


      KERMIT(1)                  (Bull-SPS9)                  KERMIT(1)



      NAME
           kermit - kermit file transfer

      SYNOPSIS
           kermit [ option ...] [file ...]

      DESCRIPTION
           Kermit is a file transfer program that allows files to be
           moved between machines of many different operating systems
           and architectures.  This man page describes version 4C of
           the program.

           Arguments are optional. If Kermit is executed without
           arguments, it will enter command mode. Otherwise, kermit
           will read the arguments off the command line and interpret
           them.

           The following notation is used in command descriptions:

           fn      A Unix file specification, possibly containing
                   either of the "wildcard" characters '*' or '?' ('*'
                   matches all character strings, '?' matches any
                   single character).

           fn1     A Unix file specification which may not contain '*'
                   or '?'.

           rfn     A remote file specification in the remote system's
                   own syntax, which may denote a single file or a
                   group of files.

           rfn1    A remote file specification which should denote only
                   a single file.

           n       A decimal number between 0 and 94.

           c       A decimal number between 0 and 127 representing the
                   value of an ASCII character.

           cc      A decimal number between 0 and 31, or else exactly
                   127, representing the value of an ASCII control
                   character.

           [ ]     Any field in square braces is optional.

           {x,y,z} Alternatives are listed in curly braces.

           Kermit command line options may specify either actions or
           settings.  If Kermit is invoked with a command line that
           specifies no actions, then it will issue a prompt and begin
           interactive dialog.  Action options specify either protocol
           transactions or terminal connection.



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         COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
           -s fn   Send the specified file or files. If fn contains
                   wildcard (meta) characters, the Unix shell expands
                   it into a list.  If fn is '-' then Kermit sends from
                   standard input, which must come from a file:
9                               kermit -s - < foo.bar
9                   or a parallel process:
9                               ls -l | kermit -s -

                   You cannot use this mechanism to send terminal
                   typein.  If you want to send a file whose name is
                   "-" you can precede it with a path name, as in
9                               kermit -s ./-

           -r      Receive a file or files.  Wait passively for files
                   to arrive.

           -k      Receive (passively) a file or files, sending them to
                   standard output.  This option can be used in several
                   ways:
9                           kermit -k

                   Displays the incoming files on your screen; to be
                   used only in "local mode" (see below).
9                           kermit -k > fn1

                   Sends the incoming file or files to the named file,
                   fn1. If more than one file arrives, all are
                   concatenated together into the single file fn1.
9                           kermit -k | command

                   Pipes the incoming data (single or multiple files)
                   to the indicated command, as in
9                           kermit -k | sort > sorted.stuff

           -a fn1  If you have specified a file transfer option, you
                   may specify an alternate name for a single file with
                   the -a option.  For example,
9                           kermit -s foo -a bar

                   sends the file foo telling the receiver that its
                   name is bar.  If more than one file arrives or is
                   sent, only the first file is affected by the -a
                   option:
9                           kermit -ra baz

                   stores the first incoming file under the name baz.



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           -x      Begin server operation.  May be used in either local
                   or remote mode.

           Before proceeding, a few words about remote and local
           operation are  necessary.  Kermit is "local" if it is
           running on a PC or workstation that you are using directly,
           or if it is running on a multiuser system and transferring
           files over an external communication line - not your job's
           controlling terminal or console.  Kermit is remote if it is
           running on a multiuser system and transferring files over
           its own controlling terminal's communication line, connected
           to your PC or workstation.

           If you are running Kermit on a PC, it is in local mode by
           default, with the "back port" designated for file transfer
           and terminal connection.  If you are running Kermit on a
           multiuser (timesharing) system, it is in remote mode unless
           you explicitly point it at an external line for file
           transfer or terminal connection.  The following command sets
           Kermit's "mode":

           -l dev  Line - Specify a terminal line to use for file
                   transfer and terminal connection, as in
9                               kermit -l /dev/ttyi5

           When an external line is being used, you might also need
           some additional options for successful communication with
           the remote system:

           -b n Baud - Specify the baud rate for the line given in the
                -l option, as in
9                            kermit -l /dev/ttyi5 -b 9600

                This option should always be included with the -l
                option, since the speed of an external line is not
                necessarily what you expect.

