Assuming you have the rights as the account you log in with ftp as, the del subcommand just needs to replace the get subcommand. If you have another way to verify that the transfers completed okay before you issue the deletes, then is there a problem in just looping for each file? There is no doubt a small overhead in putting a single delete command into ftp and then looping for each file, but it would make the code easier:-

Code:

while read file
do
   ftp -inv $host <<-EOFTP >>ftp_log 2>&1
      user $user $password
      cd $target_directory
      del $file
      quit
EOFTP
done < Myfile

The credentials are included in the flow of commands to keep them off the ftp command line, else someone can see them with a simple ps, but like Jim says, it is better to use entries in a .netrc file. If you do, drop the -n flag or it will ignore the .netrc file. better still, if you can convert to sftp using ssh-keys to automate authentication it becomes easier again, but that may not be possible in your environment. It depends what you have for the client and the server and you need access on port 22 instead, so that might be one or more firewalls with a rule change.

If you just need to get the files and delete them, I would suggest two ftp commands per file so that you can check the transfer completes before you delete the source, something like:-

Code:

while read file
   do
      ftp -inv $host <<-EOFTP >>ftp_log.$file 2>&1
      user $user $password
      cd $target_directory
      get $file
      quit
EOFTP

# Verify here that the file arrived okay by reading the log ftp_log.$file
# If okay, then proceed with delete step

   if [ whatever test you decide ]
   then
      ftp -inv $host <<-EOFTP >>ftp_log.$file 2>&1
         user $user $password
         cd $target_directory
         del $file
         quit
EOFTP

   else
      # Whatever error routine you decide
   fi
done < Myfile

Robin