TCP File Transfer Utility

A cross-platform C-based TCP file transfer utility that allows transferring files between networked computers.

Prerequisites

1. Install GCC Compiler

Ensure you have the GCC compiler installed.

• Windows: Install MinGW-w64 or MSYS2.
• Linux: sudo apt install build-essential
• macOS: xcode-select --install

2. Install Make

make is used to automate the build process using the provided Makefile.

Windows

• Using Chocolatey: choco install make
• Using Winget: winget install GnuWin32.Make
• Using MSYS2: pacman -S make
• Manual: Download from GnuWin32 and add the bin folder to your System PATH.

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install make

macOS

brew install make

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Building the Project

Open your terminal in the project directory and run:

make all

This will generate two executables:

• server.exe (or server on Linux/macOS)
• client.exe (or client on Linux/macOS)

To clean the build files:

make clean

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How to Use

The utility is configured to transfer a file named send.txt from the client to the server.

Step 1: Prepare the File

Ensure a file named send.txt exists in the same directory as the client executable.

Step 2: Start the Server

The server must be running and listening before the client connects.

./server

The server will listen on 127.0.0.1:8080 by default and save the received data to recv.txt.

Step 3: Run the Client

In a new terminal window, run:

./client

The client will connect to the server, send the contents of send.txt, and close the connection.

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Configuration

Currently, the IP address and Port are hardcoded in server.c and client.c:

• IP: 127.0.0.1
• Port: 8080

To transfer files between different machines, update the ip variable in both files with the server's LAN IP address and recompile using make.