           -p x Parity - e, o, m, s, n (even, odd, mark, space, or
                none).  If parity is other than none, then the 8th-bit
                prefixing mechanism will be used for transferring 8-bit
                binary data, provided the opposite Kermit agrees. The
                default parity is none.

           -t   Specifies half duplex, line turnaround with XON as the
                handshake character.

           The following commands may be used only with a Kermit which
           is local - either by default or else because the -l option
           has been specified.

           -g rfn  Actively request a remote server to send the named



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                   file or files; rfn is a file specification in the
                   remote host's own syntax.  If fn happens to contain
                   any special shell characters, like '*', these must
                   be quoted, as in
9                               kermit -g x\*.\?

           -f      Send a 'finish' command to a remote server.

           -c      Establish a terminal connection over the specified
                   or default communication line, before any protocol
                   transaction takes place.  Get back to the local
                   system by typing the escape character (normally
                   Control-Backslash) followed by the letter 'c'.

           -n      Like -c, but after a protocol transaction takes
                   place; -c and -n may both be used in the same
                   command.

           On a timesharing system, the -l and -b options will also
           have to be included with the -r, -k, or -s options if the
           other Kermit is on a remote system.

           If kermit is in local mode, the screen (stdout) is
           continously updated to show the progress of the file
           transfer.  A dot is printed for every four data packets,
           other packets are shown by type (e.g. 'S' for Send-Init),
           'T' is printed when there's a timeout, and '%' for each
           retransmission.  In addition, you may type (to stdin)
           certain "interrupt" commands during file transfer:

                Control-F:  Interrupt the current File, and go on to
                the next (if any).

                Control-B:  Interrupt the entire Batch of files,
                terminate the transaction.

                Control-R:  Resend the current packet

                Control-A:  Display a status report for the current
                transaction.


           These interrupt characters differ from the ones used in
           other Kermit implementations to avoid conflict with Unix
           shell interrupt characters.  Interrupt commands must be
           preceeded by the escape character (e.g. control-\).

           Several other command-line options are provided:

           -i      Specifies that files should be sent or received
                   exactly "as is" with no conversions.  This option is
                   necessary for transmitting binary files.  It may


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                   also be used to slightly boost efficiency in Unix-
                   to-Unix transfers of text files by eliminating
                   CRLF/newline conversion.

           -w      Write-Protect - Avoid filename collisions for
                   incoming files.

           -q      Quiet - Suppress screen update during file transfer,
                   for instance to allow a file transfer to proceed in
                   the background.

           -d      Debug - Record debugging information in the file
                   debug.log in the current directory.  Use this option
                   if you believe the program is misbehaving, and show
                   the resulting log to your local Kermit maintainer.

           -h      Help - Display a brief synopsis of the command line
                   options.

           The command line may contain no more than one protocol
           action option.

         INTERACTIVE OPERATION
           Kermit's interactive command prompt is "C-Kermit>". In
           response to this prompt, you may type any valid command.
           Kermit executes the command and then prompts you for another
           command.  The process continues until you instruct the
           program to terminate.

           Commands begin with a keyword, normally an English verb,
           such as "send".  You may omit trailing characters from any
           keyword, so long as you specify sufficient characters to
           distinguish it from any other keyword valid in that field.
           Certain commonly-used keywords (such as "send", "receive",
           "connect") have special non-unique abbreviations ("s" for
           "send", "r" for "receive", "c" for "connect").

           Certain characters have special functions in interactive
           commands:

           ?       Question mark, typed at any point in a command, will
                   produce a message explaining what is possible or
                   expected at that point.  Depending on the context,
                   the message may be a brief phrase, a menu of
                   keywords, or a list of files.

           ESC     (The Escape or Altmode key) - Request completion of
                   the current keyword or filename, or insertion of a
                   default value.  The result will be a beep if the
                   requested operation fails.

           DEL     (The Delete or Rubout key) - Delete the previous



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                   character from the command.  You may also use BS
                   (Backspace, Control-H) for this function.

