How to Download an FTP File Directly to the Browser in PHP Without Server Storage?

Download a File to the Browser from FTP without Server Storage or Redirection

In PHP scripts, fetching files from FTP servers is a common task. However, storing these files on the web server before sending them to the user's browser can be undesirable. This article explores how to download a file from an FTP server directly to the browser, bypassing server storage and avoiding redirects.

Original Code

The initial code retrieves an FTP file into memory using ftp_get() and ob_start():

<code class="php">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;
}</code>

Direct Stream to Browser

To stream the file directly to the browser without saving it, remove the output buffering:

<code class="php">ftp_get($conn_id, "php://output", $file, FTP_BINARY);</code>

Adding Content-Length Header

To include the Content-Length header, query the file size using ftp_size():

<code class="php">$conn_id = ftp_connect("ftp.example.com");
ftp_login($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);</code>

Remember to implement error handling as necessary. For more information on FTP file handling, refer to resources like "List and download clicked file from FTP."

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