diff --git a/db/constraints.sql b/db/constraints.sql
index 948de8fe37..e32daffb21 100644
--- a/db/constraints.sql
+++ b/db/constraints.sql
@@ -131,4 +131,4 @@ alter table assignment
     add index asgn_target(target_type, target_id);
 
 alter table job_file
-    add index md5(md5);
+    add unique jf_md5(md5);
diff --git a/html/user/job_file.php b/html/user/job_file.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9e01ad5d17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/html/user/job_file.php
@@ -0,0 +1,196 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of BOINC.
+// http://boinc.berkeley.edu
+// Copyright (C) 2013 University of California
+//
+// BOINC is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+// under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// as published by the Free Software Foundation,
+// either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// BOINC is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+// See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with BOINC.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+// Web RPCs for managing job input files on the server.
+//
+// Issues:
+//
+// 1) how are files named?
+//  Their name is a function of their MD5.
+//  This eliminates issues related to file immutability
+//
+// 2) how do we keep track of the files?
+//  In the MySQL database, in a table called job_files.
+//  Each row describes a file currently on the server.
+//  In addition, we maintain a table batch_file_assoc to record
+//  that a file is used by a particular batch.
+//  (Note: the association could be at the job level instead.
+//  but this way is more efficient if all the jobs in a batch use
+//  a particular file.)
+//
+// 3) how do we clean up unused files?
+//  A daemon (job_file_deleter) deletes files for which
+//  - the delete date (if given) is in the past, and
+//  - there are no associations to active batches
+//
+// 4) what are the RPC operations?
+//  query_files
+//      in:
+//          authenticator
+//          list of MD5s
+//          batch ID (optional)
+//          new delete time (optional)
+//      out:
+//          error message,
+//          or list of files (indices in the MD5 list) not present on server
+//      action: for each MD5 in in the input list:
+//          if present on server
+//              update delete time
+//              create batch/file association
+//              add MD5 to output list
+//  upload_files
+//      in:
+//          authenticator
+//          delete time (optional)
+//          batch ID (optional)
+//          list of MD5s
+//          files (as multipart attachments)
+//      out:
+//          error message, or success
+//      action:
+//          for each file in list
+//              move to project download dir w/ appropriate name
+//              create job_files record
+//              create batch_file_assoc record if needed
+
+error_reporting(E_ALL);
+ini_set('display_errors', true);
+ini_set('display_startup_errors', true);
+
+require_once("../inc/boinc_db.inc");
+require_once("../inc/dir_hier.inc");
+require_once("../inc/xml.inc");
+require_once("../inc/submit_util.inc");
+
+// the physical name of a file is jf_(md5).
+// Prepend the jf_ to make the source of the file clear
+//
+function job_file_name($md5) {
+    return "jf_$md5";
+}
+
+function query_files($r) {
+    list($user, $user_submit) = authenticate_user($r, null);
+    $absent_files = array();
+    $now = time();
+    $delete_time = (int)$r->delete_time;
+    $batch_id = (int)$r->delete_time;
+    $fanout = parse_config(get_config(), "<uldl_dir_fanout>");
+    $i = 0;
+    foreach($r->md5 as $f) {
+        $md5 = (string)$f;
+        echo "processing $md5\n";
+        $fname = job_file_name($md5);
+        $path = dir_hier_path($fname, "../../download", $fanout);
+
+        // if the job_file record is there,
+        // update the delete time first to avoid race condition
+        // with job file deleter
