06-01-2019, 08:07 AM
Use Firefox Send with ffsend in Fedora
<div><p><em>ffsend</em> is the command line client of Firefox Send. This article will show how Firefox Send and <em>ffsend</em> work. It’ll also detail how it can be installed and used in Fedora. </p>
<p> <span id="more-25821"></span> </p>
<h3>What are Firefox Send and ffsend ?</h3>
<p>Firefox Send is a file sharing tool from Mozilla that allows sending encrypted files to other users. You can install Send on your own server, or use the Mozilla-hosted link <a href="http://send.firefox.com/">send.firefox.com</a>. The hosted version officially supports files up to 1 GB, and links that expire after a configurable download count (default of 1) or 24 hours, and then all the files on the Send server are deleted. This tool is still <em>in experimental phase</em>, and therefore shouldn’t be used in production or to share important or sensitive data.</p>
<p>While Firefox Send is the tool itself and can be used with a web interface, <em>ffsend</em> is a command-line utility you can use with scripts and arguments. It has a wide range of configuration options and can be left working in the background without any human intervention. </p>
<h3>How does it work?</h3>
<p>FFSend can both upload and download files. The remote host can use either the Firefox tool or another web browser to download the file. Neither Firefox Send nor <em>ffsend</em> require the use of Firefox. </p>
<p>It’s important to highlight that <em>ffsend</em> uses client-side encryption. This means that files are encrypted <em>before</em> they’re uploaded. You share secrets together with the link, so be careful when sharing, because anyone with the link will be able to download the file. As an extra layer of protection, you can protect the file with a password by using the following argument: </p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">ffsend password URL -p PASSWORD</pre>
<h3>Other features</h3>
<p>There are a few other features worth mentioning. Here’s a list:</p>
<ul>
<li>Configurable download limit, between 1 and 20 times, before the link expires</li>
<li>Built-in extract and archiving functions</li>
<li>Track history of shared files</li>
<li>Inspect or delete shared files</li>
<li>Folders can be shared as well, either as they are or as compressed files</li>
<li>Generate a QR code, for easier download on a mobile phone</li>
</ul>
<h3>How to install in Fedora</h3>
<p>While Fedora Send works with Firefox without installing anything extra, you’ll need to install the CLI tool to use <em>ffsend</em>. This tool is in the official repositories, so you only need a simple <em>dnf</em> command <a href="https://fedoramagazine.org/howto-use-sudo/">with </a><em><a href="https://fedoramagazine.org/howto-use-sudo/">sudo</a></em>. </p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">$ sudo dnf install ffsend</pre>
<p>After that, you can use <em>ffsend</em> from the terminal .</p>
<h3>Upload a file</h3>
<p>Uploading a file is a simple as</p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">$ ffsend upload /etc/os-release<br />Upload complete <br />Share link: https://send.firefox.com/download/058262...013mg</pre>
<p>The file now can be easily share using the Share link URL.</p>
<h2>Downloading a file</h2>
<p>Downloading a file is as simple as uploading. </p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">$ ffsend download https://send.firefox.com/download/058262...8Z013mg<br />Download complete </pre>
<p>Before downloading a file it might be useful to check if the file exist and get information about it. <em>ffsend</em> provides 2 handy commands for that.</p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">$ ffsend exists https://send.firefox.com/download/88a632...ZIA-PaQ<br />Exists: true<br />Password: false<br />$ ffsend info https://send.firefox.com/download/88a632...ZIA-PaQ<br />ID: 88a6324e2a99ebb6 <br />Downloads: 0 of 1 <br />Expiry: 23h59m (86388s</pre>
<h2>Upload history</h2>
<p><em>ffsend</em> also provides a way to check the history of the uploads made with the tools. This can be really useful if you upload a lot of files during a scripted tasks for example and you want to keep track of each files download status.</p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">$ ffsend history<br />LINK EXPIRY<br /> 1 https://send.firefox.com/download/#8TJ9QNw 23h59m <br /> 2 https://send.firefox.com/download/KZIA-PaQ 23h54m </pre>
<h2>Delete a file</h2>
<p>Another useful feature is the possibility to delete a file.</p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">ffsend delete https://send.firefox.com/download/2d9faa...J9QNw</pre>
<p>Firefox Send is a great service and the <em>ffsend</em> tools makes it really convenient to use from the terminal. More examples and documentation is available on <em>ffsend</em>‘s <a href="https://gitlab.com/timvisee/ffsend">Gitlab repository</a>.</p>
