Perl

Set a Remote FTP File's Last-Modified Time

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ftp2.SetRemoteFileDateTimeStr method, which sets the last-modified time of a remote file. The first argument is an RFC 822 date-time string and the second is the remote filename.

Background: An upload normally leaves the remote file stamped with the time it arrived, which loses the original modification time — a problem for backups, mirrors, and timestamp-based sync. This method restores it, and Chilkat converts the supplied time to UTC before sending a server-supported command (typically MFMT). Whether it is honored depends on the server implementing such a command and granting permission.

Chilkat Perl Downloads

Download Chilkat for Perl

Chilkat2 Perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use Chilkat2;

# Demonstrates the Ftp2.SetRemoteFileDateTimeStr method, which sets the last-modified time of a
# remote file.  The 1st argument is an RFC 822 date-time string and the 2nd is the remote
# filename.

my $ftp = Chilkat2::Ftp2->new;

$ftp->Hostname('ftp.example.com');
$ftp->Username('myFtpLogin');

# Normally you would not hard-code the password in source.  You should instead obtain it
# from an interactive prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
$ftp->Password('myPassword');

my $success = $ftp->Connect();
if (!$success) {
    print $ftp->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

# Chilkat converts the date to UTC and sends a server-supported timestamp-setting command.
$success = $ftp->SetRemoteFileDateTimeStr('Fri, 10 Jul 2026 20:15:30 -0600', 'public_html/report.pdf');
if (!$success) {
    print $ftp->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

print "Remote file timestamp set.\n";

$success = $ftp->Disconnect();
if (!$success) {
    print $ftp->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}