phpftpcontent-dispositionhttp-content-length

Download file via PHP script from FTP server to browser with Content-Length header without storing the file on the web server


I use this code to download a file to memory from ftp:

public static function getFtpFileContents($conn_id , $file)
{
    ob_start();
    $result = ftp_get($conn_id, "php://output", $file, FTP_BINARY);
    $data = ob_get_contents();
    ob_end_clean();
    if ($resul)
        return $data;
    return null;
}

How can I make it directly send the file to the user (browser) without saving to disk and without redirecting to the ftp server ?


Solution

  • Just remove the output buffering (ob_start() and the others).

    Use just this:

    ftp_get($conn_id, "php://output", $file, FTP_BINARY);
    

    Though if you want to add Content-Length header, you have to query file size first using ftp_size:

    $conn_id = ftp_connect("ftp.example.com");
    ftp_login($conn_id, "username", "password");
    ftp_pasv($conn_id, true);
    
    $file_path = "remote/path/file.zip";
    $size = ftp_size($conn_id, $file_path);
    
    header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");
    header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=" . basename($file_path));
    header("Content-Length: $size"); 
    
    ftp_get($conn_id, "php://output", $file_path, FTP_BINARY);
    

    (add error handling)


    For more broad background, see:
    List and download clicked file from FTP