+        //
+        $job_file = BoincJobFile::lookup_md5($md5);
+        if ($job_file && $job_file->delete_time < $delete_time) {
+            $retval = $job_file::update("delete_time=$delete_time");
+            if ($retval) {
+                xml_error(-1, "job_file::update() failed");
+            }
+        }
+        if (file_exists($path)) {
+            // create the DB record if needed
+            //
+            if (!$job_file) {
+                BoincJobFile::insert(
+                    "(md5, create_time, delete_time) values ('$md5', $now, $delete_time)"
+                );
+            }
+        } else {
+            if ($job_file) {
+                $job_file->delete();
+            }
+            $absent_files[] = $i;
+        }
+        $i++;
+    }
+    echo "<absent_files>\n";
+    foreach ($absent_files as $i) {
+        echo "<file>$i</file>\n";
+    }
+    echo "</absent_files>\n";
+}
+
+// upload_files
+//  in: list of MD5s, and the files themselves as multipart attachment
+//  out: error code
+//
+function upload_files($r) {
+    list($user, $user_submit) = authenticate_user($r, null);
+    $fanout = parse_config(get_config(), "<uldl_dir_fanout>");
+    $delete_time = (int)$r->delete_time;
+    print_r($_FILES);
+    $i = 0;
+    foreach ($r->md5 as $f) {
+        $md5 = (string)$f;
+        $name = "file_$i";
+        $tmp_name = $_FILES[$name]['tmp_name'];
+        if (!is_uploaded_file($tmp_name)) {
+            xml_error(-1, "$tmp_name is not an uploaded file");
+        }
+        $fname = job_file_name($md5);
+        $path = dir_hier_path($fname, "../../download", $fanout);
+        rename($tmp_name, $path);
+        $now = time();
+        $id = BoincJobFile::insert(
+            "(md5, create_time, delete_time) values ('$md5', $now, $delete_time)"
+        );
+        if (!$id) {
+            xml_error(-1, "BoincJobFile::insert() failed");
+        }
+        $i++;
+    }
+    echo "<success/>\n";
+}
+
+if (0) {
+$r = simplexml_load_string("<query_files>\n<batch_id>0</batch_id>\n   <md5>80bf244b43fb5d39541ea7011883b7e0</md5>\n   <md5>a6037b05afb05f36e6a85a7c5138cbc1</md5>\n</query_files>\n ");
+submit_batch($r);
+exit;
+}
+if (0) {
+    $r = simplexml_load_string("<upload_files>\n<authenticator>157f96a018b0b2f2b466e2ce3c7f54db</authenticator>\n<batch_id>1</batch_id>\n<md5>80bf244b43fb5d39541ea7011883b7e0</md5>\n<md5>a6037b05afb05f36e6a85a7c5138cbc1</md5>\n</upload_files>");
+    upload_files($r);
+    exit;
+}
+
+xml_header();
+$r = simplexml_load_string($_POST['request']);
+if (!$r) {
+    xml_error(-1, "can't parse request message");
+}
+
+switch($r->getName()) {
+case 'query_files':
+    query_files($r);
+    break;
+case 'upload_files':
+    echo "foo\n";
+    upload_files($r);
+    break;
+default:
+    xml_error(-1, "no such action");
+}
+
+?>
diff --git a/samples/condor/curl.cpp b/samples/condor/curl.cpp
index 1725afcaeb..a0635cce1f 100644
--- a/samples/condor/curl.cpp
+++ b/samples/condor/curl.cpp
@@ -138,11 +138,17 @@ int upload_files (
 ) {
     char buf[1024];
     string req_msg = "<upload_files>\n";
+    sprintf(buf, "<authenticator>%s</authenticator>\n", authenticator);
+    req_msg += string(buf);
+    if (batch_id) {
+        sprintf(buf, "<batch_id>%d</batch_id>\n", batch_id);
+        req_msg += string(buf);
+    }
     for (unsigned int i=0; i<md5s.size(); i++) {
         sprintf(buf, "<md5>%s</md5>\n", md5s[i].c_str());
         req_msg += string(buf);
     }
-    req_msg = "</upload_files>\n";
+    req_msg += "</upload_files>\n";
     FILE* reply = tmpfile();
     char url[256];
     sprintf(url, "%sjob_file.php", project_url);
@@ -151,8 +157,10 @@ int upload_files (
         fclose(reply);
         return retval;
     }
+    fseek(reply, 0, SEEK_SET);
     bool success = false;
     while (fgets(buf, 256, reply)) {
+        printf("reply: %s", buf);
         if (strstr(buf, "success")) {
             success = true;
             break;