FTP command line structure
 

Can any one tell me the meaning of the following command

ftp -p ftp://user:PASS@ftp.something.domain.com/SOMEFILE.out

-p sets passive mode (see manual page)

The rest is a normal URL which includes login credentials (user:PASS part, separated from rest by @).

If ftp -p ftp://ftp.something.domain.com/SOMEFILE.out would be used then a user and password would be asked (by pop-up from browser or on the command line when using CLI).

Is there any other way to write somefile.out . I mean what is it specified here for ?

Actually I am giving this command and its executing from one server but gives error

Name or service not known

from another.

However when i do

ftp -p ftp.something.domain.com

I am able to continue fine

can anyone help ?

The ftp command can be different on different distro's.

The default ftp command is rather simple and doesn't allow for what's being shown in your first post.

Have a look at the ftp manual page for the available options (man ftp)

If all you want to do is fetch a file I would suggest using wget instead: