FTP-related Internet drafts

Extensions to FTP (draft-ietf-ftpext-mlst-14.txt)

Abstract

In order to overcome the problems caused by the undefined format of the current FTP LIST command output, a new command is needed to transfer standardized listing information from Server-FTP to User- FTP. Commands to enable this are defined in this document.

In order to allow consenting clients and servers to interact more freely, a quite basic, and optional, virtual file store structure is defined.

This proposal also extends the FTP protocol to allow character sets other than US-ASCII[1] by allowing the transmission of 8-bit characters and the recommended use of UTF-8[2] encoding.

Much implemented, but long undocumented, mechanisms to permit restarts of interrupted data transfers in STREAM mode, are also included here.

Protocol Negotiation Extensions to Secure FTP (draft-bonachea-sftp-00.txt) (this draft has expired and no new version has appeared)

Abstract

This document specifies new FTP commands to obtain listings of remote directories in a defined format, and to permit restarts of interrupted data transfers in STREAM mode. It allows character sets other than US-ASCII, and also defines an optional virtual file storage structure,

Securing FTP with TLS (draft-murray-auth-ftp-ssl-06.txt)

Abstract

This document describes a mechanism that can be used by FTP clients and servers to implement security and authentication using the TLS protocol defined by [RFC-2246] and the extensions to the FTP protocol defined by [RFC-2228]. It describes the subset of the extensions that are required and the parameters to be used; discusses some of the policy issues that clients and servers will need to take; considers some of the implications of those policies and discusses some expected behaviours of implementations to allow interoperation. This document is intended to provide TLS support for FTP in a similar way to that provided for SMTP in [RFC-2487].

TLS is not the only mechanism for securing file transfer, however it does offer some of the following positive attributes:

• Flexible security levels. TLS can support privacy, integrity, authentication or some combination of all of these. This allows clients and servers to dynamically, during a session, decide on the level of security required for a particular data transfer,
• It is possible to use X.509 certificates to authenticate client users and not just client hosts.
• Formalised public key management. By use of X.509 public certificates during the authentication phase, certificate management can be built into a central function. Whilst this may not be desirable for all uses of secured file transfer, it offers advantages in certain structured environments such as access to corporate data sources.
• Co-existence and interoperation with authentication mechanisms that are already in place for the HTTPS protocol. This allows web browsers to incorporate secure file transfer using the same infrastructure that has been set up to allow secure web browsing.

The TLS protocol is a development of the Netscape Communication Corporation's SSL protocol and this document can be used to allow the FTP protocol to be used with either SSL or TLS. The actual protocol used will be decided by the negotiation of the protected session by the TLS/SSL layer.

Note that this specification is in accordance with the FTP RFC [RFC- 959] and relies on the TLS protocol [RFC-2246] and the FTP security extensions [RFC-2228].

FTP Plus (draft-saul-ftp-plus-00.txt)

Abstract

The transfer of files containing audio/video essence and metadata is a fundamental and important issue. The computer industry has developed several standards which specify methods for performing file transfer. However, there are problems and requirements unique to the video production industry which are not fully addressed by the existing computer industry standards. To overcome these limitations, and in order to guarantee interoperability in the interface, network and protocol domain for file transfer, it is recommended that the industry follow the rules and guidelines defined in this document.

This document presents methods for adapting current computer industry standards and presents a new standard. The use of the ubiquitous File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is described as it relates to transferring large video and audio files. A new file transfer protocol, FTP+, is defined which provides a number of additional functions. FTP+ builds on FTP and uses the same base set of commands as FTP. FTP+ includes new commands that enable additional features and also provide the ability to embrace new network protocols as they become available. This document contains details of these new FTP+ commands.