lukemftp client was replaced with LFTP in SLES 12, where to find the old one?

This document (7022560) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Service Pack 3 (SLES 12 SP3)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Service Pack 2 (SLES 12 SP2)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Service Pack 1 (SLES 12 SP1)
 

Situation

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (and older versions) contained an FTP client which was provided by the "lukemftp" package.
 
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 has dropped the "lukemftp" package in favor of the "lftp" package, however a wrapper is present to attempt compatibility of usage with lukemftp. 
Some administrators are however reporting their scripts, which previously worked with lukemftp, do no longer work with lftp.

The best recommendation in this situations like this, is that system administrators will make use of the new FTP functionality going forward for the reason being 'supportability'. As a temporary measure, it should be possible to rewrite scripts to work with the new client (which is often minor work).

Alternatively, some administrators may go the unsupported route (through SUSE technical support), by manually obtaining a build of lukemftp that can be used on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12. 

This document was written to provide information on where to download such packages, but this should not be taken as encouragement to install unsupported packages on SUSE Linux Enterprise products. 
This is provided merely being informational and as a courtesy. 

These self-compiled packages are not officially supported by SUSE, and may not always be readily available in any (pre-)compiled, ready-to-use form, and may become obsoleted at any point in time

Resolution

Note: This is *NOT* an official SUSE Technical support endorsed method

If the previous package is desired for any purpose, various versions are available from the openSUSE Build Service (OBS). 
 
NOTE: The following information below is provided as a courtesy.  The packages obtained through these steps are not officially supported by SUSE, and it is not guaranteed that openSUSE Build Service will continue to host or provide ready-to-install packages as described here. 
Officially, the recommended approach is to work with SUSE technical support to pursue improvements in lftp.
 
The first thing to be aware of is that the name of the "lukemftp" project and package has been changed upstream (meaning in the open source community).  It's current name is "tnftp".
  1. Go to:  https://build.opensuse.org/package/show/network/tnftp
  2. On the right-hand side, under "Build Results," find the SUSE version and SPx in use.  Click the appropriate heading (such as "SLE_12_SP3").
  3. On the new page which comes up, several architectures will likely be available.  Under the heading with the desired architecture (most commonly x86_64), several packages will likely be listed.  Unless source code or debug materials are needed, typically the only package needed will be:   tnftp-<date>-<version>.<arch>.rpm.   Click the package name to get to it's download page.
  4. On the download page, click the name of the package (near the top, shown as "Detailed Information about <package-name>) to download the actual package.
  5. Once downloaded to the target system, it can be installed as :
rpm -ihv <package-filename> 

Cause

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (and older versions) contained LukemFTP package
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (and later) contain LFTP package

Additional Information

As background information, the following may be useful:
 
Users (and scripts) typically invoke command-line FTP client with an "ftp" command.  "ftp" is rarely the name of an actual binary.  Typically:
 
  • ftp usually refers to /usr/bin/ftp.  This can be checked with the command "which ftp".
  • /usr/bin/ftp is usually a symbolic link to /etc/alternatives/ftp
  • /etc/alternatives/ftp is usually a symbolic link to the ftp client binary of whichever ftp client package was last installed.
So, for instance:
  • Installation of lukemftp package on SLES 11 will result in this chain of links pointing to /usr/bin/pftp
  • Installation of lftp package on SLES 12 will result in this chain of links pointing to /usr/bin/lftp_wrapper (a binary which will also make use of  the binary /usr/bin/lftp)
  • Installation of tnftp package on SLES 12 will result in this chain of links pointing to /usr/bin/tnftp

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

  • Document ID:7022560
  • Creation Date: 16-Jan-2018
  • Modified Date:30-Oct-2020
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

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