---
name: "tftp"
section: "1"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
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

**tftp** 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* and *port* may be specified on the command line, in which case **tftp** uses them as the default for future transfers (see the **connect** command below).

## COMMANDS

Once **tftp** is running, it issues the prompt ‘tftp’ and recognizes the following commands:

- **?**\|**help** \[*command* *...*\]

  Print help information.

- **ascii**

  Shorthand for **mode** *ascii*.

- **binary**

  Shorthand for **mode** *binary*.

- **blksize** *block-size*

  Set the block size in bytes for one packet. The default value is 512 bytes. Valid values are 8 bytes – 65464 bytes.

- **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.

-

  **get** \[*host*:\] *file* \[*localname*\]

-

  **get** \[*host1*:\] *file1*\[*host2*:\] *file2* *...*\[*hostN*:\] *fileN* Get a file or set of files from the remote host. When using the *host* argument, the *host* will be used as the default host for future transfers. IPv6 addresses can be specified by enclosing *host* in square brackets. 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 the same time; only one, three, or more than three files can be downloaded at the same time.

- **mode** *transfer-mode*

  Set the mode for transfers; *transfer-mode* may be one of *ascii* or *binary*. The default is *ascii*.

-

  **put** *file*\[\[*host*:\] *remotename*\]

-

  **put** *file1* *file2* *...* *fileN*\[\[*host*:\] *remote-directory*\] Put a file or set of files to the remote host. When using the *host* argument, the *host* will be used as the default host for future transfers. IPv6 addresses can be specified by enclosing *host* in square brackets. If *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.

  Note that files may only be written to if they already exist on the remote host and are publicly writable. See [tftpd(8)](/tftpd/8.md) for further details.

- **quit**

  Exit **tftp**. An end-of-file also exits.

- **rexmt** *retransmission-timeout*

  Set the per-packet retransmission timeout, in seconds. The default value is 5 seconds. Valid values are 1 second – 255 seconds.

- **status**

  Show current status.

- **timeout** *total-transmission-timeout*

  Set the total transmission timeout, in seconds. The default value is 25 seconds. Valid values are 1 second – 255 seconds.

- **tout**

  Toggle the **tout** option. This option delivers the retransmission timeout, which is set by **rexmt**, to the server, so the server uses the same retransmission timeout as the client.

- **tsize**

  Toggle the **tsize** option. This option delivers the total size of the file to be transferred. With this value given, the client or server can decide whether they are able to accept the file.

- **trace**

  Toggle packet tracing.

- **verbose**

  Toggle verbose mode.

## SEE ALSO

[ftp(1)](/ftp/1.md), [tftp-proxy(8)](/tftp-proxy/8.md), [tftpd(8)](/tftpd/8.md)

## HISTORY

The **tftp** command appeared in 4.3BSD.

## BUGS

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.