How do I create a directory on ftp server using C#

Question

What's an easy way to create a directory on an FTP server using C#?

I figured out how to upload a file to an already existing folder like this:

using (WebClient webClient = new WebClient())
{
    string filePath = "d:/users/abrien/file.txt";
    webClient.UploadFile("ftp://10.128.101.78/users/file.txt", filePath);
}

However, if I want to upload to users/abrien, I get a WebException saying the file is unavailable. I assume this is because I need to create the new folder before uploading my file, but WebClient doesn't seem to have any methods to accomplish that.

Answer 1

Here is the answer if you want to create nested directories

There is no clean way to check if a folder exist on the ftp so you have to loop and create all the nested structure one folder at the time

public static void MakeFTPDir(string ftpAddress, string pathToCreate, string login, string password, byte[] fileContents, string ftpProxy = null)
    {
        FtpWebRequest reqFTP = null;
        Stream ftpStream = null;

        string[] subDirs = pathToCreate.Split('/');

        string currentDir = string.Format("ftp://{0}", ftpAddress);

        foreach (string subDir in subDirs)
        {
            try
            {
                currentDir = currentDir + "/" + subDir;
                reqFTP = (FtpWebRequest)FtpWebRequest.Create(currentDir);
                reqFTP.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.MakeDirectory;
                reqFTP.UseBinary = true;
                reqFTP.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(login, password);
                FtpWebResponse response = (FtpWebResponse)reqFTP.GetResponse();
                ftpStream = response.GetResponseStream();
                ftpStream.Close();
                response.Close();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                //directory already exist I know that is weak but there is no way to check if a folder exist on ftp...
            }
        }
    }

Answer 2

Creating an FTP directory might be complicated since you have to check if the destination folder exists or not. You may need to use an FTP library to check and create a directory. You can take a look at this one: http://www.componentpro.com/ftp.net/ and this example: http://www.componentpro.com/doc/ftp/Creating-a-new-directory-Synchronously.htm

Answer 3

Something like this:

// remoteUri points out an ftp address ("ftp://server/thefoldertocreate")
WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(remoteUri);
request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.MakeDirectory;
WebResponse response = request.GetResponse();

(a bit late. how odd.)

Answer 4

Use FtpWebRequest, with a method of WebRequestMethods.Ftp.MakeDirectory.

For example:

using System;
using System.Net;

class Test
{
    static void Main()
    {
        WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create("ftp://host.com/directory");
        request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.MakeDirectory;
        request.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("user", "pass");
        using (var resp = (FtpWebResponse) request.GetResponse())
        {
            Console.WriteLine(resp.StatusCode);
        }
    }
}