Downloading entire directories from ftp server with python3 [duplicate] - python-3.x

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()

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)

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)

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

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()

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))

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.