Trivial file transfer protocol (TFTP)

Abstract

This article provides a description of the operation of TFTP, beginning with an overview description of the protocol, its history and motivation, and the relevant standards that describe it. I discuss its operation in general terms, cover how TFTP clients and servers communicate, and explain TFTP messaging in detail. I then discuss TFTP options and the TFTP option negotiation mechanism. The article concludes by showing the various TFTP message formats. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) implements a full set of commands and reply functionalities that enables a user to perform a wide range of file movement and manipulation tasks. Although FTP is ideal as a general-purpose protocol for file transfer between computers, on certain types of hardware, it is too complex to implement easily and provides more capabilities than are really needed. In cases where only the most basic file transfer functions are required while simplicity and small program size is of paramount importance, a companion to FTP called the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) can be used.