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How to download a data set from an IBM server

Some servers overload the basic FTP commands to provide additional functionality. Many IBM servers, for example, require you to submit a GET command where instead of passing in a file name, they expect you to submit a mailbox ID and an ID for a data set.

The instructions you receive from the host might tell you to do something like this:

GET %DFSAEROT%015237DA myfile.txt

The equivalent Robo-FTP command looks like this:

RCVFILE "%DFSAEROT%015237DA" /as "myfile.txt"

This tells Robo-FTP to request the data set identified by %DFSAEROT%015237DA and save it locally to a file called myfile.txt.

Sometimes it is not necessary to specify the mailbox ID and the server will accept syntax like this:

RCVFILE "015237DA" /as "myfile.txt"

In many cases, you will also need to set the IBM Host Features option in the Site Manager for that site (or use the /ibm option with the FTPLOGON command).

See also:

Problem downloading files from GXS ecXpress FTP server

Unable to transfer files to GXS using FTPS

Article last updated: 2021-11-09

Tags: IBM, GXS