dcmrecv(1) OFFIS DCMTK dcmrecv(1) NAME dcmrecv - Simple DICOM storage SCP (receiver) SYNOPSIS dcmrecv [options] port DESCRIPTION The dcmrecv application implements a Service Class Provider (SCP) for the Storage Service Class. In contrast to the well-known storescp utility, dcm- recv has less options and might, therefore, be easier to use - this also explains the term 'simple' in the title. The main purpose of this applica- tion is to receive a whole bunch of DICOM datasets from a Storage Service Class User (SCU) and store them to a configurable directory and file struc- ture. PARAMETERS port tcp/ip port number to listen on OPTIONS general options -h --help print this help text and exit --version print version information and exit --arguments print expanded command line arguments -q --quiet quiet mode, print no warnings and errors -v --verbose verbose mode, print processing details -d --debug debug mode, print debug information -ll --log-level [l]evel: string constant (fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace) use level l for the logger -lc --log-config [f]ilename: string use config file f for the logger +v --verbose-pc show presentation contexts in verbose mode network options IP protocol version: -i4 --ipv4 use IPv4 only (default) -i6 --ipv6 use IPv6 only -i0 --ip-auto use IPv6/IPv4 dual stack association negotiation profile from configuration file: -xf --config-file [f]ilename, [p]rofile: string use profile p from configuration file f application entity title: -uca --use-called-aetitle always respond with called AE title (default) -aet --aetitle [a]etitle: string set my AE title and check called AE title other network options: -ta --acse-timeout [s]econds: integer (default: 30) timeout for ACSE messages -td --dimse-timeout [s]econds: integer (default: unlimited) timeout for DIMSE messages -pdu --max-pdu [n]umber of bytes: integer (4096..131072) set max receive pdu to n bytes (default: 16384) -dhl --disable-host-lookup disable hostname lookup transport layer security (TLS) options transport protocol stack: -tls --disable-tls use normal TCP/IP connection (default) +tls --enable-tls [p]rivate key file, [c]ertificate file: string use authenticated secure TLS connection private key password (only with --enable-tls): +ps --std-passwd prompt user to type password on stdin (default) +pw --use-passwd [p]assword: string use specified password -pw --null-passwd use empty string as password key and certificate file format: -pem --pem-keys read keys and certificates as PEM file (default) -der --der-keys read keys and certificates as DER file certification authority: +cf --add-cert-file [f]ilename: string add certificate file to list of certificates +cd --add-cert-dir [d]irectory: string add certificates in d to list of certificates +crl --add-crl-file [f]ilename: string add certificate revocation list file (implies --enable-crl-vfy) +crv --enable-crl-vfy enable leaf CRL verification +cra --enable-crl-all enable full chain CRL verification security profile: +ph --list-profiles list supported TLS profiles and exit +pg --profile-8996 BCP 195 RFC 8996 TLS Profile (default) +pm --profile-8996-mod Modified BCP 195 RFC 8996 TLS Profile # only available if underlying TLS library supports # all TLS features required for this profile +py --profile-bcp195-nd Non-downgrading BCP 195 TLS Profile (retired) +px --profile-bcp195 BCP 195 TLS Profile (retired) +pz --profile-bcp195-ex Extended BCP 195 TLS Profile (retired) +pb --profile-basic Basic TLS Secure Transport Connection Profile (retired) # only available if underlying TLS library supports 3DES +pa --profile-aes AES TLS Secure Transport Connection Profile (retired) +pn --profile-null Authenticated unencrypted communication (retired, was used in IHE ATNA) ciphersuite: +cc --list-ciphers list supported TLS ciphersuites and exit +cs --cipher [c]iphersuite name: string add ciphersuite to list of negotiated suites +dp --dhparam [f]ilename: string read DH parameters for DH/DSS ciphersuites server name indication: --no-sni do not use SNI (default) --expect-sni [s]erver name: string expect requests for server name s pseudo random generator: +rs --seed [f]ilename: string seed random generator with contents of f +ws --write-seed write back modified seed (only with --seed) +wf --write-seed-file [f]ilename: string (only with --seed) write modified seed to file f peer authentication: -rc --require-peer-cert verify peer certificate, fail if absent (default) -vc --verify-peer-cert verify peer certificate if present -ic --ignore-peer-cert don't verify peer certificate output options general: -od --output-directory [d]irectory: string (default: ".") write received objects to existing directory d subdirectory generation: -s --no-subdir do not generate any subdirectories (default) +ssd --series-date-subdir generate subdirectories from series date filename generation: +fd --default-filenames generate filename from instance UID (default) +fu --unique-filenames generate unique filename based on new UID +fsu --short-unique-names generate short pseudo-random unique filename +fst --system-time-names generate filename from current system time -fe --filename-extension [e]xtension: string (default: none) append e to all generated filenames storage mode: -B --normal allow implicit format conversions (default) +B --bit-preserving write dataset exactly as received --ignore ignore dataset, receive but do not store it NOTES Typical Usage A typical use case of dcmrecv is to receive SOP instances that are sent from a storage SCU and save them as DICOM files. The following command does exactly this: dcmrecv --verbose <port> --config-file storescp.cfg default If you prefer some automatically created subdirectory structure, shorter file names and the extension '.dcm' for all DICOM files, use the following command: dcmrecv -v -xf storescp.cfg default <port> --series-date-subdir --short-unique-names --filename-extension .dcm In case of very large SOP instances or if the dataset should be written ex- actly as received (e.g. for debugging purposes), the 'bit preserving mode' could be used: dcmrecv -v -xf storescp.cfg default <port> --bit-preserving The received datasets are always stored as DICOM files with the same Trans- fer Syntax as used for the network transmission. DICOM Conformance Basically, the dcmrecv application supports all Storage SOP Classes as an SCP, including private ones. This requires, however, that a corresponding association negotiation profile is loaded from a configuration file. The format and semantics of this configuration file are documented in ascon- fig.txt. By default, that means if no association negotiation profile is loaded, dcmrecv only supports the Verification SOP Class as an SCP (with default transfer syntax, i.e. Implicit VR Little Endian). In the future, there might be additional options that allow for specifying the list of supported Presentation Contexts (i.e. combination of SOP Class and Transfer Syntaxes) directly, i.e. without loading a configuration file. Subdirectory Generation The option --series-date-subdir allows for generating subdirectories (below the specified output directory) based on the value of the data element Se- ries Date (0008,0021) from the received DICOM dataset. If this value could be retrieved from the dataset and is valid (i.e. consists of a valid DICOM date field), the subdirectory structure is as follows: <output-directory>/data/<year>/<month>/<day>/<filename> If the Series Date (0008,0021) cannot be retrieved or is invalid, the cur- rent system date is used for the following subdirectory structure: <output-directory>/undef/<year><month><day>/<filename> In both cases, <year> consists of 4 decimal digits and <month> as well as <day> of 2 decimal digits. Filename Generation By default, the filenames for storing the received DICOM datasets are gen- erated according to the following scheme: <short-modality-prefix>.<sop-instance-uid><filename-extension> If the same SOP instance is received twice, a warning message is reported and the existing file is overwritten. The option --unique-filenames makes sure that each received DICOM dataset is stored as a separate file, i.e. no files should ever be overwritten. This is done by using a newly created unique identifier (UID) for each gen- erated filename (and the infix '.X' in order to avoid conflicts with real SOP Instance UID values). The naming scheme for this option is as follows: <short-modality-prefix>.X.<unique-identifier><filename-extension> When option --short-unique-names is used, the filenames are generated by some pseudo-random name generator, which also makes sure that there are no conflicts (i.e. existing files are not overwritten). This is the naming scheme: <short-modality-prefix>_<pseudo-random-name><filename-extension> With <pseudo-random-name> consisting of 16 digits in hexadecimal notation. Finally, option --system-time-names allows for generating filenames based on the current system time: <date><time>.<short-modality-prefix><filename-extension> With <date> consisting of '<year><month><day>' and <time> of '<hour><minute><second>.