OFTP
Odette File Transfer Protocol. The native file-transfer protocol of European automotive — ageing, being replaced by OFTP2.
Definition
OFTP 1.x is a proprietary European automotive file-transfer protocol, specified by Odette (Organization for Data Exchange by Tele Transmission in Europe) from 1986. Characteristics:
- Historical transport layer: X.25 (public PDN) with virtual calls. Then TCP/IP encapsulation from the late 1990s (OFTP over TCP, RFC 2204 experimental).
- Model: session-initiated exchange, mutual identification by ODETTE-ID (5/14/25 characters), virtual file transfers.
- Restart on failure: restart-at-offset, which was precious over unstable X.25 links.
- Security: weak — no TLS encryption, no signature. Authentication relied on OFTP-ID + session password.
- Acknowledgment: automatic End-to-End Response (EERP) at transfer end.
Origin
OFTP was created by Odette in 1986 to smooth exchanges between European car makers and tier suppliers. X.25 was then a natural choice — a public data network often billed by volume, universally available. Version 1.4 (1997) added TCP/IP support. The gradual retirement of X.25 from the 2000s (most European PNNs shut X.25 down between 2010 and 2015) and the arrival of OFTP2 (RFC 5024, 2007) accelerated the deprecation of OFTP 1.x. In 2026, OFTP 1.x deployments are residual.
Example in context
Before 2010, a Tier-1 supplier sent its DELFOR (delivery forecast) to a French car maker via OFTP over X.25, through Transpac. The session was initiated at 02:00 to enjoy the off-peak rate, the EDIFACT file sent, the EERP awaited. The same chain now typically runs over OFTP2 over TLS, or AS2, depending on the maker's policy.