The EUROFile protocol is a file transfer protocol frequently used via the ISDN. It is standardised by ETSI, the European Telecommunication Standards Institute. The main standard documents are ETS 300 075 and ETS 300 383.
EUROFile runs on top of the ISO-8208 network layer protocol. This is essentially the same as the X.25 network layer protocol as standardised by ITU (former CCITT), the International Telecommunication Union. However, while ITU originally only intended to use this protocol for accessing public data networks, ISO also intended to interconnect two hosts directly by means of this protocol. This mode of operation mode is also called X.25 DTE-DTE (DTE = Data Terminal Equipment) while ITU-T only thought of DTE-DCE mode (DCE = Data Circuit Equipment).
This protocol is used on top of an isdn B channel. A LAPB protocol (ISO 7776, which is essentially the same as the datalink protocol defined by ITU-T recommendation X.75) is used at the datalink layer.
In contrast to most other EUROFile implementations, which access the isdn by means of the CAPI interface, the eftp4linux design is based on standard API's present in most unix-like operating systems. The X.25 protocol is accessed by means of the socket API (PF_X25 family sockets). Transfer targets and sources are accessed by means of file descriptors and the select() system call is used for monitoring communication channels. Thus, it should be possible to port it to other OS which provide the above interfaces and allow for routing X.25 PLP connections over isdn B channels.
eftp4linux is now distributed as part of the isdn4k-utils package. If your Linux distribution comes with an up-to-date isdn4k-utils package, just install the isdn4k-utils source package and have a look in the eurofile subdirectory. If not, have a look at the isdn4linux www site for instructions on how to get the recent source of the isdn4k-utils package.
You probably need to compile the eurofile package yourself. Make sure that you enable the experimental features from the isdn4k-utils config menu.
The eft client should work out of the box rather like you expect.
The server works, too. But lots of DOS or MS-Win clients donīt implement the EUROFILE specs correctly. They might mess up upper and lower cases in file names and also have problems when file names are not DOS compatible. The server supports some compatibility hacks to work around this. And of corse, as a server lets other from outside to connect to your machine, it needs more configuration. All this makes setting up and operating a server more difficult.
For further information, have a look at the README file.