tso ftp gives me much more commands than connecting via standard ftp

Question

I connect to a z/os-System via "tso ftp" with specifying my user-id, password and the hostname.

The command "help" shows me a list of commands that I am allowed to use, for example "site".

So far so good, but if I connect to the same host via "standard ftp", for example with the Windows Command Shell, the list of allowed commands is much(!) smaller. Typing e.g. "site" gives me the message: "unknown command".

This seems strange to me, because in my eyes I connected to the same host with the same credentials in just two different ways - but my permissions are quite differnt!?

Can anyone explain me the difference between "tso ftp" and "standard ftp"?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You need to use quote command to send your command to ZOS ftp server. E.g. quote "SITE FILETYPE=JES"

Answer 2

The FTP implementation done by IBM in z/OS differs quite much from any open FTP client or server (Windows, Linux, etc.)

It's part of the z/OS Communications Server and has a lot of specific features that allows you to easily switch between MVS & Unix System Services.

For example : - you can send MVS batch jobs - you can browse either the MVS or USS file sytem - you can invoke the client from the ISPF command shell, the USS shell or a batch job

For more information you can read this redbook at "Chapter 3. File Transfer Protocol":

IBM z/OS V2R1 Communications - Server TCP/IP Implementation - Volume 2: Standard Applications