Uploading and Downloading large files in ASP.NET Core 3.1?

Question

I am working on an ASP.NET Core 3.1 API project using clean architecture and I have the following classlibs (tiers):

• Infrastructure (security stuff and upload helpers etc ...)
• Persistence (DA layer)
• Domain (Domain Models)
• Application (use cases - Business logics)
• API (API Project as my startup project)

I want to be able to upload large files to server (like 2Gb of file size or even more) and download them after that and want to do it without having future problems with memory overflowing and everything.

Any help would be appreciated.

Bendigo

File streams FTW. – Beckwith

Answer 1

If you have files that large, never use byte[] or MemoryStream in your code. Only operate on streams if you download/upload files.

You have a couple of options:

• If you control both client and server, consider using something like tus. There are both client- and server-implementations for .NET. This would probably the easiest and most robust option.
• If you upload large files with the HttpClient, simply use the StreamContent class to send them. Again, don't use a MemoryStream as source, but something else like a FileStream.
• If you download large files with the HttpClient, it is important to specify the HttpCompletionOptions, for example var response = await httpClient.SendAsync(httpRequest, HttpCompletionOption.ResponseHeadersRead). Otherwise, the HttpClient would buffer the entire response in memory. You can then process the response file as a stream via var stream = response.Content.ReadAsStreamAsync().

ASP.NET Core specific advice:

• If you want to receive files via HTTP POST, you need to increase the request size limit: [RequestSizeLimit(10L * 1024L * 1024L * 1024L)] and [RequestFormLimits(MultipartBodyLengthLimit = 10L * 1024L * 1024L * 1024L)]. In addition, you need to disable the form value binding, otherwise the whole request will be buffered into memory:

   [AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class | AttributeTargets.Method)]
   public class DisableFormValueModelBindingAttribute : Attribute, IResourceFilter
   {
       public void OnResourceExecuting(ResourceExecutingContext context)
       {
           var factories = context.ValueProviderFactories;
           factories.RemoveType<FormValueProviderFactory>();
           factories.RemoveType<FormFileValueProviderFactory>();
           factories.RemoveType<JQueryFormValueProviderFactory>();
       }

       public void OnResourceExecuted(ResourceExecutedContext context)
       {
       }
   }

• To return a file from a controller, simple return it via the File method, which accepts a stream: return File(stream, mimeType, fileName);

---

A sample controller would look like this (see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/mvc/models/file-uploads?view=aspnetcore-3.1 for the missing helper classes):

private const MaxFileSize = 10L * 1024L * 1024L * 1024L; // 10GB, adjust to your need

[DisableFormValueModelBinding]
[RequestSizeLimit(MaxFileSize)]
[RequestFormLimits(MultipartBodyLengthLimit = MaxFileSize)]
public async Task ReceiveFile()
{
    if (!MultipartRequestHelper.IsMultipartContentType(Request.ContentType))
        throw new BadRequestException("Not a multipart request");

    var boundary = MultipartRequestHelper.GetBoundary(MediaTypeHeaderValue.Parse(Request.ContentType));
    var reader = new MultipartReader(boundary, Request.Body);

    // note: this is for a single file, you could also process multiple files
    var section = await reader.ReadNextSectionAsync();

    if (section == null)
        throw new BadRequestException("No sections in multipart defined");

    if (!ContentDispositionHeaderValue.TryParse(section.ContentDisposition, out var contentDisposition))
        throw new BadRequestException("No content disposition in multipart defined");

    var fileName = contentDisposition.FileNameStar.ToString();
    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(fileName))
    {
        fileName = contentDisposition.FileName.ToString();
    }

    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(fileName))
        throw new BadRequestException("No filename defined.");

    using var fileStream = section.Body;
    await SendFileSomewhere(fileStream);
}

// This should probably not be inside the controller class
private async Task SendFileSomewhere(Stream stream)
{
    using var request = new HttpRequestMessage()
    {
        Method = HttpMethod.Post,
        RequestUri = new Uri("YOUR_DESTINATION_URI"),
        Content = new StreamContent(stream),
    };
    using var response = await _httpClient.SendAsync(request);
    // TODO check response status etc.
}

In this example, we stream the entire file to another service. In some cases, it would be better to save the file temporarily to the disk.