</div>
<div><p><em>ffsend</em> is the command line client of Firefox Send. This article will show how Firefox Send and <em>ffsend</em> work. It’ll also detail how it can be installed and used in Fedora. </p>
<p> <span id="more-25821"></span> </p>
<h3>What are Firefox Send and ffsend ?</h3>
<p>Firefox Send is a file sharing tool from Mozilla that allows sending encrypted files to other users. You can install Send on your own server, or use the Mozilla-hosted link <a href="http://send.firefox.com/">send.firefox.com</a>. The hosted version officially supports files up to 1 GB, and links that expire after a configurable download count (default of 1) or 24 hours, and then all the files on the Send server are deleted. This tool is still <em>in experimental phase</em>, and therefore shouldn’t be used in production or to share important or sensitive data.</p>
<p>While Firefox Send is the tool itself and can be used with a web interface, <em>ffsend</em> is a command-line utility you can use with scripts and arguments. It has a wide range of configuration options and can be left working in the background without any human intervention. </p>
<h3>How does it work?</h3>
<p>FFSend can both upload and download files. The remote host can use either the Firefox tool or another web browser to download the file. Neither Firefox Send nor <em>ffsend</em> require the use of Firefox. </p>
<p>It’s important to highlight that <em>ffsend</em> uses client-side encryption. This means that files are encrypted <em>before</em> they’re uploaded. You share secrets together with the link, so be careful when sharing, because anyone with the link will be able to download the file. As an extra layer of protection, you can protect the file with a password by using the following argument: </p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">ffsend password URL -p PASSWORD</pre>
<h3>Other features</h3>
<p>There are a few other features worth mentioning. Here’s a list:</p>
<ul>
<li>Configurable download limit, between 1 and 20 times, before the link expires</li>
<li>Built-in extract and archiving functions</li>
<li>Track history of shared files</li>
<li>Inspect or delete shared files</li>
<li>Folders can be shared as well, either as they are or as compressed files</li>
<li>Generate a QR code, for easier download on a mobile phone</li>
</ul>
<h3>How to install in Fedora</h3>
<p>While Fedora Send works with Firefox without installing anything extra, you’ll need to install the CLI tool to use <em>ffsend</em>. This tool is in the official repositories, so you only need a simple <em>dnf</em> command <a href="https://fedoramagazine.org/howto-use-sudo/">with </a><em><a href="https://fedoramagazine.org/howto-use-sudo/">sudo</a></em>. </p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">$ sudo dnf install ffsend</pre>
<p>After that, you can use <em>ffsend</em> from the terminal .</p>
<h3>Upload a file</h3>
<p>Uploading a file is a simple as</p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">$ ffsend upload /etc/os-release<br />Upload complete <br />Share link: https://send.firefox.com/download/058262...013mg</pre>
<p>The file now can be easily share using the Share link URL.</p>
<h2>Downloading a file</h2>
<p>Downloading a file is as simple as uploading. </p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">$ ffsend download https://send.firefox.com/download/058262...8Z013mg<br />Download complete </pre>
<p>Before downloading a file it might be useful to check if the file exist and get information about it. <em>ffsend</em> provides 2 handy commands for that.</p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">$ ffsend exists https://send.firefox.com/download/88a632...ZIA-PaQ<br />Exists: true<br />Password: false<br />$ ffsend info https://send.firefox.com/download/88a632...ZIA-PaQ<br />ID: 88a6324e2a99ebb6 <br />Downloads: 0 of 1 <br />Expiry: 23h59m (86388s</pre>
<h2>Upload history</h2>
<p><em>ffsend</em> also provides a way to check the history of the uploads made with the tools. This can be really useful if you upload a lot of files during a scripted tasks for example and you want to keep track of each files download status.</p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">$ ffsend history<br />LINK EXPIRY<br /> 1 https://send.firefox.com/download/#8TJ9QNw 23h59m <br /> 2 https://send.firefox.com/download/KZIA-PaQ 23h54m </pre>
<h2>Delete a file</h2>
<p>Another useful feature is the possibility to delete a file.</p>
<pre class="wp-block-preformatted">ffsend delete https://send.firefox.com/download/2d9faa...J9QNw</pre>
<p>Firefox Send is a great service and the <em>ffsend</em> tools makes it really convenient to use from the terminal. More examples and documentation is available on <em>ffsend</em>‘s <a href="https://gitlab.com/timvisee/ffsend">Gitlab repository</a>.</p>
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