Upload over FTP

The window’s Switch over Wi-Fi (FTP) target and --out ftp://HOST:PORT both use the FTP server in sphaira, a homebrew menu for the Switch. rpynx does not have its own FTP server yet; one is planned for the Transfer milestone.

Before you start#

1. Turn on the FTP server in sphaira. It is anonymous, on port 5000 unless you set another.
2. Note the address sphaira shows, for example 192.168.1.20:5000. It comes from your router, so it can change.
3. Keep the Switch in sphaira. The server stops while the rpynx loader or a game runs.

/ on that server is the SD card. The importer uses only Python’s ftplib.

python3 importer/rsl_import.py ~/Games/MyGame.zip --out ftp://192.168.1.20:5000

How an upload works#

The upload never leaves a half-copied game where the loader can see it:

1. If games/<id> exists and Replace (--replace) is off, nothing is sent.
2. Every file goes to the hidden folder games/.uploading-<id>/, with manifest.json last. The loader skips names that start with a dot. A .uploading-<id> left by an earlier upload is removed first; it never holds saves.
3. On Cancel, a lost connection or any error, .uploading-<id> is removed over a new connection, and the Switch is as it was. If that fails too, the next upload removes it.
4. Then it is renamed into place: the old games/<id> becomes games/.old-<id>, .uploading-<id> becomes games/<id>, the old game/saves/ and any pictures chosen before are moved into the new folder, and .old-<id> is deleted.
5. If a rename in step 4 fails, the error names both folders. A leftover .old-<id> may hold saves, so the next upload of that game refuses until it is moved or deleted by hand.

switch/renpy-loader/saves/ is never touched. Unlike an SD card export, which only swaps game/ and manifest.json, an upload replaces the whole games/<id>/ folder.

Speed#

Uploads of thousands of small files run at about 1–2 MB/s, one file at a time. The status line shows how much of a large file is sent, and Cancel stops within the current file.