           ^W      (Control-W) - Erase the rightmost word from the
                   command line.

           ^U      (Control-U) - Erase the entire command.

           ^R      (Control-R) - Redisplay the current command.

           SP      (Space) - Delimits fields (keywords, filenames,
                   numbers) within a command.  HT (Horizontal Tab) may
                   also be used for this purpose.

           CR      (Carriage Return) - Enters the command for
                   execution.  LF (Linefeed) or FF (formfeed) may also
                   be used for this purpose.

           \       (Backslash) - Enter any of the above characters into
                   the command, literally.  To enter a backslash, type
                   two backslashes in a row (\\).  A single backslash
                   immediately preceding a carriage return allows you
                   to continue the command on the next line.


           You may type the editing characters (DEL, ^W, etc)
           repeatedly, to delete all the way back to the prompt.  No
           action will be performed until the command is entered by
           typing carriage return, linefeed, or formfeed.  If you make
           any mistakes, you will receive an informative error message
           and a new prompt - make liberal use of '?' and ESC to feel
           your way through the commands.  One important command is
           "help" - you should use it the first time you run Kermit.

           Interactive Kermit accepts commands from files as well as
           from the keyboard.  When you enter interactive mode, Kermit
           looks for the file .kermrc in your home or current directory
           (first it looks in the home directory, then in the current
           one) and executes any commands it finds there.  These
           commands must be in interactive format, not Unix command-
           line format.  A "take" command is also provided for use at
           any time during an interactive session.  Command files may
           be nested to any reasonable depth.

           Here is a brief list of Kermit interactive commands:
9           !           Execute a Unix shell command.
9           bye         Terminate and log out a remote Kermit server.
9           close       Close a log file.
9           connect     Establish a terminal connection to a remote
                       system.



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           cwd         Change Working Directory.
9           dial        Dial a telephone number.
9           directory   Display a directory listing.
9           echo        Display arguments literally.
9           exit        Exit from the program, closing any open logs.
9           finish      Instruct a remote Kermit server to exit, but not
                       log out.
9           get         Get files from a remote Kermit server.
9           help        Display a help message for a given command.
9           log         Open a log file - debugging, packet, session,
                       transaction.
9           quit        Same as 'exit'.
9           receive     Passively wait for files to arrive.
9           remote      Issue file management commands to a remote
                       Kermit server.
9           script      Execute a login script with a remote system.
9           send        Send files.
9           server      Begin server operation.
9           set         Set various parameters.
9           show        Display values of 'set' parameters.
9           space       Display current disk space usage.
9           statistics  Display statistics about most recent
                       transaction.
9           take        Execute commands from a file.

9           The 'set' parameters are:
9           block-check          Level of packet error detection.
9           delay                How long to wait before sending first
                                packet.
9           duplex               Specify which side echoes during
                                'connect'.
9           escape-character     Character to prefix "escape commands"
                                during 'connect'.
9           file                 Set various file parameters.
9           flow-control         Communication line full-duplex flow
                                control.
9           handshake            Communication line half-duplex
                                turnaround character.
9


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           line                 Communication line device name.
9           modem-dialer         Type of modem-dialer on communication
                                line.
9           parity               Communication line character parity.
9           prompt               Change the Kermit program's prompt.
9           receive              Set various parameters for inbound
                                packets.
9           send                 Set various parameters for outbound
                                packets.
9           speed                Communication line speed.

9           The 'remote' commands are:
9           cwd         Change remote working directory.
9           delete      Delete remote files.
9           directory   Display a listing of remote file names.
9           help        Request help from a remote server.
9           host        Issue a command to the remote host in its own
                       command language.
9           space       Display current disk space usage on remote
                       system.
9           type        Display a remote file on your screen.
9           who         Display who's logged in, or get information
                       about a user.
9      FILES
           $HOME/.kermrc  Kermit initialization commands
           ./.kermrc      more Kermit initialization commands

      SEE ALSO
           cu(1C), uucp(1C)

      DIAGNOSTICS
           The diagnostics produced by Kermit itself are intended to be
           self-explanatory.














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