how to access file from outside root directory in php - php

Question

I have a code to download zip files:
$dl_path = './';
$filename = 'favi.zip';
$file = $dl_path.$filename;
if (file_exists($file)) {
header('Content-Description: File Transfer');
header('Content-Type: application/zips');
header("Pragma: public");
header("Expires: 0");
header("Cache-Control:must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0");
header("Content-Type:application/force-download");
header("Content-Type:application/download");
header("Content-Disposition:attachment;filename=$filename ");
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding:binary ");
header('Content-Length: ' . filesize($file));
ob_clean();
flush();
readfile($file);
exit;
}
there is root directory /public_html, the script is executing in root directory.
there is zip file in / directory.
i am trying to use the $dl_path as / but it is not working.
Please help.

Answer 1

$dl_path = __DIR__.'/..'; // parent folder of this script
$filename = 'favi.zip';
$file = $dl_path . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $filename;
// Does the file exist?
if(!is_file($file)){
header("{$_SERVER['SERVER_PROTOCOL']} 404 Not Found");
header("Status: 404 Not Found");
echo 'File not found!';
die;
}
// Is it readable?
if(!is_readable($file)){
header("{$_SERVER['SERVER_PROTOCOL']} 403 Forbidden");
header("Status: 403 Forbidden");
echo 'File not accessible!';
die;
}
// We are good to go!
header('Content-Description: File Transfer');
header('Content-Type: application/zip');
header("Pragma: public");
header("Expires: 0");
header("Cache-Control:must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0");
header("Content-Type: application/force-download");
header("Content-Type: application/download");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment;filename={$filename}");
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary ");
header('Content-Length: ' . filesize($file));
while(ob_get_level()) ob_end_clean();
flush();
readfile($file);
die;
^ try this code. See if it works. If it doesn't:
If it 404's means the file is not found.
If it 403's it means you can't access it (permissions issue).

Answer 2

First of all check if your script is running under the correct directory by echoing dirname(__FILE__).
If it is running under public_html then you can change the code like this:
$dl = dirname(__FILE__). '/../';
But beware of security issue!
Check if you have read/write permission on the file and directory
Check the open_basedir restriction in php.ini (see How can I relax PHP's open_basedir restriction?)
Hope this helps