Download large file from the web via php

tool.php

<?php
  /**
   * Download a large distant file to a local destination.
   *
   * This method is very memory efficient :-)
   * The file can be huge, PHP doesn't load it in memory.
   *
   * /!\ Warning, the return value is always true, you must use === to test the response type too.
   *
   * @author dalexandre
   * @param string $url
   *    The file to download
   * @param ressource $dest
   *    The local file path or ressource (file handler)
   * @return boolean true or the error message
   */
  public static function downloadDistantFile($url, $dest)
  {
    $options = array(
      CURLOPT_FILE => is_resource($dest) ? $dest : fopen($dest, 'w'),
      CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
      CURLOPT_URL => $url,
      CURLOPT_FAILONERROR => true, // HTTP code > 400 will throw curl error
    );

    $ch = curl_init();
    curl_setopt_array($ch, $options);
    $return = curl_exec($ch);

    if ($return === false)
    {
      return curl_error($ch);
    }
    else
    {
      return true;
    }
  }

Did you forget fclose($dest)?

Dont work for large files, i got "Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded"

Thank you very much! This helped a lot!

Dont work for large files, i got "Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded"

That's most likely an issue with your php.ini. Loook for the setting called "max_execution_time" - defaults to 30, IIRC. You can set it to 0 (zero) to disable this safety feature altogether (would not recommend on live servers).

I get error 502 is there a way to overcome it?

I get error 502 is there a way to overcome it?

That is coming from the remote server. You need to ask them why they are sending a 502.

Great snippet, saved me a bunch of time transferring files between servers, good job! Transferred 1.2Gb file in around 30 seconds

Nicely done. Thanks mate!

    public static function uploadFromRemoteServer(string $remoteFileURL, mixed $destinationFilepath): string|bool
    {
        $options = [
            CURLOPT_URL             => $remoteFileURL,
            CURLOPT_FILE            => is_resource($destinationFilepath) ? $destinationFilepath : fopen($destinationFilepath, 'wb'),
            CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION  => true,
            CURLOPT_FAILONERROR     => true,
        ];

        $curl           = curl_init();
        curl_setopt_array($curl, $options);
        $returnResult   = curl_exec($curl);

        return (false === $returnResult) ? curl_error($curl) : true;
    }