--- name: "tftp" section: "1" platform: "macos" package: "remote_cmds" version: "308" release: "macOS 26.5" platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/tftp" --- # tftp(1) trivial file transfer program ## NAME **tftp** – trivial file transfer program ## SYNOPSIS **tftp** \[*host* \[*port*\]\] ## DESCRIPTION The **tftp** utility is the user interface to the Internet TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol), which allows users to transfer files to and from a remote machine. The remote *host* may be specified on the command line, in which case **tftp** uses *host* as the default host for future transfers (see the **connect** command below). The optional **-e** argument sets the blocksize to the largest supported value and enables the TFTP timeout option as if the **tout** command had been given. In previous versions of **tftp**, it also enabled binary mode and the TFTP blksize option; these are now on by default. ## COMMANDS Once **tftp** is running, it issues the prompt “tftp\>” and recognizes the following commands: - **?** *command-name* *...* Print help information. - **ascii** Shorthand for "mode ascii" - **binary** Shorthand for "mode binary" - **blocksize** *\[size\]* Sets the TFTP blksize option in TFTP Read Request or Write Request packets to *\[size\]* as specified in RFC 2348. Valid values are between 8 and 65464. If no blocksize is specified, then by default a blocksize of 512 bytes will be used. - **blocksize2** *\[size\]* Sets the TFTP blksize2 option in TFTP Read Request or Write Request packets to *\[size\]*. Values are restricted to powers of 2 between 8 and 32768. This is a non-standard TFTP option. - **connect** *host* \[*port*\] Set the *host* (and optionally *port*) for transfers. Note that the TFTP protocol, unlike the FTP protocol, does not maintain connections between transfers; thus, the **connect** command does not actually create a connection, but merely remembers what host is to be used for transfers. You do not have to use the **connect** command; the remote host can be specified as part of the **get** or **put** commands. - **debug** *level* Enable or disable debugging levels during verbose output. The value of *level* can be one of **packet**, **simple**, **options**, or **access**. - **get** \[*host*:\]*file* \[*localname*\] - **get** \[*host1*:\]*file1* \[*host2*:\]*file2* *...* \[*hostN*:\]*fileN* Get one or more files from the remote host. When using the *host* argument, the *host* will be used as default host for future transfers. If *localname* is specified, the file is stored locally as *localname*, otherwise the original filename is used. Note that it is not possible to download two files at a time, only one, three, or more than three files, at a time. To specify an IPv6 numeric address for a host, wrap it using square brackets like “\[3ffe:2900:e00c:ffee::1234\]:*file*” to disambiguate the colons used in the IPv6 address from the colon separating the host and the filename. - **mode** *transfer-mode* Set the mode for transfers; *transfer-mode* may be one of *ascii* or *binary*. The default is *binary*. - **packetdrop** **\[arg\]** Randomly drop *arg* out of 100 packets during a transfer. This is a debugging feature. - **put** *file* \[\[*host*:\]*remotename*\] - **put** *file1* *file2* *...* *fileN* \[\[*host*:\]*remote-directory*\] Put a file or set of files to the remote host. When *remotename* is specified, the file is stored remotely as *remotename*, otherwise the original filename is used. If the *remote-directory* argument is used, the remote host is assumed to be a UNIX machine. To specify an IPv6 numeric address for a *host*, see the example under the **get** command. - **options** *\[arg\]* Enable or disable support for TFTP options. The valid values of *arg* are **on** (enable RFC 2347 options), **off** (disable RFC 2347 options), and **extra** (toggle support for non-RFC defined options). - **quit** Exit **tftp**. An end of file also exits. - **rexmt** *retransmission-timeout* Set the per-packet retransmission timeout, in seconds. - **rollover** **\[arg\]** Specify the rollover option in TFTP Read Request or Write Request packets. After 65535 packets have been transmitted, set the block counter to *arg*. Valid values of *arg* are 0 and 1. This is a non-standard TFTP option. - **status** Show current status. - **timeout** *total-transmission-timeout* Set the total transmission timeout, in seconds. - **trace** Toggle packet tracing. - **verbose** Toggle verbose mode. - **windowsize** \[*size*\] Sets the TFTP windowsize option in TFTP Read Request or Write Request packets to \[*size*\] blocks as specified in RFC 7440. Valid values are between 1 and 65535. If no windowsize is specified, then the default windowsize of 1 block will be used. ## SEE ALSO [tftpd(8)](/tftpd/8.md) The following RFC's are supported: *RFC 1350: The TFTP Protocol (Revision 2)*. *RFC 2347: TFTP Option Extension*. *RFC 2348: TFTP Blocksize Option*. *RFC 2349: TFTP Timeout Interval and Transfer Size Options*. *RFC 3617: Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) Scheme and Applicability Statement for the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)*. *RFC 7440: TFTP Windowsize Option*. The non-standard **rollover** and **blksize2** TFTP options are mentioned here: *Extending TFTP*, https://www.compuphase.com/tftp.htm. ## HISTORY The **tftp** command appeared in 4.3BSD. Edwin Groothuis \ performed a major rewrite of the [tftpd(8)](/tftpd/8.md) and **tftp** code to support RFC2348. ## NOTES Because there is no user-login or validation within the TFTP protocol, the remote site will probably have some sort of file-access restrictions in place. The exact methods are specific to each site and therefore difficult to document here. Files larger than 33488896 octets (65535 blocks) cannot be transferred without client and server supporting the TFTP blocksize option (RFC2348), or the non-standard TFTP rollover option.