--- Michael Anderson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Passwords for the FTP server's user id have always bothered me, being
> clear text passwords in your job stream. If you don't have a fancy
> and rather expensive job scheduler, then prompting for the password
> will not work for unattended (Automated) processing, so what do you
> do?

you use netrc files, of course :-)

netrc files are simple ascii files that make ftp and users happy.

the format of a netrc record is:

machine "nodename" login "mgr.foobar" password "never,tell"

(you, of course, correct what's in quotes for you environment/needs)

if this netrc file is named 'netrc' and lives in the ftp *initiator's*
home group, then:

ftp nodename

will automatically log you onto 'nodename'.  caveat -- since soooo many
users' home group is pub, it makes a tremendous amount of sense to
*not* have the netrc file in the pub group. and since this file
contains passwords, it makes more tremendous sense to put some kind of
security on this file.  my recommendation is to 'altsec' it in some
fashion (either for r/w access or acd's...).  if you put this netrc
file into a non-home group, then the following file equation is needed:

:file netrc.[my_home_group] = [filename.group][.account]

for example, :file netrc.pub = nodename.netrc

a single netrc file can hold logons for multiple nodes but not multiple
logons for a single server (you need multiple files for that).

with this kind of system in place, users never need to know passwords.
it's all 'hidden' in netrc files.              - d

ps -- read ftpdoc.arpa.sys

=====
Donna Garverick     Sr. System Programmer
dgarverick -at- longs -dot- com
925-210-6631        Longs Drug Stores

Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are.
"Ulysses", A. Tennyson

>>>MY opinions, not Longs Drug Stores'<<<

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