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I need to monitor some ftp servers for any changes in file structure, things that I need to monitor is how many times an file is downloaded (not sure if possible), if files are changed or not, if files are deleted or not, if ftp server still exists,

i would like this to be something that i can run server=side and would like a sms message or email if any of the above changes have occured

any one have any experience or would recommend an particular language or script?

thanks

just for reference, i don't want to install an ftp server, i just want something to help me monitor other remote ftp servers by periodically logging in

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How many times a files is downloaded is easy if you have shell access to the other remote FTP servers. Usually they keep a log file somewhere /var/. (Where precisely depends on the ftpd and how it is configured). A cron job could easily do a grep | wc -l and mail you the results. – Hennes Oct 27 '12 at 22:16
i dont have shell access to the other ftp servers, to my knowledge i don' think there is an way to monitor how many times an file is downloaded remotley – Supra Man Oct 27 '12 at 22:23
Check. The remote server knows. Without access to that remote server you can do nothing. – Hennes Oct 27 '12 at 22:24
i am just looking for some opnions on the best way to login and retrieve directory and check if ftp server still exists, i am currently thinking of using an php and cron script but is there an better way to go about this? – Supra Man Oct 27 '12 at 22:26
you could probably go with php and cron as long as your php has ftp support. I would use perl w Net::FTP just because it's what I know. With perl you can check the mod time and file size of the remote files and store in a db to see what changed. You can't tell how many downloads unless you have access to the ftp server logs. – user16081 Oct 28 '12 at 6:04

closed as not constructive by mgorven, MDMarra, RobM, SvW, Adrian Oct 29 '12 at 5:18

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