Usage

Before you even start thinking about mounting FTP volumes, make sure you have a decent bandwidth or it's gonna suck.

If everything went smoothly with the installation, you're ready to use ftpmount:

ftpmount [user[:password]@]hostname[:port ][/root_dir] mount_point [-o]


Eg: ftpmount mali@ftp.linuxnet.wox.org /mnt/ftpfs


It is generally a good idea not to provide your password as a parameter, since ftpmount will ask for it.

If for some reason you choose not to use ftpmount (you probably installed the kernel patch and are too lazy to install ftpmount too), here's the way to use good-ol mount:

mount -n -t ftpfs none mount_point -o ip=server_ip [,user=user_name][,pass=password][,port=server_port][,root= root_dir][,own]

Please note that you have to provide the server's IP and that the only way to enter a password is in clear. You don't need to specify all the options, they default as follows:

  • user: anonymous
  • pass: ftpfs@localhost
  • port: 21
  • root: /. This should be specified without the trailing slash (that is "/home/duru", not "/home/duru/").

For example, while testing, I used the following command:

mount -n -t ftpfs none /mnt/ftpfs -o ip=127.0.0.1,user=mali,pass=my_pass

To unmount the volume, you go like

umount mount_point

The own option (-o for ftpmount) forces ownership by the mounting user on all files. This is useful for accommodating servers with strange user/permissions management (SERVU & stuff).

A few words of wisdom:
  • Use -n mount option! I bet you don't want your user/password information listed in mtab.
  • Don't push it! (pushing it = a dozen processes reading on the mount point)
  • It works best for one process! While concurrent access (under normal circumstances) shouldn't cause any problem, the output is optimized for one process reading (the TCP connection is kept alive). So, if you're gonna watch a movie, you don't want other processes to access the mount point and kill the throughoutput (trust me!).
  • The address in IP format sucks! - Go get ftpmount.

Enjoy


Email: mali@users.sourceforge.net