SENDFILE(1)

📦 version 2.1b.20080616, in debian bookworm, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble

💌 SENDFILE — the sendfile(1) glow-up 💌

okay bestie, listen up, because this one is a General Commands Manual banger and it's about to be your new favorite way to yeet files across the internet 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

sendfile — send file(s) via Internet. that's it. that's the whole vibe. no cap 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

sendfile [ -stMgduzvolSPiqQV ] [ -c=" comment" ] [ -C=program ] [
-ps=[my_ID] ] [ -pe=[to_user] ] [ -m LIMIT ] file [...]  user[@host]

sendfile -a="archive" [ -uviqQ ] [ -c=" comment" ] [ -C=program ] [
-ps[=my_ID] ] [ -pe[=to_user] ] file_or_directory [...]  recipient

like… look at those flags. iconic. we stan a command with options 🎀

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so sendfile sends files to the specified recipient. main character behavior, honestly.

on the receiving side there must be a SAFT-server (Simple Asynchronous File Transfer) installed, like sendfiled, and it stores incoming files into the recipient's spool-directory. no SAFT server, no slay. simple as.

SAFT knows about 4 file types, and you're gonna learn them all:

  • BINARY — byte-stream file which will not be modified. untouched. pristine. a legend 💖
  • SOURCE — record oriented program source file. only EOL will be translated.
  • TEXT — human readable text files. EOL and the character set (like German umlauts) will be translated.
  • MIME — Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension file as defined by RFC 2045-2049.

files can be sent compressed or pgp-encrypted and/or pgp-signed. and as an extension to SAFT, sendfile is able to send multiple binary files in one archive file. multitasking queen 👑

default mode for sendfile is sending compressed binary files. compression will be disabled for hosts which are inside your LAN and for files which cannot be compressed — the program is smart enough to not waste the effort, love that for it.

with the helper program sfconf you can easily configure sendfile. bestie-coded utility fr fr 🫶

✨ ARGUMENTS ✨

you have to specify at least one file name and the recipient's address. both. you can't skip either, sorry angel.

an address can be specified as:

  • user — a local user or a sendfile alias (see below), e.g.: framstag
  • user@host — an user on a remote host, e.g.: framstag@bofh.belwue.de
  • saft://host/user — like above, but in URL-syntax, e.g.: saft://bofh.belwue.de/framstag
  • saft://host:port/user — like above, but with alternate SAFT-port, e.g.: saft://bofh.belwue.de:4870/framstag

four ways to say "send it to this person" and honestly all of them eat 💅

✨ OPTIONS ✨

so many flags, so little time. let's get into it:

  • -4, -6 — Explicitly force IPv4 or IPv6 connections. By default, the program will try to resolve the name given, and choose the appropriate protocol automatically. If resolving a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, sendfile will try to use the adresses in the order they are returned by the resolver. (yes, "adresses" — that's how the original spells it, and I'm not gonna gaslight you about it 💀)
  • -s — Send in source mode (not needed if sending to a unix host).
  • -t — Send in text mode (not needed if sending to a unix host).
  • -M — Send MIME file (must be external composed before!). like, YOU have to compose it first. sendfile is not doing your homework.
  • -g — Send in guessed mode: sendfile tries to guess the correct mode (source, text or binary). > This will not work in every case and not on all platforms! so… lowkey risky, highkey convenient 🙈
  • -i — Print more transaction information. the tea ☕
  • -v — Verbose mode: show SAFT protocol messages. for the nosy besties (me, it's me).
  • -V — Show version information and exit. quick lil check-in 👋
  • -u — Send uncompressed.
  • -z — Send compressed.
  • -a — Send files or whole directories as one archive (binary mode only). You have to specify an archive name. no name, no archive, periodt.
  • -d — Delete previous sent file. No wildcards allowed. don't get cute with the *, it will not work.
  • -o — Overwrite already sent file(s) with same name.
  • -P — Read file from stdin. You must specify a file name, too.
  • -S — Spool file into outgoing queue for later processing. You must run a sendfiled which supports this mode. no supporting daemon, no spooling, sad!
  • -l — List files in the outgoing spool.
  • -q — Quiet mode 1: print no transfer messages.
  • -Q — Quiet mode 2: print no transfer, information or warning messages. absolute silence. stealth mode. ninja behavior 🥷
  • -c — Add a short comment to a single file. a single file, bestie, don't push it.
  • -C — Force usage of specified compression program (gzip or bzip2). those two. only those two. don't try anything else.
  • -pc — Encrypt file(s) with pgp (IDEA symmetric).
  • -pe — Encrypt file(s) with pgp (public key).
  • -ps — Add pgp signature(s) to the file(s).
  • -m — Limit the maximum thruput (in KB/s).

✨ ARGUMENTS ✨ (yes, again, they really did that 💀)

  • user — Recipient user name. Can be an alias, too. See below.
  • file — File name to be sent. Only when using the -a="archive" option you may specify any file or directory.

like… only with -a="archive" can you send any file or directory. any other time? just a file. rules are rules 🎀

✨ EXAMPLES ✨

here's how the cool kids do it:

sendfile -t project.txt chief@bigvax.somewhere.net
sendfile -a=jokes -c 'from Gary Larson' *.gif framstag

first one: text mode, one file, off to the chief. second one: archive named jokes, with a comment from Gary Larson, all your *.gifs, straight to framstag. obsessed. no notes. 🌈

✨ FILES ✨

  • /etc/sendfile.deny — Users which are not allowed to receive files or messages (set by root). root said no, so it's a no. 🚫
  • /var/spool/sendfile/$USER/config/config — Your configuration file. Valid entries are (the | symbol means "or"):
    • bell = on|off — add a bell when a file or message arrives.
    • deleting = on|off — allow remote users to delete their files after transmission.
    • msglog = on|off — log incoming messages in /var/spool/sendfile/$USER/msglog
    • notification = none|both|mail [user@host]|message [user@host] — send a notification when a file has been arrived via mail or message or none or both mechanism.
    • forward = user@host — set a forward address.
  • /var/spool/sendfile/$USER/config/restrictions — List of addresses from where you don't want messages or files. The format is:
user@host [mfb]

m stands for messages, f for files and b for both. Wildcards * and ? are allowed. Examples:

gates@microsoft.com b
*aol.com m

You may also specify the addresses in URL-syntax.

  • /var/spool/sendfile/$USER/config/aliases — The sendfile alias file. Format:
alias address [sendfile-options]

Example:

chief grmblfz@bigvax.somewhere.net
ccc chaoscomputerclub@saft.ccc.de -pe -ps

You may also specify the addresses in URL-syntax.

aliases are literally just nicknames with extra powers and that is the most Gen Z thing in this entire manual 💅

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

sfconf receive(1) sendmsg(1) fetchfile(1)

the whole friend group 🫶

✨ AUTHOR ✨

Ulli Horlacher — framstag@rus.uni-stuttgart.de 👑

and that's the page, bestie! this one came from the 3rd Berkeley Distribution, it's filed under SENDFILE(1) in the General Commands Manual, and honestly? it ate. now go send somebody a file. mwah 💖✨

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