FTPWATCH(8)

📦 version 1.24, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ FTPWATCH(8) — System Manager's Manual ✨

okay bestie, buckle up, because we're talking about ftpwatch from section 8 of the System Manager's Manual 🎀 she's a little cron gremlin and she is so good at her job.

💖 NAME 💖

ftpwatch — she notifies you of changes on remote ftp servers. that's it. that's the whole vibe. no cap. 🦋

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

ftpwatch

yeah. that's it. no args, no drama, she just goes. 👑

🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌈

okay so ftpwatch is a program that is intended to be run as a cron job. she's not a "run her in your terminal and stare at her" kind of girl, she's a "set it and forget it and she'll text you later" kind of girl. 💅

every user who wants to use her should install her into his crontab file. that means adding something like this, bestie:

47 5    * * 7 /usr/bin/ftpwatch

then the user should create a .ftpwatchrc file. if one is found, the specified files and directories in that file will be dired, and the result is stored as separate files in a .ftpwatch directory in the home directory. ✨

then diff(1) gets invoked to find any changes since the last run. and if any are found?? the output of diff is mailed to the user. she literally emails you about it. main character energy fr fr. 📬

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -d<opt> — passes the options in <opt> to diff when it gets invoked to generate the change-report that's sent to the user. you wanna customize the diff vibe? this is how. 🔥
  • -p — run ftp in passive mode. some networks are like that, no judgement. 🫶

🎀 CONFIGURATION FILES 🎀

each user can place a .ftpwatchrc file in their home directories, listing the files or directories they're interested in. 👀

the format is simple, babes. each line of the file is of the following type:

<Host>:<File>

where <Host> is the hostname of the ftp server and <File> is the file or directory to watch. easy peasy. 🍓

but wait — if you instead want to watch an entire directory structure recursively, you can add an R to the config line of the dir whose subdirs you're interested in, like this:

<Host>:R:<File>

go deep, bestie. 🌊

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Hakan Ardo <hakan@debian.org> — the icon who made her. 🫡

💀 quick reminder babe: she's a cron job. she runs on a schedule whether you're looking or not. set her up right the first time, k? 🙈

and that's the whole page!! written 7 Januari 1997, from the FTPWATCH(8) page in the System Manager's Manual. love her, respect her, put her in your crontab. periodt. 💖✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from