<micro-second>'. Please note that this scheme could result in naming conflicts if the resolution of the system time is not suf- ficiently high (i.e. does not support microseconds). Limitations Please note that option --bit-preserving cannot be used together with op- tion --series-date-subdir since the received dataset is stored directly to file and the value of the Series Date (0008,0021) is, therefore, not avail- able before the file has been created. LOGGING The level of logging output of the various command line tools and underly- ing libraries can be specified by the user. By default, only errors and warnings are written to the standard error stream. Using option --verbose also informational messages like processing details are reported. Option --debug can be used to get more details on the internal activity, e.g. for debugging purposes. Other logging levels can be selected using option --log-level. In --quiet mode only fatal errors are reported. In such very severe error events, the application will usually terminate. For more de- tails on the different logging levels, see documentation of module 'oflog'. In case the logging output should be written to file (optionally with log- file rotation), to syslog (Unix) or the event log (Windows) option --log- config can be used. This configuration file also allows for directing only certain messages to a particular output stream and for filtering certain messages based on the module or application where they are generated. An example configuration file is provided in <etcdir>/logger.cfg. COMMAND LINE All command line tools use the following notation for parameters: square brackets enclose optional values (0-1), three trailing dots indicate that multiple values are allowed (1-n), a combination of both means 0 to n val- ues. Command line options are distinguished from parameters by a leading '+' or '-' sign, respectively. Usually, order and position of command line options are arbitrary (i.e. they can appear anywhere). However, if options are mu- tually exclusive the rightmost appearance is used. This behavior conforms to the standard evaluation rules of common Unix shells. In addition, one or more command files can be specified using an '@' sign as a prefix to the filename (e.g. @command.txt). Such a command argument is replaced by the content of the corresponding text file (multiple white- spaces are treated as a single separator unless they appear between two quotation marks) prior to any further evaluation. Please note that a com- mand file cannot contain another command file. This simple but effective approach allows one to summarize common combinations of options/parameters and avoids longish and confusing command lines (an example is provided in file <datadir>/dumppat.txt). EXIT CODES The dcmrecv utility uses the following exit codes when terminating. This enables the user to check for the reason why the application terminated. general EXITCODE_NO_ERROR 0 EXITCODE_COMMANDLINE_SYNTAX_ERROR 1 input file errors EXITCODE_CANNOT_READ_INPUT_FILE 20 (*) output file errors EXITCODE_CANNOT_WRITE_OUTPUT_FILE 40 (*) EXITCODE_INVALID_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY 45 network errors EXITCODE_CANNOT_INITIALIZE_NETWORK 60 (*) EXITCODE_CANNOT_START_SCP_AND_LISTEN 64 EXITCODE_INVALID_ASSOCIATION_CONFIG 66 EXITCODE_CANNOT_CREATE_TRANSPORT_LAYER 71 (*) Actually, these codes are currently not used by dcmrecv but serve as a placeholder for the corresponding group of exit codes. ENVIRONMENT The dcmrecv utility will attempt to load DICOM data dictionaries specified in the DCMDICTPATH environment variable. By default, i.e. if the DCMDICT- PATH environment variable is not set, the file <datadir>/dicom.dic will be loaded unless the dictionary is built into the application (default for Windows). The default behavior should be preferred and the DCMDICTPATH environment variable only used when alternative data dictionaries are required. The DCMDICTPATH environment variable has the same format as the Unix shell PATH variable in that a colon (':') separates entries. On Windows systems, a semicolon (';') is used as a separator. The data dictionary code will at- tempt to load each file specified in the DCMDICTPATH environment variable. It is an error if no data dictionary can be loaded. FILES <docdir>/asconfig.txt - configuration file documentation <etcdir>/storescp.cfg - example association negotiation profile SEE ALSO dcmsend(1), storescu(1), storescp(1) COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 2013-2025 by OFFIS e.V., Escherweg 2, 26121 Oldenburg, Ger- many. Version 3.7.0 Mon Dec 15 2025 dcmrecv(1)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | PARAMETERS | OPTIONS | NOTES | LOGGING | COMMAND LINE | EXIT CODES | ENVIRONMENT | FILES | SEE ALSO | COPYRIGHT
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