Downloading a directory tree with ftplib

Question

This will not download the contents of sub-directories; how can I do so?

import ftplib
import configparser
import os

directories = []

def add_directory(line):
 if line.startswith('d'):
  bits = line.split()
  dirname = bits[8]
  directories.append(dirname)

def makeDir(archiveTo):
 for dir in directories:
  newDir = os.path.join(archiveTo, dir)
  if os.path.isdir(newDir) == True:
   print("Directory \"" + dir + "\" already exists!")
  else:
   os.mkdir(newDir)

def getFiles(archiveTo, ftp):
 files = ftp.nlst()
 for filename in files:
  try:
   directories.index(filename)
  except:
   ftp.retrbinary('RETR %s' % filename, open(os.path.join(archiveTo, filename), 'wb').write)

def runBackups():

 #Load INI
 filename = 'connections.ini'
 config = configparser.SafeConfigParser()
 config.read(filename)

 connections = config.sections()
 i = 0

 while i < len(connections):
  #Load Settings
  uri = config.get(connections[i], "uri")
  username = config.get(connections[i], "username")
  password = config.get(connections[i], "password")
  backupPath = config.get(connections[i], "backuppath")
  archiveTo = config.get(connections[i], "archiveto")

  #Start Back-ups
  ftp = ftplib.FTP(uri)
  ftp.login(username, password)
  ftp.cwd(backupPath)

  #Map Directory Tree
  ftp.retrlines('LIST', add_directory)

  #Make Directories Locally
  makeDir(archiveTo)

  #Gather Files
  getFiles(archiveTo, ftp)

  #End connection and increase counter.
  ftp.quit()
  i += 1

 print()
 print("Back-ups complete.")
 print()

Apperception

Answer 1

this should do the trick :)

import sys
import ftplib
import os
from ftplib import FTP
ftp=FTP("ftp address")
ftp.login("user","password")

def downloadFiles(path,destination):
#path & destination are str of the form "/dir/folder/something/"
#path should be the abs path to the root FOLDER of the file tree to download
    try:
        ftp.cwd(path)
        #clone path to destination
        os.chdir(destination)
        os.mkdir(destination[0:len(destination)-1]+path)
        print destination[0:len(destination)-1]+path+" built"
    except OSError:
        #folder already exists at destination
        pass
    except ftplib.error_perm:
        #invalid entry (ensure input form: "/dir/folder/something/")
        print "error: could not change to "+path
        sys.exit("ending session")

    #list children:
    filelist=ftp.nlst()
    
    for file in filelist:
        try:
            #this will check if file is folder:
            ftp.cwd(path+file+"/")
            #if so, explore it:
            downloadFiles(path+file+"/",destination)
        except ftplib.error_perm:
            #not a folder with accessible content
            #download & return
            os.chdir(destination[0:len(destination)-1]+path)
            #possibly need a permission exception catch:
            with open(os.path.join(destination,file),"wb") as f:
                ftp.retrbinary("RETR "+file, f.write)
            print file + " downloaded"
    return

source="/ftproot/folder_i_want/"
dest="/systemroot/where_i_want_it/"
downloadFiles(source,dest)

Ailin

also, you may not want to exit in the first ftplib.error_perm except in case your User account has permission issues. pass could work. – Ailin

Answer 2

This is a very old question, but I had a similar need that i wanted to satisfy in a very general manner. I ended up writing my own solution that works very well for me. I've placed it on Gist here https://gist.github.com/Jwely/ad8eb800bacef9e34dd775f9b3aad987

and pasted it below in case i ever take the gist offline.

Example usage:

import ftplib
ftp = ftplib.FTP(mysite, username, password)
download_ftp_tree(ftp, remote_dir, local_dir)

The code above will look for a directory called "remote_dir" on the ftp host, and then duplicate the directory and its entire contents into the "local_dir". It invokes the script below.

import ftplib
import os

def _is_ftp_dir(ftp_handle, name, guess_by_extension=True):
    """ simply determines if an item listed on the ftp server is a valid directory or not """

    # if the name has a "." in the fourth to last position, its probably a file extension
    # this is MUCH faster than trying to set every file to a working directory, and will work 99% of time.
    if guess_by_extension is True:
        if name[-4] == '.':
            return False

    original_cwd = ftp_handle.pwd()     # remember the current working directory
    try:
        ftp_handle.cwd(name)            # try to set directory to new name
        ftp_handle.cwd(original_cwd)    # set it back to what it was
        return True
    except:
        return False


def _make_parent_dir(fpath):
    """ ensures the parent directory of a filepath exists """
    dirname = os.path.dirname(fpath)
    while not os.path.exists(dirname):
        try:
            os.mkdir(dirname)
            print("created {0}".format(dirname))
        except:
            _make_parent_dir(dirname)


