Set Attributes using ftp 2.0 and vb.net

Question

Hi

I am uploading files to an Apache server. The files have an attribute of 644. I need people other than the person who uploaded the files to have access to them so I need to change the attribute to 666. Is this possible using the software if so how?

Thanks

Nick Steele

Answer 1

Altough there is no standard 'Change File Attributes' FTP command, many servers support SITE CHMOD extension. To issue a CHMOD command, use the following code:

string response = client.Site("CHMOD 666 file.txt");

If you need to parse FTP response for future processing, following code can help you (it is equivalent of the previous one line sample code):

client.SendCommand("SITE CHMOD 666 file.txt");

FtpResponse response = client.ReadResponse();

Comments

That worked thanks

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I'm very new to VB. Can you please tell me how to get the "Site" property (I rely heavily on intellisense)?

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The "Site" is not a property, it is a method. It is used for executing a command specific for the current FTP server. An argument of the Site method is a string with the command - e.g. "CHMOD 666 file.text".

Each FTP server has a specific set of supportet SITE commands (and some FTP servers do not support SITE command at all). E.g. the Appache FTP server accepts following SITE commands: http://mina.apache.org/ftpserver/site-commands.html Or the Titan FTP server accepts following SITE commands: http://titanftp.com/support/titanftp/v8/webhelp/SITE.htm

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Thanks Jan. I know that my ftp server supports the SITE command, and when I use FileZilla to change folder permissions, I see that it executes Command: SITE CHMOD 777 Yellow_Folder

Would you be kind enough to tell me how to issue this command within visual basic? I have tried what seems to be everything.

So far, I have this:

    Dim host As String = "ftp://0.0.0.0/images/2012/"  '0.0.0.0 is not the actual IP'
    Const username As String = "user"
    Const password As String = "pass"
    Dim ftp As System.Net.FtpWebRequest = System.Net.FtpWebRequest.Create(host)
    ftp.Credentials = New System.Net.NetworkCredential(username, password)
    ftp.Method = "SITE CHMOD 777 Yellow_Folder"
    Dim response As System.Net.FtpWebResponse = CType(ftp.GetResponse(), System.Net.FtpWebResponse)
    response.Close()

When I execute this, I get an exception that the method isn't supported (parameter: value). I'm pretty sure I'm not doing something correct rather than the actual CHMOD command not being supported. I see that the built-in commands such as PrintWorkingDirectory and MakeDirectory are just strings PWD and MKDir, so I tried setting up a public const CHMOD as string = "SITE CHMOD 777 Yellow_Folder", but it won't let me attach it to the end webrequestmethods.ftp (i.e. I can't write webrequestmethods.ftp.CHMOD.

So I guess my question is, how can I issue the command?

Thanks!

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I'm afraid sending FTP commands like SITE CHMOD does not work using System.Net.FtpWebRequest (see this article for more details).

Here is a code example, how to do it using Rebex FTP component:

 Dim ftp As Rebex.Net.Ftp = New Rebex.Net.Ftp()

 ftp.Connect("0.0.0.0")
 ftp.Login("user", "password")
 ftp.ChangeDirectory("/images/2012/")

 ftp.SendCommand("SITE CHMOD 777 Yellow_Folder")
 Dim response as Rebex.Net.FtpResponse = ftp.ReadResponse()
 If response.Group <> 2 Then Throw New FtpException(response)

 ftp.Disconnect()

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Oh well, thanks anyway. I can't see myself getting the Rebex package, as I only really need this particular feature and can't justify that cost. Thanks Jan for all your help.