usenet), or the file ckuker.bwr, for a list of bugs.
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