Automate FTP with Command Line Switches and Parameters

I have been assisiting my client in troubleshooting an application problem that occurs daily. Technical support has required us to send them an updated log file each day. I wanted to set up a batch program that I could schedule to run daily that would execute the necessary FTP commands to send the file to them automatically.

I found the solution in this article onMS-DOS FTP command line arguments and commands. FTP has a -s switch which can be used like the > redirect to specify a command file to automate a series of FTP tasks. You can then use Windows Scheduler to execute FTP with the command line switch to read the series of commands from your command file.

1. Save the series of FTP commands (one on each line) as a text file:

   open [hostname]
   [username]
   [password]
   ascii
   put [filename]
   disconnect
   bye
   

2. Create a batch file that executes FTP from the command line with the -s switch:

   ftp -s:commands.txt

3. Use Windows Task Scheduler to execute the above batch file at whatever interval is necesary