cFtpfs - FTP Filesystem in C

C implementation of a FUSE filesystem for mounting FTP servers, based on PyFtpfs.

Features

• Mounts FTP servers as a local filesystem using FUSE
• Read and write support for files
• Directory caching with configurable timeout (default 5 seconds/30 seconds)
• Temporary write system for VS Code compatibility
• Support for FTP listing formats Unix and Windows
• Thread-safe connections with lock handling
• Multiple connection options (port, user, password, encoding)
• Full operations: create, read, write, delete, rename, directories

Dependencies

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt-get install libfuse3-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev build-essential

Fedora/RHEL

sudo dnf install fuse3-devel libcurl-devel gcc make

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S fuse3 curl gcc make

Installation

Method 1: Automatic Installation Script (Recommended)

chmod +x install.sh
sudo ./install.sh

The script will automatically detect your operating system and install all necessary dependencies.

Method 2: Manual Compilation

make
sudo make install

Uninstall

sudo make uninstall
# or
sudo /usr/local/bin/uninstall_cftpfs.sh

Usage

Basic Syntax

cftpfs <host> <mountpoint> [options]

Options

Option	Description	Default
-p, --port=PORT	FTP Port	21
-u, --user=USER	FTP User	anonymous
-P, --password=PASS	FTP Password	(empty)
-e, --encoding=ENC	Encoding	utf-8
-d, --debug	Debug mode with detailed logs	-
-f, --foreground	Run in foreground	-
-h, --help	Show help	-

Examples

Mount in foreground with user and password:

cftpfs ftp.example.com /mnt/ftp -u myuser -P mypassword -f

Mount in background:

cftpfs ftp.example.com /mnt/ftp -u user -P password

Mount anonymous FTP server:

cftpfs ftp.gnu.org /mnt/gnu -f

Unmount

fusermount -u /mnt/ftp

Architecture

The project is organized into the following modules:

cFtpfs/
├── include/
│   └── cftpfs.h          # Definitions and data structures
├── src/
│   ├── main.c            # Entry point and FUSE operations
│   ├── ftp_client.c      # FTP client using libcurl
│   ├── ftp_client_mock.c # Mock version for testing
│   ├── cache.c           # Directory cache system
│   ├── handles.c         # File handle management
│   └── parser.c          # FTP listing parser (Unix/Windows)
├── Makefile              # Compilation script
├── install.sh            # Automatic installation script
└── README.md             # Documentation

Supported Operations

• Navigation: getattr, readdir
• Reading: open, read
• Writing: create, write, truncate
• Management: unlink, mkdir, rmdir, rename
• Metadata: chmod, chown, utimens (stubs - not supported by standard FTP)

Cache System

• Timeout: Configurable (default 30s) for directory listings and attributes.
• Strategy: Copy-on-read to avoid race conditions.
• Invalidation: Automatic on write operations.

Limitations

• Does not support real permission changes (chmod) - standard FTP does not allow it
• Does not support owner changes (chown)
• Does not support timestamp changes (utimens)
• Symlinks are detected but not followed
• Fixed cache timeout logic (though configurable via flags now)

Compilation Modes

Mock Version (development/testing)

make mock

Uses a simulated FTP client that returns test data. Useful for development and testing without a real FTP server.

Real Version (production)

make

Requires libcurl installed. Uses real FTP connections.

Performance

• Reading: Similar to standard FTP client.
• Writing: Optimized for editors (VS Code) with temporary files.
• Cache: Reduces network operations for directory listings.
• Connection: Uses persistent connections (Keep-Alive) to avoid handshake overhead.

Troubleshooting

Error: "fuse: device not found"

Ensure the FUSE module is loaded:

sudo modprobe fuse

Error: "Permission denied"

Ensure your user is in the fuse group:

sudo usermod -a -G fuse $USER
# Log out and log back in to apply changes

FTP Connection Error

Verify that the FTP server allows passive connections and that the port is open:

telnet ftp.example.com 21

Error "munmap_chunk(): invalid pointer"

This error was fixed in the current version. If it persists, ensure you are using the latest version of the code.

Differences from PyFtpfs

• Performance: Native C implementation is faster.
• Memory: Lower memory consumption.
• Dependencies: Uses libcurl instead of ftplib (Python).
• Threading: Manual implementation with pthreads.

License

Apache 2.0 - Same as the original PyFtpfs project.

Author

C implementation based on PyFtpfs.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a branch for your feature (git checkout -b feature/new-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add new feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/new-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Version History

• v1.0.0 - Initial complete version
  • Full FUSE operations support
  • Cache system
  • Temporary file management
  • Unix/Windows listing parser
  • Automatic installer
  • Memory error fixes
  • Performance improvements (persistent connections)

Acknowledgements

This project is based on PyFtpfs and uses:

• FUSE3 for the user-space filesystem
• libcurl for FTP connections
• pthreads for threading

Contact

To report bugs or request features, please open an issue in the repository.