Phenyl

Thank you for the solution, I'm working on it now. I just wanted to know, by using HttpClient and StreamContent class, do we still need to send the large files in chunks or uploading the file using the solution you recommended will simply get the job done without any problems? – Bendigo

Would you mind editing the answer, writing an action method to receive a large file in a controller class from html form and upload it to server by using HttpClient and StreamContent class? I just want to make sure I do everything correctly and know how you would do that. Thank you in advance. – Bendigo

Manually chunking the file isn't necessary. However, be aware if you are sending huge files and there is a network error, you need to resend the whole file (which is what tus is trying to solve). If you chunk them, you only have to send the chunk that failed, but at that point, I would simply use tus and not reinvent the wheel. – Phenyl

@Bendigo added an example. – Phenyl

Thank you so much for your time and helping me. – Bendigo

Can this be used in a .Net Core client application? ideas?? kind of i'll have only the path of the file – Burget

@ACoder to upload a file? Use something like new StreamContent(File.OpenRead(pathToFile)) and use it as the request body. – Phenyl

tus library handles uploading files only. – Proposal

@ManuelAllenspach thank you very much for this answer, can you help with a download function for large files? I'm using return File(stream, mimeType, fileName) and the stream is memoryStream but I want the file to be streamed to the client side – Cephalad

@Proposal it does handles file download too github.com/tusdotnet/tusdotnet/blob/master/Source/TestSites/… – Incest

Answer 2

Sometimes the issue is that we used Nginx as a front proxy to our asp.net Core application deployed in docker on ubuntu/Linux environment. This is exactly what in my case as I tried to debug in docker or .net core side but the actual solution comes by configuring Nginx configuration as

client_max_body_size 50M;

this line can be added in location or server setting part of Nginx configuration for your site where you are facing issues.

Might be helpful for someone.

Blaineblainey

Answer 3

I would recommend reading Microsoft Docs Upload files in ASP.NET Core that @ManuelAllenspach also links to.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/mvc/models/file-uploads?view=aspnetcore-6.0

The section you should look at is Upload large files with streaming given your requirement: (like 2Gb of file size or even more)

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/mvc/models/file-uploads?view=aspnetcore-6.0#upload-large-files-with-streaming

public class GenerateAntiforgeryTokenCookieAttribute : ResultFilterAttribute
{
    public override void OnResultExecuting(ResultExecutingContext context)
    {
        var antiforgery = context.HttpContext.RequestServices.GetService<IAntiforgery>();

        // Send the request token as a JavaScript-readable cookie
        var tokens = antiforgery.GetAndStoreTokens(context.HttpContext);

        context.HttpContext.Response.Cookies.Append(
            "RequestVerificationToken",
            tokens.RequestToken,
            new CookieOptions() { HttpOnly = false });
    }

    public override void OnResultExecuted(ResultExecutedContext context)
    {
    }
}

[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class | AttributeTargets.Method)]
public class DisableFormValueModelBindingAttribute : Attribute, IResourceFilter
{
    public void OnResourceExecuting(ResourceExecutingContext context)
    {
        var factories = context.ValueProviderFactories;
        factories.RemoveType<FormValueProviderFactory>();
        factories.RemoveType<FormFileValueProviderFactory>();
        factories.RemoveType<JQueryFormValueProviderFactory>();
    }

    public void OnResourceExecuted(ResourceExecutedContext context)
    {
    }
}

services.AddRazorPages(options =>
{
    options.Conventions
        .AddPageApplicationModelConvention("/StreamedSingleFileUploadDb",
            model =>
            {
                model.Filters.Add(
                    new GenerateAntiforgeryTokenCookieAttribute());
                model.Filters.Add(
                    new DisableFormValueModelBindingAttribute());
            });
    options.Conventions
        .AddPageApplicationModelConvention("/StreamedSingleFileUploadPhysical",
            model =>
            {
                model.Filters.Add(
                    new GenerateAntiforgeryTokenCookieAttribute());
                model.Filters.Add(
                    new DisableFormValueModelBindingAttribute());
            });
});

[HttpPost]
[DisableFormValueModelBinding]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public async Task<IActionResult> UploadDatabase()
{
    if (!MultipartRequestHelper.IsMultipartContentType(Request.ContentType))
    {
        ModelState.AddModelError("File", 
            $"The request couldn't be processed (Error 1).");
        // Log error

        return BadRequest(ModelState);
    }

    // Accumulate the form data key-value pairs in the request (formAccumulator).
    var formAccumulator = new KeyValueAccumulator();
    var trustedFileNameForDisplay = string.Empty;
    var untrustedFileNameForStorage = string.Empty;
    var streamedFileContent = Array.Empty<byte>();

    var boundary = MultipartRequestHelper.GetBoundary(
        MediaTypeHeaderValue.Parse(Request.ContentType),
        _defaultFormOptions.MultipartBoundaryLengthLimit);
    var reader = new MultipartReader(boundary, HttpContext.Request.Body);

    var section = await reader.ReadNextSectionAsync();

