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Java FTP le download tutorial and example

LastUpdatedon15July2015|
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WiththehelpofApacheCommonsNetAPI,itiseasytowriteJavacodefor
downloadingafilefromaremoteFTPservertolocalcomputer.Inthisarticle,youwill
learnhowtoproperlyimplementJavacodetogetfilesdownloadedfromaserverviaFTP
protocol.Aworkingsampleprogramalsoprovided.
TableofContent
1.ApacheCommonsNetAPIfordownloadingfilesbyFTPprotocol
2.Theproperstepstodownloadafile
3.Sampleprogramcode
4.Compileandrunthesampleprogram

1. Apache Commons Net API for downloading

les by FTP protocol
Theorg.apache.commons.net.ftp.FTPClientclassprovidestwomethodsfor
downloadingfilesfromaFTPserver:
booleanretrieveFile(Stringremote,OutputStreamlocal):This
methodretrievesaremotefilewhosepathisspecifiedbytheparameterremote,
andwritesittotheOutputStreamspecifiedbytheparameterlocal.The

methodreturnstrueifoperationcompletedsuccessfully,orfalseotherwise.This
methodissuitableincasewedontcarehowthefileiswrittentodisk,justletthe
systemusethegivenOutputStreamtowritethefile.Weshouldclose
OutputStreamtheafterthemethodreturns.
InputStreamretrieveFileStream(Stringremote):Thismethoddoesnot
useanOutputStream,insteaditreturnsanInputStreamwhichwecanuseto

readbytesfromtheremotefile.Thismethodgivesusmorecontrolonhowto
readandwritethedata.Buttherearetwoimportantpointswhenusingthis
method:
ThemethodcompletePendingCommand()mustbecalledafterwardto
finalizefiletransferandcheckitsreturnvaluetoverifyifthedownloadis
actuallydonesuccessfully.
WemustclosetheInputStreamexplicitly.
Whichmethodisusedsuitableforyou?Herearefewtips:
Thefirstmethodprovidesthesimplestwayfordownloadingaremotefile,asjust
passinganOutputStreamofthefilewillbewrittenondisk.
Thesecondmethodrequiresmorecodetobewritten,aswehavetocreatea
newOutputStreamforwritingfilescontentwhilereadingitsbytearraysfrom
thereturnedInputStream.Thismethodisusefulwhenwewanttomeasure
progressofthedownload,i.e.howmanypercentagesofthefilehavebeen
transferred.Inaddition,wehavetocallthecompletePendingCommand()to
finalizethedownload.
BoththemethodsthrowanIOExceptionexception(oroneofitsdescendants,
FTPConnectionClosedExceptionandCopyStreamException).Therefore,
makesuretohandletheseexceptionswhencallingthemethods.
Inaddition,thefollowingtwomethodsmustbeinvokedbeforecallingthe
retrieveFile()andretrieveFileStream()methods:
voidenterLocalPassiveMode():thismethodswitchesdataconnectionmode

fromservertoclient(defaultmode)toclienttoserverwhichcanpassthrough
firewall.Theremightbesomeconnectionissuesifthismethodisnotinvoked.

booleansetFileType(intfileType):thismethodsetsfiletypetobe

transferred,eitherasASCIItextfileorbinaryfile.Itisrecommendedtosetfile
typetoFTP.BINARY_FILE_TYPE,ratherthanFTP.ASCII_FILE_TYPE.

2. The proper steps to download a le

HerearethestepstoproperlyimplementcodefordownloadingaremotefilefromaFTP
serverusingApacheCommonsNetAPIwhichisdiscussedsofar:
Connectandlogintotheserver.
Enterlocalpassivemodefordataconnection.
Setfiletypetobetransferredtobinary.
Constructpathoftheremotefiletobedownloaded.
CreateanewOutputStreamforwritingthefiletodisk.
Ifusingthefirstmethod(retrieveFile):

PasstheremotefilepathandtheOutputStreamasargumentsofthe
methodretrieveFile().
ClosetheOutputStream.
CheckreturnvalueofretrieveFile()toverifysuccess.
Ifusingthesecondmethod(retrieveFileStream):
RetrieveanInputStreamreturnedbythemethodretrieveFileStream().
RepeatedlyabytearrayfromtheInputStreamandwritethesebytesintothe
OutputStream,untiltheInputStreamisempty.
CallcompletePendingCommand()methodtocompletetransaction.
ClosetheopenedOutputStreamtheInputStream.
CheckreturnvalueofcompletePendingCommand()toverifysuccess.
Logoutanddisconnectfromtheserver.

3. Sample program code

Java APIs for Developers

Ofce formats and Native Java
Code Free support and free
evaluation
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Inthefollowingsampleprogram,usingbothmethodsisimplementedfortransferringa
filefromtheFTPservertolocalcomputer.Hereistheprogramssourcecode:
1
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importjava.io.BufferedOutputStream;
importjava.io.File;
importjava.io.FileInputStream;
importjava.io.FileOutputStream;
importjava.io.IOException;
importjava.io.InputStream;
importjava.io.OutputStream;

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importjava.io.OutputStream;

importorg.apache.commons.net.ftp.FTP;
importorg.apache.commons.net.ftp.FTPClient;

