PHP - How to download a file from a secured web server folder

We may need to know a little more about what you mean by "secured", but here is the strategy I would follow.

Place the files in a location that is outside of the WWW root directory, so links to the files cannot exist.  The only way to get the files is to go through a downloader script.  A sample of the script is attached.  You can password protect this script and apply other rules - whatever your business rules need to be.

best regards, ~Ray

<?php // RAY_force_download.php
 
function force_download($filename)
{
   $basename = basename($filename);
   $filedata = file_get_contents($filename);
 
   if ($filedata)
   {
      header("Content-Type: application/force-download");
      header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"$basename\"");
      header("Content-length: ".(string)(strlen($filedata)));
      header("Expires: ".gmdate("D, d M Y H:i:s", mktime(date("H")+2, date("i"), date("s"), date("m"), date("d"), date("Y")))." GMT");
      header("Last-Modified: ".gmdate("D, d M Y H:i:s")." GMT");
      if (FALSE === strpos($_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"], 'MSIE 6'))
      {
         header("Cache-Control: no-cache, must-revalidate"); // OMIT FOR IE 6
      }
      header("Pragma: no-cache");
      flush();
      ob_start();
      echo $filedata;
   }
}
 
force_download("http://assets0.twitter.com/images/twitter.png");
 
?>

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Hi Ray,
Thanks a lot for your help.
I tried the force_download script with my csv file on the web , it prints on the browser. Is it possible to let user pick a folder on their PC and download the file there?

Thanks,
Luchuan

Thanks a lot,Ray,
Luchuan

Thanks for the points - it's a great question, ~Ray