copy from server to server even if outside ftp protocol

[asinshesq]

I understand (from many posts here) that ftp protocol does not provide for copying files from one place to another on a server. But why couldn't filezilla act as an intermediary, automating the process of downloading from one directory and uploading to another?

[da chicken]

FTP *does* allow for server-to-server transfers by use of FXP (file exchange protocol) which is mentioned in RFC 959 (it's most often used in FTP clustering, AFAIK). However, most servers have the feature disabled because of bounce attack issues. FileZilla Client doesn't support FXP mode transfers, so you'd need to find a client that supports the protocol extension. FileZilla Server does support FXP, but it is disabled by default.

[asinshesq]

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I'm talking about server to SAME server copying (from one folder to another on the same server). I don't know if fxp would alllow that, but in any event I am not talking about fxp. I'm talking about ftp. An ftp client can download to a local pc from a server, and can upload to a different folder on that same server, so why can't an ftp client automate the process and allow the user to copy a file or folder from one server folder to another: the user would specify the target file or folder and the destination folder and the ftp client would then download the file or folder to the local pc and in turn upload it to the destination folder without the need for the user to wait around and manually do those two steps. Isn't that all feasible within ftp?

[da chicken]

Ah, no. FTP has no copy command. You can often move files (using the rename command) but file copying is right out.

You'd need an SFTP or SSH session to do more advanced file management. The latter is almost universally unavailable on a shared host.