/**
*Aprogramdemonstrateshowtouploadfilesfromlocalcomputertoaremote
*FTPserverusingApacheCommonsNetAPI.
*@authorwww.codejava.net
*/
publicclassFTPDownloadFileDemo{

publicstaticvoidmain(String[]args){
Stringserver="www.myserver.com";
intport=21;
Stringuser="user";
Stringpass="pass";

FTPClientftpClient=newFTPClient();
try{

ftpClient.connect(server,port);
ftpClient.login(user,pass);
ftpClient.enterLocalPassiveMode();
ftpClient.setFileType(FTP.BINARY_FILE_TYPE);

//APPROACH#1:usingretrieveFile(String,OutputStream)
StringremoteFile1="/test/video.mp4";
FiledownloadFile1=newFile("D:/Downloads/video.mp4");
OutputStreamoutputStream1=newBufferedOutputStream(newFileOutputStream(downloadFile1)
booleansuccess=ftpClient.retrieveFile(remoteFile1,outputStream1);
outputStream1.close();

if(success){
System.out.println("File#1hasbeendownloadedsuccessfully."
}

//APPROACH#2:usingInputStreamretrieveFileStream(String)
StringremoteFile2="/test/song.mp3";
FiledownloadFile2=newFile("D:/Downloads/song.mp3");
OutputStreamoutputStream2=newBufferedOutputStream(newFileOutputStream(downloadFile2)
InputStreaminputStream=ftpClient.retrieveFileStream(remoteFile2);
byte[]bytesArray=newbyte[4096];
intbytesRead=1;
while((bytesRead=inputStream.read(bytesArray))!=1){
outputStream2.write(bytesArray,0,bytesRead);
}

success=ftpClient.completePendingCommand();
if(success){
System.out.println("File#2hasbeendownloadedsuccessfully."
}
outputStream2.close();
inputStream.close();

}catch(IOExceptionex){
System.out.println("Error:"+ex.getMessage());
ex.printStackTrace();
}finally{
try{
if(ftpClient.isConnected()){
ftpClient.logout();
ftpClient.disconnect();
}
}catch(IOExceptionex){
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}


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4. Compile and run the sample program

Tocompileandruntheprogram,youneedanApacheCommonsNetsjarlibraryfile
presentedintheclasspath.ClickheretodownloadthelatestdistributionofApache
CommonsNet.
ExtractthedistributionzipfileandcopythecommonsnetVERSION.jarfileintothe
samefolderoftheFTPDownloadFileDemo.javafile.
Typethefollowingcommandtocompiletheprogram:
javaccpcommonsnetVERSION.jarFTPDownloadFileDemo.java

Andtypethiscommandtoruntheprogram:
javacpcommonsnetVERSION.jar.FTPDownloadFileDemo

NOTES:
YouneedtoreplaceVERSIONbytheactualversionnumberofthejarfile.Atthe
timeofwritingthisarticle,thelatestversionofApacheCommonsNetAPIis3.3,
hencecommonsnet3.3.jar
Fordownloadingawholedirectory,seethearticle:Howtodownloadacomplete
folderfromaFTPserver.
Anenhanced,swingbasedversion:Swingapplicationtodownloadfilesfrom
FTPserverwithprogressbar.

JavaNetworkProgramming,FourthEditionThisbookisamustreadfor
Javanetworkingdevelopment.YoulllearnhowtouseJavasnetworkclasslibrary
toquicklyandeasilyaccomplishcommonnetworkingtaskssuchaswritingmulti
threadedservers,encryptingcommunications,broadcastingtothelocalnetwork,
andpostingdatatoserversideprograms.

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Attachments:
FTPDownloadFileDemo.java [JavaFTPFileDownloadProgram] 2kB

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Comments

0
#31vedanshi 2016081100:00
iamgettingthiserror:java.net.ConnectException:Connectiontimedout:connect
atjava.net.DualStackPlainSocketImpl.connect0(NativeMethod)
atjava.net.DualStackPlainSocketImpl.socketConnect(UnknownSource)
atjava.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.doConnect(UnknownSource)
Quote
#30Cristiane 2016072319:03
timoartigo,timoexemplo!Funcionouperfeitamentenaminhaaplicao.

0
Quote

#29Evandro 2016072108:32
Muitobom...euestavacomproblemasembaixarimagensdoFTPecomo
exemplodoretriveFIleStreamFuncionou!!

Quote
+2

#28Rod 2016020409:20
FTPDemoExcellentapp

Quote
#27naser
tkankyou

+4

2016010620:19

Quote
+2

#26Sara 2015111210:06
Igotthiserror:
Exceptioninthread"main"java.lang.NullPointerException
atImpFileFromFtp.main(ImpFileFromFtp.java:47)

Quote
#25Sara 2015111210:01
Hi,thankforthetutorial,
Ihavemanagedtoretrievecvsfiles,butforsomereasonthefilesareempty.

+2

Quote
#24Hacker
nice..

+2

2015100604:16

Quote
+1

#23Nam 2014121004:23
HiKrishanuDebnath,
Doyouneedsuchprogramordoyouwanttowritecode?

Iwrotesuchaprogrambeforeusingtherestart()methodoftheApacheCommons
NetFTPAPI.Emailmeifyouareinterested.
Quote
+2
#22KrishanuDebnath 2014121001:45
ineedajavaprogramtodownloadafileusingurl&inthatsameprogramihaveto
measurethefilesizebeforestartingthedownload&ifservergetdisconnected&
againistartthedownloadedthedownloadingstartsfromtheremainingpart..????
Quote
1

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