    while (section != null)
    {
        var hasContentDispositionHeader = 
            ContentDispositionHeaderValue.TryParse(
                section.ContentDisposition, out var contentDisposition);

        if (hasContentDispositionHeader)
        {
            if (MultipartRequestHelper
                .HasFileContentDisposition(contentDisposition))
            {
                untrustedFileNameForStorage = contentDisposition.FileName.Value;
                // Don't trust the file name sent by the client. To display
                // the file name, HTML-encode the value.
                trustedFileNameForDisplay = WebUtility.HtmlEncode(
                        contentDisposition.FileName.Value);

                streamedFileContent = 
                    await FileHelpers.ProcessStreamedFile(section, contentDisposition, 
                        ModelState, _permittedExtensions, _fileSizeLimit);

                if (!ModelState.IsValid)
                {
                    return BadRequest(ModelState);
                }
            }
            else if (MultipartRequestHelper
                .HasFormDataContentDisposition(contentDisposition))
            {
                // Don't limit the key name length because the 
                // multipart headers length limit is already in effect.
                var key = HeaderUtilities
                    .RemoveQuotes(contentDisposition.Name).Value;
                var encoding = GetEncoding(section);

                if (encoding == null)
                {
                    ModelState.AddModelError("File", 
                        $"The request couldn't be processed (Error 2).");
                    // Log error

                    return BadRequest(ModelState);
                }

                using (var streamReader = new StreamReader(
                    section.Body,
                    encoding,
                    detectEncodingFromByteOrderMarks: true,
                    bufferSize: 1024,
                    leaveOpen: true))
                {
                    // The value length limit is enforced by 
                    // MultipartBodyLengthLimit
                    var value = await streamReader.ReadToEndAsync();

                    if (string.Equals(value, "undefined", 
                        StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                    {
                        value = string.Empty;
                    }

                    formAccumulator.Append(key, value);

                    if (formAccumulator.ValueCount > 
                        _defaultFormOptions.ValueCountLimit)
                    {
                        // Form key count limit of 
                        // _defaultFormOptions.ValueCountLimit 
                        // is exceeded.
                        ModelState.AddModelError("File", 
                            $"The request couldn't be processed (Error 3).");
                        // Log error

                        return BadRequest(ModelState);
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        // Drain any remaining section body that hasn't been consumed and
        // read the headers for the next section.
        section = await reader.ReadNextSectionAsync();
    }

    // Bind form data to the model
    var formData = new FormData();
    var formValueProvider = new FormValueProvider(
        BindingSource.Form,
        new FormCollection(formAccumulator.GetResults()),
        CultureInfo.CurrentCulture);
    var bindingSuccessful = await TryUpdateModelAsync(formData, prefix: "",
        valueProvider: formValueProvider);

    if (!bindingSuccessful)
    {
        ModelState.AddModelError("File", 
            "The request couldn't be processed (Error 5).");
        // Log error

        return BadRequest(ModelState);
    }

    // **WARNING!**
    // In the following example, the file is saved without
    // scanning the file's contents. In most production
    // scenarios, an anti-virus/anti-malware scanner API
    // is used on the file before making the file available
    // for download or for use by other systems. 
    // For more information, see the topic that accompanies 
    // this sample app.

    var file = new AppFile()
    {
        Content = streamedFileContent,
        UntrustedName = untrustedFileNameForStorage,
        Note = formData.Note,
        Size = streamedFileContent.Length, 
        UploadDT = DateTime.UtcNow
    };

    _context.File.Add(file);
    await _context.SaveChangesAsync();

    return Created(nameof(StreamingController), null);
}

using System;
using System.IO;
using Microsoft.Net.Http.Headers;

namespace SampleApp.Utilities
{
    public static class MultipartRequestHelper
    {
        // Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary="----WebKitFormBoundarymx2fSWqWSd0OxQqq"
        // The spec at https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2046#section-5.1 states that 70 characters is a reasonable limit.
        public static string GetBoundary(MediaTypeHeaderValue contentType, int lengthLimit)
        {
            var boundary = HeaderUtilities.RemoveQuotes(contentType.Boundary).Value;

