Automated FTP

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Every morning I download the newest McAfee DAT file and SuperDAT file to a local server for all users in my office. It used to be every week, but now new DAT files are made available every day. This is a good thing, but I'm getting tired of manually downloading these files every day.

So I wrote a little BAT file that initiates FTP connects, etc., but it doesn't work!

1. It does not take userid, password, and commands from the BAT script.
   
2. Even if it did (I'm sure there is a way), it does not accept wildcards in the name, such as get dat*
   

Any suggestions?

[scuzzman]

Are you able to get the dat files via HTTP as opposed to FTP? If so, you could use wget.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

No, both ftp.nai.com and ftp.mcafee.com refuse http connections (just tried it).

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Downloaded it anyway, tested it with ftp, and it works anyway!

Thanks, as always! :flowers:

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

I need a little bit more help with this. I wrote a little batch script that I added to the task scheduler to run every morning:

Z:
cd \Install\AntiVirus\DAT
del dat*
del update.ini
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wgët ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/dat*
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wgêt ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/update.ini
X:
cd \jpnnyan\Install\AntiVirus\Superdat-J
del sdat*
del update.ini
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wgét ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/sdat*
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wgèt ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/update.ini
exit

This works beautifully -- as long as the network is stable. This weekend it was not the case; so the script deleted the DAT files, but was unable to download a new one.

Question: is there a way to test the return code of "wgėt" so that I could restore the DAT files if the download fails?

[scuzzman]

Why not just back them up anyway? In your batch, copy them to a backup directory then replace them. I'm not sure (and I don't think so) if batch files support return codes.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

I was hoping that I could fully automate the process. If the download fails, then automatically restore the backed-up files.

I will do some more reading on ŵģęť, and see if I can use IF ERRORLEVEL in the batch script.

[scuzzman]

You may be more successful determining network stability with PING, as this might make things a little easier as it is incorporated and not a third-party application...

[scuzzman]

I think I may have found it:

here: http://goforit.unk.edu/msdos/msdos19.htm

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Tested, and ŵģęť returns 1 if the operation fails. My new script:

Z:
cd \Install\AntiVirus\DAT
del BACKUP\dat*
del BACKUP\update.ini
move dat* BACKUP
move update.ini BACKUP
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wgėt ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/dat*
if errorlevel 1 copy /Y BACKUP\dat*
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wgėt ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/update.ini
if errorlevel 1 copy /Y BACKUP\update.ini
X:
cd \jpnnyan\Install\AntiVirus\Superdat-J
del BACKUP\sdat*
del BACKUP\update.ini
move sdat* BACKUP
move update.ini BACKUP
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wgėt ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/sdat*
if errorlevel 1 copy /Y BACKUP\sdat*
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wgėt ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/update.ini
if errorlevel 1 copy /Y BACKUP\update.ini
exit

Thanks for the help! :)

Updated script to eliminate confirmation prompt from del *.*

[scuzzman]

Great job! And thanks for posting the script (could be useful to someone else in the future -- this could be very useful for incremental backups!

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Anybody using part of the script, don't forget to replace the doctored 'e' in wgėt (see topic 19065). :ninja:

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Here is the final script, now that it's completely tested and everything works as expected.

rem ------------------------------
rem Backup old, download new files
rem ------------------------------
X:
cd \jpnnyan\Install\AntiVirus\DAT
del /Q BACKUP\dat*
move dat* BACKUP
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wget.exe ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/dat*
if errorlevel 1 copy /Y BACKUP\dat*
del BACKUP\update.ini
move update.ini BACKUP
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wget.exe ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/update.ini
if errorlevel 1 copy /Y BACKUP\update.ini
rem
rem ------------------------------
rem Copy files to JPNNYAN location
rem ------------------------------
del /Q Z:\Install\AntiVirus\DAT\dat*
copy /Y dat* Z:\Install\AntiVirus\DAT
del Z:\Install\AntiVirus\DAT\update.ini
copy /Y update.ini Z:\Install\AntiVirus\DAT
rem
rem ------------------------------
rem Backup old, download new files
rem ------------------------------
X:
cd \jpnnyan\Install\AntiVirus\Superdat-J
del /Q BACKUP\sdat*
move sdat* BACKUP
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wget.exe ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/sdat*
if errorlevel 1 copy /Y BACKUP\sdat*
del BACKUP\update.ini
move update.ini BACKUP
C:\PROGRA~1\wget\wget.exe ftp://ftp.mcafee.com/pub/datfiles/japanese/update.ini
if errorlevel 1 copy /Y BACKUP\update.ini
exit /B 0

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

This is as good as any place to announce that "wget" 1.10 has been released.

See ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/wget/; Windows executables are available from http://xoomer.virgilio.it/hherold/.

Here is a list of changes for "wget" 1.10:

http://xoomer.virgilio.it/hherold/News

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

"wget" 1.10.1 has been released; see http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg08075.html

(But I haven't found any Windows executables of 1.10.1 yet).

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

wget 1.10.2 has been released; it contains an important security fix. Anyone using 1.10 or 1.10.1 should upgrade to the latest version.

Announcement

Official website with download links.

Version 1.10.2 for Windows is also available.