Serving exe files

[Stretchwickster]

I'm using the following code to serve up exe files as downloads on a site:

$filename = 'Update123.exe';
$mimetype = 'application/octet-stream';
    
if (strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'MSIE 5') or strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'Opera 7')) {
  $mimetype = 'application/x-download';
}
header('content-disposition: attachment; filename=' . $filename);
header('content-type: ' . $mimetype);
header('content-length: ' . filesize($downloads_path . $filename));
readfile($downloads_path . $filename);

The exe downloads ok (i.e. the file that is downloaded matches the filesize of the file on the server). The exe is actually a WinZip Self-Extractor executable file. When I run it, it shows a black console screen for about 0.5 second then does nothing.

If I type the URL of the file in the browser and download the file directly, the file is represented by a WinZip icon once downloaded and, when clicked, displays a WinZip Self-Extractor dialog as expected.

Does anyone know what is causing this discrepancy? I presume I'm doing something incorrectly when sending the headers?!

Your advice would be much appreciated!

Clive

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer." (Paul Ehrlich)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To get the best answers from this forum see: faq102-5096

 

[jpadie]

try

header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="' . $filename.'"');
header('Content-Type: ' . $mimetype);
header('Content-Length: ' . (string) filesize($downloads_path . $filename));
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
readfile($downloads_path . $filename);

 

[Stretchwickster]

By opening up the downloaded exe in WordPad, I noticed that the first line contained an error message relating to the filesize function! Basically, I was passing an absolute path to the filesize function when it only accepts relative paths - problem solved.

Clive

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer." (Paul Ehrlich)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To get the best answers from this forum see: faq102-5096

 

[BabyJeffy]

Just because I'm interested... did you change to use jpadie's suggestion, or merely change the path for the filesize function? I'm also keen to know what browser/OS combinations you have verified against - if you have that info at hand!

I don't serve .exe files at all... but when I have the need to know, it's always nice to have a reference

Cheers,
Jeff


[tt]Jeff's Page [!]@[/!] Code Couch

http://www.codecouch.com/jeff/blog/

http://www.coedit.co.uk/

[/tt]

Make sure your web page and css validates properly against the doctype you have chosen - before you attempt to debug a problem!

FAQ216-6094

 

[Stretchwickster]

Jeff,

Here's the code I went with in the end, incorporating jpadie's suggestions:

ob_start();
$fileExt = end(explode(".", $filename));
switch($fileExt) {
  case "pdf": $mimetype = "application/pdf"; break;
  case "exe": $mimetype = "application/octet-stream"; break;
  case "zip": $mimetype = "application/zip"; break;
  case "doc": $mimetype = "application/msword"; break;
  case "xls": $mimetype = "application/vnd.ms-excel"; break;
  case "ppt": $mimetype = "application/vnd.ms-powerpoint"; break;
  default:    $mimetype = "application/force-download";
}
if (strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'MSIE 5') or strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'Opera 7')) {
  $mimetype = 'application/x-download';
}

...
// database interactions
...

$downloads_path = 'pages/' . $row['DownloadsPath'];
if (!file_exists($downloads_path . $filename)) {
  die('404 File Not Found');
}
$fileLength = (string) filesize($downloads_path . $filename);
ob_end_clean();

// send file to browser
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="' . $filename . '"');
header('Content-Type: ' . $mimetype);
header('Content-Length: ' . $fileLength);
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
readfile($downloads_path . $filename);

At present I've successfully tested it with the following OS/browser combinations:
- Windows XP SP2 / IE7
- Windows XP SP2 / IE6
- Windows XP SP2 / FF 2.0.0.4

Clive

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer." (Paul Ehrlich)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To get the best answers from this forum see: faq102-5096

 

[BabyJeffy]

Cheers Clive. I'll implement it over the weekend and add a few more combinations tot he browser matrix

Cheers,
Jeff


[tt]Jeff's Page [!]@[/!] Code Couch

http://www.codecouch.com/jeff/blog/

http://www.coedit.co.uk/

[/tt]

Make sure your web page and css validates properly against the doctype you have chosen - before you attempt to debug a problem!

FAQ216-6094

 

[Stretchwickster]

Jeff, let me know how you go.

Clive

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer." (Paul Ehrlich)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To get the best answers from this forum see: faq102-5096

 

[Olavxxx]

It's looking good!

Only needs some function wrappers, header-location (if file is 404), etc. Then you can include it in several pages and simply call the doDownload($filename);

Olav Alexander Mjelde

http://www.volvo-power.net

Admin & Webmaster

 

[BabyJeffy]

OK, well I made some very simple changes to the code - left all the headers being delivered as per the code last posted here.

Using MacOSX 10.4, I was able to successfully download and then launch the .exe (by then transferring them to Windows XP):

- Safari 2+, 3+
- Firefox 1+, 2+
- Opera 6.03
- Opera 8+, 9+
- Mozilla 1.7+
- Netscape 7.1
- Camino 1+
- Internet Explorer 5.2.3 (final release for MacOSX)

Note: A "Bad Request" error is presented in 7.54u1 (the last build of Opera 7). I commented out the extra header change that happens on "Opera 7" in the user agent, but got the same thing.

I think you can safely say that the code posted runs in all current web browsers on MacOSX

I got interested in the same kind of support for Windows XP (Professional) SP 2 and wanted to extend Clive's tests further. I have confirmed the code works in the following:

- Safari 3
- Opera 7+, 8+, 9+
- Netscape 7.1
- IE 5.01

I couldn't get IE 5.5 to launch properly - this is most likely a problem with my local installation.

Note: Opera 7+ appears to be fine in Windows.

Thanks for sharing the code!

Cheers,
Jeff


[tt]Jeff's Page [!]@[/!] Code Couch

http://www.codecouch.com/jeff/blog/

http://www.coedit.co.uk/

[/tt]

Make sure your web page and css validates properly against the doctype you have chosen - before you attempt to debug a problem!

FAQ216-6094

 

[Stretchwickster]

...and thanks for testing it!

Clive

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer." (Paul Ehrlich)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To get the best answers from this forum see: faq102-5096