Steps for retrieving data from a named pipe in the z/OS FTP server UNIX file system using the z/OS FTP client

Before you begin

You must start an application that can write to the named pipe, and it must open the named pipe, before FTP can transfer data from the named pipe.

Procedure

Create the named pipe on the server host. You can use FTP to create the named pipe, or another process on the server host can create the named pipe.
To create the named pipe using FTP:
1. Issue the SIte subcommand to configure the server UMASK value. For example, site UMASK=<mask>.
  You can also configure the server UMASK value by coding the UMASK statement in FTP.DATA. See the UMASK (FTP client and server) statement information in z/OS Communications Server: IP Configuration Reference for more details about the UMASK statement.
  
  Tip: After you create the named pipe, you can change the file permissions by issuing the SIte subcommand with the CHMOD parameter.
2. From the z/OS® FTP client, issue the MKFifo subcommand to create the named pipe. For example, mkfifo <pathname>.
  See MKFifo subcommand—Create a named pipe at the FTP server host for information about the MKFifo subcommand.
  Tip: After you create a named pipe, you can display and manipulate it with the following FTP subcommands:
  - DELEte
  - DIr
  - Ls
  - REName
  - SIte subcommand with the CHMOD parameter
Do one of the following to set the UNIXFILETYPE FIFO value at the server host:
- Code a UNIXFILETYPE statement in the server FTP.DATA file before you start the FTP daemon. See the UNIXFILETYPE (FTP client and server) statement information in z/OS Communications Server: IP Configuration Reference for more details about the UNIXFILETYPE statement.
- Issue the SIte subcommand with the UNIXFILETYPE parameter after you log in to the server. See SIte subcommand—Send site-specific information to a host for more information about the SIte subcommand.
Do one of the following to set the FILETYPE configuration option to the value SEQ at the server host:
- Code the FILETYPE statement in the server FTP.DATA file before you start the FTP daemon. See the FILETYPE (FTP client and server) statement information in z/OS Communications Server: IP Configuration Reference for more details about the FILETYPE statement.
- Issue the SIte subcommand with the FILEtype parameter after you log in to the server. See SIte subcommand—Send site-specific information to a host for more information about the SIte subcommand.
Tip: SEQ is the default value for the FILETYPE configuration option. You can issue the stat (filetype subcommand from the z/OS FTP client to determine whether you need to reset the FILETYPE value.
Optional: Do one of the following to set FIFOOPENTIME and FIFOIOTIME values at the server:
- Code FIFOOPENTIME and FIFOIOTIME statements in the server FTP.DATA file before you start the FTP daemon.
  See z/OS Communications Server: IP Configuration Reference for more information about the FIFOOPENTIME and FIFOIOTIME statements.
- Issue the SIte subcommand with the FIFOOPENTIME and FIFOIOTIME parameters after you log in to the server.
  See SIte subcommand—Send site-specific information to a host for more information about the SIte subcommand.
The FTP server uses the default values for the FIFOOPENTIME and FIFOIOTIME configuration options if you do not configure these values explicitly.
On the FTP server host, start the process that writes to the named pipe.
Issue the Get subcommand to retrieve data from the named pipe. For example, get <named pipe>.

Results

You know that you have completed these steps correctly when both of the following events occur:

The server sends reply 226 or 250 to the client to indicate that it sent the file successfully.
The client issues message EZA2536I or EZA1617I to indicate the total number of bytes that it received.

Guidelines: Use these guidelines for using any FTP client to retrieve from a named pipe in the z/OS FTP server UNIX file system:

You can issue the QUOTE subcommand to send a SITE command with the UMASK, UNIXFILETYPE, FIFOOPENTIME, and FIFOIOTIME parameters to the FTP server, or to send an XFIF command to the server. See Steps for storing a file as a named pipe in the z/OS FTP server UNIX file system using the z/OS FTP client for details.
Issue the RETR command to retrieve data from a named pipe on the server.