def _download_ftp_file(ftp_handle, name, dest, overwrite):
    """ downloads a single file from an ftp server """
    _make_parent_dir(dest)
    if not os.path.exists(dest) or overwrite is True:
        with open(dest, 'wb') as f:
            ftp_handle.retrbinary("RETR {0}".format(name), f.write)
        print("downloaded: {0}".format(dest))
    else:
        print("already exists: {0}".format(dest))


def _mirror_ftp_dir(ftp_handle, name, overwrite, guess_by_extension):
    """ replicates a directory on an ftp server recursively """
    for item in ftp_handle.nlst(name):
        if _is_ftp_dir(ftp_handle, item):
            _mirror_ftp_dir(ftp_handle, item, overwrite, guess_by_extension)
        else:
            _download_ftp_file(ftp_handle, item, item, overwrite)


def download_ftp_tree(ftp_handle, path, destination, overwrite=False, guess_by_extension=True):
    """
    Downloads an entire directory tree from an ftp server to the local destination

    :param ftp_handle: an authenticated ftplib.FTP instance
    :param path: the folder on the ftp server to download
    :param destination: the local directory to store the copied folder
    :param overwrite: set to True to force re-download of all files, even if they appear to exist already
    :param guess_by_extension: It takes a while to explicitly check if every item is a directory or a file.
        if this flag is set to True, it will assume any file ending with a three character extension ".???" is
        a file and not a directory. Set to False if some folders may have a "." in their names -4th position.
    """
    os.chdir(destination)
    _mirror_ftp_dir(ftp_handle, path, overwrite, guess_by_extension)

Likelihood

Awesome. Works like a charm. Should be a library for this! – Chromogen

Dude! vYour code is a FUCKING BEAUTY! Well described, works like charm, first run! I owe you few hours of my life! – Blim

Answer 3

this is an alternative. you can try using ftputil package. You can then use it to walk the remote directories and get your files

Carcinoma

Is it really that complicated to the point where I should be considering packages? I'm thinking it'll just take 10 lines of really complicated code. – Apperception

Answer 4

Using ftp.mlsd() instead of ftp.nlst():

import sys
import ftplib
import os
from ftplib import FTP


def fetchFiles(ftp, path, destination, overwrite=True):
    '''Fetch a whole folder from ftp. \n
    Parameters
    ----------
    ftp         : ftplib.FTP object
    path        : string ('/dir/folder/')
    destination : string ('D:/dir/folder/') folder where the files will be saved
    overwrite   : bool - Overwrite file if already exists.
    '''
    try:
        ftp.cwd(path)
        os.mkdir(destination[:-1] + path)
        print('New folder made: ' + destination[:-1] + path)
    except OSError:
        # folder already exists at the destination
        pass
    except ftplib.error_perm:
        # invalid entry (ensure input form: "/dir/folder/")
        print("error: could not change to " + path)
        sys.exit("ending session")

    # list children:
    filelist = [i for i in ftp.mlsd()]
    print('Current folder: ' + filelist.pop(0)[0])

    for file in filelist:
        if file[1]['type'] == 'file':
            fullpath = os.path.join(destination[:-1] + path, file[0])
            if (not overwrite and os.path.isfile(fullpath)):
                continue
            else:
                with open(fullpath, 'wb') as f:
                    ftp.retrbinary('RETR ' + file[0], f.write)
                print(file[0] + '  downloaded')
        elif file[1]['type'] == 'dir':
            fetchFiles(ftp, path + file[0] + '/', destination, overwrite)
        else:
            print('Unknown type: ' + file[1]['type'])


if __name__ == "__main__":

    ftp = FTP('ftp address')
    ftp.login('user', 'password')
    source = r'/Folder/'
    dest = r'D:/Data/'
    fetchFiles(ftp, source, dest, overwrite=True)
    ftp.quit()

Lacking

ftp.cwd(path) should be added after if file[1]['type'] == 'file': line so last subfolder set as current working directory would be updated to the parent directory as looping subfolders is completed and started looping files – Prospective

Answer 5

Using ftputil, a fast solution could be:

def download(folder):
    for item in ftp.walk(folder):
        print("Creating dir " + item[0])
        os.mkdir(item[0])
        for subdir in item[1]:
            print("Subdirs " +  subdir)
        for file in item[2]:
            print(r"Copying File {0} \ {1}".format(item[0], file))
            ftp.download(ftp.path.join(item[0],file), os.path.join(item[0],file))

Adduction

Answer 6

It is non-trivial at least. In the simplest case, you only assume you have files and directories. This isn't always the case, there are softlinks and hardlinks and Windows-style shortcut. Softlink and directory shortcut are particularly problematic since they make recursive directory possible, which would confuse naive-ly implemented ftp grabber.

How would you handle such recursive directory depends on your need; you might simply not follow softlinks or you might try to detect recursive links. Detecting recursive link is inherently tricky, you cannot do it reliably.

Decease