RustFTPFS

A FTP filesystem implementation in Rust that allows you to mount FTP servers as local directories, similar to the curlftpfs utility.

Features

• Mount FTP servers as local filesystems using FUSE
• Support for FTP over TLS/SSL (FTPS)
• Read and write file operations
• Directory listing and navigation
• Create, delete, and rename files and directories
• Automatic reconnection on connection failures
• Configurable mount options
• Cross-platform support (Linux, macOS, FreeBSD)

Installation

Requirements

• Rust 1.70 or later
• FUSE development libraries

Installing FUSE libraries

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt-get install libfuse3-dev pkg-config

CentOS/RHEL/Fedora:

sudo yum install fuse-devel pkgconfig
# or for newer systems:
sudo dnf install fuse-devel pkgconf-pkg-config

macOS:

brew install macfuse pkgconf

FreeBSD:

pkg install fusefs-libs pkgconf

Building from source

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/rustftpfs.git
cd rustftpfs
cargo build --release

The binary will be available at target/release/rustftpfs.

Usage

Basic Usage

Mount an FTP server:

rustftpfs ftp://username:password@ftp.example.com /mnt/ftp

Mount with explicit credentials:

rustftpfs ftp://ftp.example.com /mnt/ftp --user myuser --password mypass

Mount with custom port:

rustftpfs ftp://ftp.example.com:2121 /mnt/ftp --user myuser --password mypass

Command Line Options

Usage: rustftpfs [OPTIONS] <FTP_URL> <MOUNTPOINT>

Arguments:
  <FTP_URL>      FTP URL in format ftp://[user[:password]@]host[:port][/path]
  <MOUNTPOINT>   Local directory to mount the FTP filesystem

Options:
  -u, --user <USERNAME>        Username for FTP authentication
  -p, --password <PASSWORD>    Password for FTP authentication
  -P, --port <PORT>            FTP port (default: 21)
      --tls                    Use TLS/SSL encryption
  -r, --read-only              Mount filesystem as read-only
  -f, --foreground             Run in foreground mode
  -d, --debug                  Enable debug output
      --allow-other            Allow other users to access the mount
      --uid <UID>              Set file owner UID
      --gid <GID>              Set file group GID
      --umask <UMASK>          Set file permissions umask
  -h, --help                   Print help information
  -V, --version                Print version information

Mount Options

• -r, --read-only: Mount the filesystem in read-only mode
• -f, --foreground: Run the program in foreground (don't daemonize)
• -d, --debug: Enable debug logging
• --allow-other: Allow other users to access the mounted filesystem
• --tls: Use TLS/SSL encryption for FTP connection

Examples

Mount with read-only access

rustftpfs --read-only ftp://ftp.gnu.org /mnt/gnu

Mount with TLS encryption

rustftpfs --tls ftp://secure.example.com /mnt/secureftp --user myuser

Allow other users to access

rustftpfs --allow-other ftp://ftp.example.com /mnt/ftp --user myuser

Run in foreground with debug output

rustftpfs --foreground --debug ftp://ftp.example.com /mnt/ftp --user myuser

Unmounting

To unmount the filesystem:

fusermount -u /mnt/ftp
# or
umount /mnt/ftp

Environment Variables

• RUST_LOG: Set logging level (e.g., RUST_LOG=debug)

Architecture

The project consists of two main modules:

1. ftp.rs: Handles FTP connections and operations using the suppaftp crate
2. filesystem.rs: Implements the FUSE filesystem interface using the fuser crate

Key Components

• FtpConnection: Manages FTP connections with automatic reconnection
• FtpFs: Implements the FUSE filesystem operations
• Inode management for tracking files and directories
• Read caching for improved performance

Comparison with curlftpfs

Feature	RustFTPFS	curlftpfs
Language	Rust	C
FTP Library	suppaftp	libcurl
FUSE Library	fuser	libfuse
TLS Support	Yes	Yes
Auto-reconnect	Yes	Yes
Proxy Support	Planned	Yes
Symlinks	Basic	Advanced
Performance	Good	Good
Memory Safety	High	Medium

Development

Project Structure

rustftpfs/
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs      # CLI and entry point
│   ├── lib.rs       # Library exports
│   ├── ftp.rs       # FTP connection handling
│   └── filesystem.rs # FUSE filesystem implementation
├── Cargo.toml       # Dependencies and metadata
└── README.md        # This file

Running Tests

cargo test

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the curlftpfs project
• Built with fuser and suppaftp crates
• Thanks to all contributors to the Rust FUSE ecosystem

Troubleshooting

Permission Denied

If you get permission errors:

1. Make sure you're in the fuse group: sudo usermod -a -G fuse $USER
2. Log out and log back in
3. Check mountpoint permissions

Connection Issues

1. Verify FTP server address and credentials
2. Check if TLS is required by the server
3. Try using passive mode (default behavior)

Mount Failures

1. Ensure the mountpoint directory exists
2. Check if the directory is already mounted
3. Verify FUSE is installed and working: lsmod | grep fuse

Safety

This program uses unsafe code only for:

• Getting current user ID and group ID
• FUSE filesystem operations (through the fuser crate)

The core FTP and filesystem logic is implemented in safe Rust.# RustFtpFS