Using NetCat to upload files can sometimes be handy, however it would be awesome if you could track the upload ETA and not just stare patiently for a prompt. PV, or “Pipe Viewer”, is a handy little command that allows you to track the progress of any Unix pipe. Using it as an replacement for “cat” in the NetCat transfer, gives you a fancy progress-bar.
For example:
lazyclient@lazyclient-desktop:~$ nc -l 7000 > verybigfile.bin
Server side…
superitguy@pro-server:~$ pv verybigfile.bin | nc 3.1.33.7 7000
70.2MB 0:00:11 [5.95MB/s] [============================================================>] 100%
Fetch the latest binary @ pv’s project homepage: http://www.ivarch.com/programs/pv.shtml
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