Downloading Files and Folders

Use the CLI App to download files and folders from your Files.com site. Downloads work from any folder, including those located within Remote Server Mounts.

To download a file, use the command:

files-cli download /remote/path/to/file.txt /local/path/to/file.txt

or

files-cli download /remote/path/to/file.txt /local/path/to/folder/

To download a folder, use the command:

files-cli download /remote/path/to/folder/ /local/path/to/folder/

Local Destination Behavior

By default, a download replaces a local file that already exists at the destination path. Use the --no-overwrite flag to keep existing local files and skip downloading the corresponding remote files.

The CLI App writes to local paths as the operating system resolves them. If the destination folder contains a directory junction or symbolic link, the CLI App follows that link, so files for the linked folder are written to the link's target. That target can be on another drive or outside the destination folder passed to the command. Files.com does not create or store directory junctions or symbolic links; any link in the destination was created on the local system.

Limiting File Chunking

The download operation breaks each file into multiple pieces, or chunks, and transfers those chunks in parallel to speed up the transfer.

Chunking speeds up transfers, but some remote systems don't support it, which can cause failed or partial transfers.

If you have problems downloading files from a Files.com folder stored on a Remote Server Mount, disable chunking with the --download-files-as-single-stream flag.

files-cli download /remote/path/to/folder/ /local/path/to/folder/ --download-files-as-single-stream

The --download-files-as-single-stream flag makes the download slower but more resilient when downloading from a Remote Server Mount folder.

Viewing Connection Information

To see connection information — the number of open data connections, the number of open API connections, and the network throughput — use the --connection-metrics flag.

files-cli download /remote/path/to/folder/ /local/path/to/folder/ --connection-metrics