File Transfer overview

The easiest way to transfer files between the host and workstation is with file transfer lists. File transfer lists are lists of files or directories of files that you can either receive from or send to a host machine. You can use lists that are either part of your current session configuration or saved separately as a file.

File transfer lists can greatly simplify your work when you need to transfer several files or perform a transfer repeatedly. Also, when you save a file transfer list as a file, you can use it with multiple sessions and share it easily with co-workers. File transfer lists are available for sessions configured to use either Host File Transfer or FTP/sftp.

Host On-Demand provides five ways to transfer files between a client and a host:

Host File Transfer
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
SSH File Transfer Protocol (sftp)
Host session configured to use FTP
Host session configured to use sftp

Host File Transfer

Definition and host requirements

Host File Transfer allows you to transfer files between your workstation and a zSeries or iSeries host.

The zSeries host must be running MVS/TSO, VM/CMS, or MVS/CICS. File transfer uses the IND$FILE (SBCS) or APVUFILE (DBCS) program.

The iSeries host must be running the Integrated File System (IFS) on OS/400 V3R7 or later. No additional software is required.

File transfer will work only if the host system screen has a command line available. Refer to the Planning, Installing, and Configuring Host On-Demand guide for details.

User interface

You can transfer a single file or a list of files and you can save the list for repeated use. You can also modify and delete lists. The same interface is used in all cases except that, for OS/400, there is a button that lets you browse the IFS.

To transfer files using Host File Transfer, take the following steps:

Start a host session.

Make sure that you have specified the correct host system and other options.

Click Actions > Transfer Files or the 'Send Files to Host' and 'Receive Files from Host' buttons on the toolbar.

Follow the steps in Sending and receiving files using Host File Transfer.

For troubleshooting tips about Host File Transfer and iSeries platforms, refer to the Host File Transfer troubleshooting checklist.

iSeries

For 5250 file transfer on Netscape 4.x, you cannot connect to a V5R1 iSeries host that has long password support enabled. The Netscape 4.x JVM does not implement the APIs required to encrypt long passwords. You can use a different browser or install the Netscape 4.x Java 2 plug-in.

In order to make iSeries file browsing more efficient when browsing files under the QSYS library, Host On-Demand only lists the files that can be transferred under the QSYS library file system. This may change your file list when you browse the QSYS file system. Host On-Demand lists:

only *.LIB objects as directories under the QSYS library.
objects under *.FILE as files under the QSYS library.
only *.FILE objects as directories under any other library.

Due to the security restrictions in recent JREs, Host On-Demand clients now use the CustomizedCAs.p12 file instead of the KeyRing.class file for reading public key information to transfer files using SSL enabled 5250 sessions. This eliminates the need to add the host's public key to the KeyRing.class file.

Security

Because Host File Transfer shares the display session's TCP/IP socket, file transfer has the same level of security as the display session itself. Therefore in order to provide security for Host File Transfer you should configure the display session for TLS or SSL.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

Definition and host requirements

With FTP you can transfer, delete, or rename a single file or directory or multiple files or directories from either the local file system or the remote file system.

You can transfer files or directories between your workstation and any host system running an FTP server. Host On-Demand implements the client functionality specified by File Transfer Protocol (FTP, IETF RFC0949), which is the standard protocol for transferring files to and from remote machines running FTP servers.

User interface

You can configure 3270, 5250 and VT sessions to use the FTP client as the default file transfer type, instead of Host File Transfer. The FTP session starts in a separate browser window from the host session. The FTP client interface is the same in all cases.

To transfer files using FTP, take the following steps:

Start an FTP session.

Click on the file or directory you want to transfer. If you do not see the file or directory you want to transfer, you can use the working directory field above each of the file systems to change to the directory that contains the files or directories you want to transfer, or to change to the directory that you want to transfer files or directories into, by typing the fully qualified path.

Click the arrow button in between the local file system and the remote file system to transfer the file or directory.

Security

FTP uses a different TCP/IP socket than the display session. Therefore in order to provide security for FTP you should configure the FTP session to use TLS or SSL.

SSH File Transfer Protocol (sftp)

Definition and host requirements

You can transfer files or directories between your workstation and a host system running an sftp server. Many SSH servers also contain sftp server function.

Only the binary transfer mode is supported.

User interface

You can configure VT Display sessions to use the sftp client as the default file transfer type, instead of FTP. The sftp session starts in a separate browser window from the host session.

You can transfer, delete, or rename a single file or directory or multiple files or directories from either the local file system or the remote file system.

To transfer files using sftp, take the following steps:

Start an sftp (SSH File Transfer) session. You configure this sesssion by clicking on the Properties for an FTP/sftp icon and configuring the session to use SSH.

Click on the file or directory you want to transfer. If you do not see the file or directory you want to transfer, you can use the working directory field above each of the file systems to change to the directory that contains the files or directories you want to transfer, or to change to the directory that you want to transfer files or directories into, by typing the fully qualified path.

Click the arrow button in between the local file system and the remote file system to transfer the file or directory.

Security

Sftp uses a different TCP/IP socket than the display session. However, the socket that is used for sftp is not a secure socket (a secure socket would be, for example, a socket that is configured to use SSL or TLS). Instead, the SSH File Transfer Protocol provides security over a non-secure socket.

Host session configured to use FTP

To transfer files using a host session that is configured to use FTP, take the following steps:

Start a host session.

Select Actions > Transfer Files. Login to the FTP server if you are prompted to do so when the FTP session displays.

Select the file or directories you want to transfer. If you do not see the files or directories you want to transfer, you can use the working directory field above each of the file systems to change to the directory that contains the files or directories you want to transfer, or to change to the directory that you want to transfer files or directories into, by typing the fully qualified path.

Click the arrow button in between the local file system and the remote file system to transfer the files or directories.

For information about host definitions, requirements, and security, refer to File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

Host session configured to use sftp

To transfer files using a host session that is configured to use sftp, take the following steps:

Start a host session.

Select Actions > Transfer Files. Login to the sftp server if you are prompted to do so when the sftp session displays.

Select the file or directories you want to transfer. If you do not see the files or directories you want to transfer, you can use the working directory field above each of the file systems to change to the directory that contains the files or directories you want to transfer, or to change to the directory that you want to transfer files or directories into, by typing the fully qualified path.

Click the arrow button in between the local file system and the remote file system to transfer the files or directories.

For information about host definitions, requirements, and security, refer to SSH File Transfer Protocol (sftp).