Download File to server from URL

Question

Well, this one seems quite simple, and it is. All you have to do to download a file to your server is:

file_put_contents("Tmpfile.zip", file_get_contents("http://someurl/file.zip")); 

Only there is one problem. What if you have a large file, like 100mb. Then, you will run out of memory, and not be able to download the file.

What I want is a way to write the file to the disk as I am downloading it. That way, I can download bigger files, without running into memory problems.

Answer 1

Since PHP 5.1.0, file_put_contents() supports writing piece-by-piece by passing a stream-handle as the $data parameter:

file_put_contents("Tmpfile.zip", fopen("http://someurl/file.zip", 'r')); 

From the manual:

If data [that is the second argument] is a stream resource, the remaining buffer of that stream will be copied to the specified file. This is similar with using stream_copy_to_stream().

(Thanks Hakre.)