            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(boundary))
            {
                throw new InvalidDataException("Missing content-type boundary.");
            }

            if (boundary.Length > lengthLimit)
            {
                throw new InvalidDataException(
                    $"Multipart boundary length limit {lengthLimit} exceeded.");
            }

            return boundary;
        }

        public static bool IsMultipartContentType(string contentType)
        {
            return !string.IsNullOrEmpty(contentType)
                   && contentType.IndexOf("multipart/", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) >= 0;
        }

        public static bool HasFormDataContentDisposition(ContentDispositionHeaderValue contentDisposition)
        {
            // Content-Disposition: form-data; name="key";
            return contentDisposition != null
                && contentDisposition.DispositionType.Equals("form-data")
                && string.IsNullOrEmpty(contentDisposition.FileName.Value)
                && string.IsNullOrEmpty(contentDisposition.FileNameStar.Value);
        }

        public static bool HasFileContentDisposition(ContentDispositionHeaderValue contentDisposition)
        {
            // Content-Disposition: form-data; name="myfile1"; filename="Misc 002.jpg"
            return contentDisposition != null
                && contentDisposition.DispositionType.Equals("form-data")
                && (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(contentDisposition.FileName.Value)
                    || !string.IsNullOrEmpty(contentDisposition.FileNameStar.Value));
        }
    }
}

[HttpPost]
[DisableFormValueModelBinding]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public async Task<IActionResult> UploadPhysical()
{
    if (!MultipartRequestHelper.IsMultipartContentType(Request.ContentType))
    {
        ModelState.AddModelError("File", 
            $"The request couldn't be processed (Error 1).");
        // Log error

        return BadRequest(ModelState);
    }

    var boundary = MultipartRequestHelper.GetBoundary(
        MediaTypeHeaderValue.Parse(Request.ContentType),
        _defaultFormOptions.MultipartBoundaryLengthLimit);
    var reader = new MultipartReader(boundary, HttpContext.Request.Body);
    var section = await reader.ReadNextSectionAsync();

    while (section != null)
    {
        var hasContentDispositionHeader = 
            ContentDispositionHeaderValue.TryParse(
                section.ContentDisposition, out var contentDisposition);

        if (hasContentDispositionHeader)
        {
            // This check assumes that there's a file
            // present without form data. If form data
            // is present, this method immediately fails
            // and returns the model error.
            if (!MultipartRequestHelper
                .HasFileContentDisposition(contentDisposition))
            {
                ModelState.AddModelError("File", 
                    $"The request couldn't be processed (Error 2).");
                // Log error

                return BadRequest(ModelState);
            }
            else
            {
                // Don't trust the file name sent by the client. To display
                // the file name, HTML-encode the value.
                var trustedFileNameForDisplay = WebUtility.HtmlEncode(
                        contentDisposition.FileName.Value);
                var trustedFileNameForFileStorage = Path.GetRandomFileName();

                // **WARNING!**
                // In the following example, the file is saved without
                // scanning the file's contents. In most production
                // scenarios, an anti-virus/anti-malware scanner API
                // is used on the file before making the file available
                // for download or for use by other systems. 
                // For more information, see the topic that accompanies 
                // this sample.

                var streamedFileContent = await FileHelpers.ProcessStreamedFile(
                    section, contentDisposition, ModelState, 
                    _permittedExtensions, _fileSizeLimit);

                if (!ModelState.IsValid)
                {
                    return BadRequest(ModelState);
                }

                using (var targetStream = System.IO.File.Create(
                    Path.Combine(_targetFilePath, trustedFileNameForFileStorage)))
                {
                    await targetStream.WriteAsync(streamedFileContent);

                    _logger.LogInformation(
                        "Uploaded file '{TrustedFileNameForDisplay}' saved to " +
                        "'{TargetFilePath}' as {TrustedFileNameForFileStorage}", 
                        trustedFileNameForDisplay, _targetFilePath, 
                        trustedFileNameForFileStorage);
                }
            }
        }

        // Drain any remaining section body that hasn't been consumed and
        // read the headers for the next section.
        section = await reader.ReadNextSectionAsync();
    }

    return Created(nameof(StreamingController), null);
}

Pacorro

Answer 4

I found this article useful - https://www.tugberkugurlu.com/archive/efficiently-streaming-large-http-responses-with-httpclient

Here is a version of the code given there for downloading a large file:

static public async Task HttpDownloadFileAsync(HttpClient httpClient, string url, string fileToWriteTo) {
  using HttpResponseMessage response = await httpClient.GetAsync(url, HttpCompletionOption.ResponseHeadersRead);
  using Stream streamToReadFrom = await response.Content.ReadAsStreamAsync(); 
  using Stream streamToWriteTo = File.Open(fileToWriteTo, FileMode.Create); 
  await streamToReadFrom.CopyToAsync(streamToWriteTo);
}

Bartolomeo

This is a way to download large file at Client. It's not a server solution. – Kalil

Answer 5

The problem is you have to deal with long files wherever you will consume them you need high resources in order to read. One possible solution is to divide the file on the basis of information into different chunks or process it in a separate job or thread or use parallelism in .net to process it. you can specify the size of the file also please read the following blog very useful for you.

Upload Large Files

Rie