Upload Download Files Through FTP In PHP (Simple Examples)

Welcome to a quick tutorial on how to upload and download files through FTP using PHP. Need to manage some files on a server through an automated script?

That should cover the basics, but let us walk through a few actual examples in this guide – Read on!

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Source code on GitHub Gist

Just click on “download zip” or do a git clone. I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

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PART 1) PHP FTP EXTENSION

1A) DOWNLOAD FILES WITH PHP FTP 

<?php
// (A) FTP SETTINGS - CHANGE TO YOUR OWN!
$ftphost = "ftp.example.com";
$ftpuser = "user";
$ftppass = "password";
$source = "file.txt"; // target file on ftp server
$destination = "downloaded.txt"; // save to this file
 
// (B) CONNECT TO FTP SERVER
$ftp = ftp_connect($ftphost) or exit("Failed to connect to $ftphost");
 
// (C) LOGIN & DOWNLOAD
if (ftp_login($ftp, $ftpuser, $ftppass)) {
  echo ftp_get($ftp, $destination, $source, FTP_BINARY)
    ? "Saved to $destination"
    : "Error downloading $source" ;
} else { echo "Invalid user/password"; }
 
// (D) CLOSE FTP CONNECTION
ftp_close($ftp);

In this first section, we will walk through how to use the “legit” PHP FTP extension. This should be very straightforward and easy to understand.

• We use the ftp_connect() function to connect to an FTP server.
• Next, log in to the FTP server using the ftp_login() function.
• Then download the required files using ftp_get().
• Finally, remember to close the FTP connection using ftp_close().

 

 

1B) UPLOAD FILES WITH PHP FTP 

<?php
// (A) FTP SETTINGS - CHANGE TO YOUR OWN!
$ftphost = "ftp.example.com";
$ftpuser = "user";
$ftppass = "password";
$source = "file.txt"; // source file on server
$destination = "uploaded.txt"; // save to this file on ftp server
 
// (B) CONNECT TO FTP SERVER
$ftp = ftp_connect($ftphost) or exit("Failed to connect to $ftphost");
 
// (C) LOGIN & UPLOAD
if (ftp_login($ftp, $ftpuser, $ftppass)) {
  echo ftp_put($ftp, $destination, $source, FTP_BINARY)
    ? "Uploaded to $destination"
    : "Error uploading $source" ;
} else { echo "Invalid user/password"; }
 
// (D) CLOSE FTP CONNECTION
ftp_close($ftp);

That’s right, this is pretty much the same. Except that to upload files, we use ftp_put() instead.

 

 

1C) OTHER PHP FTP COMMANDS

<?php
// (A) FTP SETTINGS - CHANGE TO YOUR OWN!
$ftphost = "ftp.example.com";
$ftpuser = "user";
$ftppass = "password";
 
// (B) CONNECT TO FTP SERVER
$ftp = ftp_connect($ftphost) or exit("Failed to connect to $ftphost");
 
// (C) LOGIN & FTP YOGA
if (ftp_login($ftp, $ftpuser, $ftppass)) {
  $currentDir = ftp_pwd($ftp); // fet current folder
  $files = ftp_nlist($ftp, $currentDir); // list files & folders
  $ok = ftp_chdir($ftp, "FOLDER"); // change the current folder
  print_r($files);
} else { echo "Invalid user/password"; }
 
// (D) CLOSE FTP CONNECTION
ftp_close($ftp);

Yes, it is also possible to get the current folder, change the folder, or get the list of files on the FTP server.

 

PART 2) FTP WITH PHP-CURL

2A) DOWNLOAD FILES WITH CURL FTP

<?php
// (A) FTP SETTINGS - CHANGE TO YOUR OWN!
$ftphost = "ftp://example.com";
$ftpuser = "user";
$ftppass = "password";
$source = "FILE.txt"; // file to download on ftp server
$destination = "DOWNLOAD.txt"; // file to save locally
 
// (B) INIT CURL + OPEN LOCAL FILE
$curl = curl_init();
$file = fopen($destination, "w");
 
// (C) SET CURL OPTIONS
curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => $ftphost . $source,
  CURLOPT_USERPWD => "$ftpuser:$ftppass",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => 1,
  CURLOPT_FILE => $file
]);

// (D) EXECUTE CURL (DOWNLOAD FILE)
curl_exec($curl);
 
// (E) CLOSE CONNECTION + FILE
curl_close($curl);
fclose($file);

If you somehow cannot get PHP FTP to work properly, this is an alternative way of using PHP cURL to work with FTP. Downloading a file through FTP cURL is a little more complicated, but still straightforward nonetheless:

• We initialize cURL with curl_init().
• Open and create an empty file on the server with fopen().
• Set the cURL options with curl_setopt_array:
  • CURLOPT_URL Address of the FTP server
  • CURLOPT_USERPWD User and password.
  • CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER Set to return transfer, because we are downloading stuff.
  • CURLOPT_FILE Pointing this to the empty file we opened with fopen().
• Execute cURL with curl_exec(), watch it do the magic.
• Finally, remember to close the connection with curl_close(), and also the file with fclose().

 

 

2B) UPLOAD FILES WITH CURL FTP

<?php
// (A) FTP SETTINGS - CHANGE TO YOUR OWN!
$ftphost = "ftp://example.com";
$ftpuser = "user";
$ftppass = "password";
$source = "FILE.txt"; // file to upload to ftp server
$destination = "UPLOAD.txt"; // file name on ftp server
 
// (B) INIT CURL + OPEN LOCAL FILE
$curl = curl_init();
$file = fopen($source, "r");
 
// (C) SET CURL OPTIONS
curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => $ftphost . $destination,
  CURLOPT_USERPWD => "$ftpuser:$ftppass",
  CURLOPT_UPLOAD => 1,
  CURLOPT_INFILE => $file,
  CURLOPT_INFILESIZE => filesize($source)
]);
 
// (D) EXECUTE CURL (UPLOAD FILE)
curl_exec($curl);
 
// (E) CLOSE CONNECTION + FILE
curl_close($curl);
fclose($file);

Uploading is pretty much the opposite of downloading. Instead of creating an empty file on the server, we read from an existing file instead.

 

 

 

PHP FTP – A QUICK SUMMARY

Function	Description
ftp_connect(URL)	Connects to target FTP host.
ftp_login(STREAM, USER, PASSWORD)	Login to the FTP server.
ftp_get(STREAM, DESTINATION, SOURCE, MODE)	Downloads selected file.
ftp_put(STREAM, DESTINATION, SOURCE, MODE)	Uploads selected file.
ftp_close(STREAM)	Closes FTP connection.

 

PHP CURL FTP – A QUICK SUMMARY

Function	Description
curl_init()	Initialize cURL connection.
fopen(FILE, MODE)	Opens a file for reading or writing.
curl_setopt_array(STREAM, ARRAY)	Sets cURL options. CURLOPT_URL: Host URL CURLOPT_USERPWD: The user and password (user:password). CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER: Returns transfer from the server? True or false. CURLOPT_FILE: Target file to save to (download). CURLOPT_UPLOAD: Has file upload? True or false. CURLOPT_INFILE: Target file to upload. CURLOPT_INFILESIZE: Size of file to upload.
curl_exec(STREAM)	Executes cURL.
curl_close(STREAM)	Closes cURL connection.
fclose(FILE)	Commits and writes file properly.

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

• PHP FTP – The official PHP manual.
• PHP cURL – The official PHP manual.
• Download Entire Folder With PHP FTP – Code Boxx