C# Upload whole directory using FTP

Question

What I'm trying to do is to upload a website using FTP in C# (C Sharp). So I need to upload all files and folders within a folder, keeping its structure. I'm using this FTP class: http://www.codeproject.com/Tips/443588/Simple-Csharp-FTP-Class for the actual uploading.

I have come to the conclusion that I need to write a recursive method that goes through every sub-directory of the main directory and upload all files and folders in it. This should make an exact copy of my folder to the FTP. Problem is... I have no clue how to write a method like that. I have written recursive methods before but I'm new to the FTP part.

This is what I have so far:

private void recursiveDirectory(string directoryPath)
    {
        string[] filePaths = null;
        string[] subDirectories = null;

        filePaths = Directory.GetFiles(directoryPath, "*.*");
        subDirectories = Directory.GetDirectories(directoryPath);

        if (filePaths != null && subDirectories != null)
        {
            foreach (string directory in subDirectories)
            {
                ftpClient.createDirectory(directory);
            }
            foreach (string file in filePaths)
            {
                ftpClient.upload(Path.GetDirectoryName(directoryPath), file);
            }
        }
    }

But its far from done and I don't know how to continue. I'm sure more than me needs to know this! Thanks in advance :)

Ohh and... It would be nice if it reported its progress too :) (I'm using a progress bar)

EDIT: It might have been unclear... How do I upload a directory including all sub-directories and files with FTP?

Answer 1

I wrote a reusable class to upload entire directory to an ftp site on windows server,
the program also renames the old version of that folder (i use it to upload my windows service program to the server). maybe some need this:

class MyFtpClient
{
    protected string FtpUser { get; set; }
    protected string FtpPass { get; set; }
    protected string FtpServerUrl { get; set; }
    protected string DirPathToUpload { get; set; }
    protected string BaseDirectory { get; set; }

    public MyFtpClient(string ftpuser, string ftppass, string ftpserverurl, string dirpathtoupload)
    {
        this.FtpPass = ftppass;
        this.FtpUser = ftpuser;
        this.FtpServerUrl = ftpserverurl;
        this.DirPathToUpload = dirpathtoupload;
        var spllitedpath = dirpathtoupload.Split('\\').ToArray();
        // last index must be the "base" directory on the server
        this.BaseDirectory = spllitedpath[spllitedpath.Length - 1];
    }


    public void UploadDirectory()
    {
        // rename the old folder version (if exist)
        RenameDir(BaseDirectory);
        // create a parent folder on server
        CreateDir(BaseDirectory);
        // upload the files in the most external directory of the path
        UploadAllFolderFiles(DirPathToUpload, BaseDirectory);
        // loop trough all files in subdirectories



        foreach (string dirPath in Directory.GetDirectories(DirPathToUpload, "*",
        SearchOption.AllDirectories))
        {
            // create the folder
            CreateDir(dirPath.Substring(dirPath.IndexOf(BaseDirectory), dirPath.Length - dirPath.IndexOf(BaseDirectory)));

            Console.WriteLine(dirPath.Substring(dirPath.IndexOf(BaseDirectory), dirPath.Length - dirPath.IndexOf(BaseDirectory)));
            UploadAllFolderFiles(dirPath, dirPath.Substring(dirPath.IndexOf(BaseDirectory), dirPath.Length - dirPath.IndexOf(BaseDirectory))
        }
    }

    private void UploadAllFolderFiles(string localpath, string remotepath)
    {
        string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(localpath);
        // get only the filenames and concat to remote path
        foreach (string file in files)
        {
            // full remote path
            var fullremotepath = remotepath + "\\" + Path.GetFileName(file);
            // local path
            var fulllocalpath = Path.GetFullPath(file);
            // upload to server
            Upload(fulllocalpath, fullremotepath);
        }

    }

    public bool CreateDir(string dirname)
    {
        try
        {
            WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create("ftp://" + FtpServerUrl + "/" + dirname);
            request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.MakeDirectory;
            request.Proxy = new WebProxy();
            request.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(FtpUser, FtpPass);
            using (var resp = (FtpWebResponse)request.GetResponse())
            {
                if (resp.StatusCode == FtpStatusCode.PathnameCreated)
                {
                    return true;
                }
                else
                {
                    return false;
                }
            }
        }

        catch
        {
            return false;
        }
    }

    public void Upload(string filepath, string targetpath)
    {

        using (WebClient client = new WebClient())
        {
            client.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(FtpUser, FtpPass);
            client.Proxy = null;
            var fixedpath = targetpath.Replace(@"\", "/");
            client.UploadFile("ftp://" + FtpServerUrl + "/" + fixedpath, WebRequestMethods.Ftp.UploadFile, filepath);
        }
    }

    public bool RenameDir(string dirname)
    {
        var path = "ftp://" + FtpServerUrl + "/" + dirname;
        string serverUri = path;

        try
        {
            FtpWebRequest request = (FtpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(serverUri);
            request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.Rename;
            request.Proxy = null;
            request.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(FtpUser, FtpPass);
            // change the name of the old folder the old folder
            request.RenameTo = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss"); 
            FtpWebResponse response = (FtpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();

            using (var resp = (FtpWebResponse)request.GetResponse())
            {
                if (resp.StatusCode == FtpStatusCode.FileActionOK)
                {
                    return true;
                }
                else
                {
                    return false;
                }
            }
        }
        catch
        {
            return false;
        }
    }
}

Create an instance of that class:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    MyFtpClientftp = new MyFtpClient(ftpuser, ftppass, ftpServerUrl, @"C:\Users\xxxxxxxxxxx");
    ftp.UploadDirectory();
    Console.WriteLine("DONE");
    Console.ReadLine();
}

Answer 2

Problem Solved! :)

Alright so I managed to write the method myslef. If anyone need it feel free to copy:

private void recursiveDirectory(string dirPath, string uploadPath)
    {
        string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(dirPath, "*.*");
        string[] subDirs = Directory.GetDirectories(dirPath);

        foreach (string file in files)
        {
            ftpClient.upload(uploadPath + "/" + Path.GetFileName(file), file);
        }

        foreach (string subDir in subDirs)
        {
            ftpClient.createDirectory(uploadPath + "/" + Path.GetFileName(subDir));
            recursiveDirectory(subDir, uploadPath + "/" + Path.GetFileName(subDir));
        }
    }

It works very well :)

Answer 3

I wrote an FTP classe and also wrapped it in a WinForms user control. You can see my code in the article An FtpClient Class and WinForm Control.

Answer 4

Unless you're doing this for fun or self-improvement, use a commercial module. I can recommend one from Chilkat, but I'm sure there are others.

Note: I'm pretty sure this does answer the stated problem, What I'm trying to do is to upload a website using FTP in C# (C Sharp).