Recursive Copy of Directory

Question

On my old VPS I was using the following code to copy the files and directories within a directory to a new directory that was created after the user submitted their form.

function copyr($source, $dest)
{
   // Simple copy for a file
   if (is_file($source)) {
      return copy($source, $dest);
   }

   // Make destination directory
   if (!is_dir($dest)) {
      mkdir($dest);
      $company = ($_POST['company']);
   }

   // Loop through the folder
   $dir = dir($source);
   while (false !== $entry = $dir->read()) {
      // Skip pointers
      if ($entry == '.' || $entry == '..') {
         continue;
      }

      // Deep copy directories
      if ($dest !== "$source/$entry") {
         copyr("$source/$entry", "$dest/$entry");
      }
   }

   // Clean up
   $dir->close();
   return true;
}

copyr('Template/MemberPages', "Members/$company")

However now on my new VPS it will only create the main directory, but will not copy any of the files to it. I don't understand what could have changed between the 2 VPS's?

Your code would be more readable if you indented every block. — Doug T., Apr 18 '11 at 19:30
May be the PHP version, try this [recursive copy](http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.copy.php#91256) function from php manual. — SIFE, Apr 18 '11 at 19:31
SIFE - Tried that one and it didn't work either. So not sure what I am doing wrong. But I just copy the code, input my source and destination paths, and make sure chmod is all set, but it still doesn't work — Jason, Apr 18 '11 at 19:34
@Jasom may be you don't have enough permission in destination directory to copy to it. — SIFE, Apr 18 '11 at 23:19
wtf are you doing with the $_POST global here? this kills the generic approach completely and makes the func unusable for me - but anyway there are good examples in the answers :) — jebbie, May 20 '15 at 14:59

score 85 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 29 '21 at 04:11

85

Try something like this:

$source = "dir/dir/dir";
$dest= "dest/dir";

mkdir($dest, 0755);
foreach (
 $iterator = new \RecursiveIteratorIterator(
  new \RecursiveDirectoryIterator($source, \RecursiveDirectoryIterator::SKIP_DOTS),
  \RecursiveIteratorIterator::SELF_FIRST) as $item
) {
  if ($item->isDir()) {
    mkdir($dest . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $iterator->getSubPathname());
  } else {
    copy($item, $dest . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $iterator->getSubPathname());
  }
}

Iterator iterate through all folders and subfolders and make copy of files from $source to $dest

edited Jul 29 '21 at 04:11

zanderwar

3,440
3
28
46

answered Oct 15 '11 at 05:22

OzzyCzech

9,713
3
50
34

If you're using Zend Guard, be sure when using $iterator->getSubPathName() to call it as an anonymous function. What worked for me was: call_user_func_array (array ($iterator, "getSubPathName"), array ()); – Someone13 Feb 07 '14 at 09:26
Thanks OzzyCzech Very Helpfull Script for.. but i also want to backing up my database kindly please tell about that process or write script or give me any link for that – Syed Arif Iqbal Oct 09 '14 at 20:39
2

might want to consider a 3rd parameter of true on the mkdir to recursively make the destination directory i.e. mkdir($dest, 0755, true); foreach (... – Andrew Feb 27 '17 at 12:46
1

Does `RecursiveIteratorIterator` implements a `__call()` method that forwards `getSubPathName()` to the instance of the `RecursiveDirectoryIterator` or how does that work? – David Nov 17 '17 at 08:33

score 16 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 18 '11 at 19:27

16

Could I suggest that (assuming it's a *nix VPS) that you just do a system call to cp -r and let that do the copy for you.

answered Apr 18 '11 at 19:27

James C

14,047
1
34
43

score 9 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 07 '14 at 10:40

I have changed Joseph's code (below), because it wasn't working for me. This is what works:

function cpy($source, $dest){
    if(is_dir($source)) {
        $dir_handle=opendir($source);
        while($file=readdir($dir_handle)){
            if($file!="." && $file!=".."){
                if(is_dir($source."/".$file)){
                    if(!is_dir($dest."/".$file)){
                        mkdir($dest."/".$file);
                    }
                    cpy($source."/".$file, $dest."/".$file);
                } else {
                    copy($source."/".$file, $dest."/".$file);
                }
            }
        }
        closedir($dir_handle);
    } else {
        copy($source, $dest);
    }
}

[EDIT] added test before creating a directory (line 7)

score 9 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 25 '13 at 08:21

This function copies folder recursivley very solid. I've copied it from the comments section on copy command of php.net

function recurse_copy($src,$dst) { 
    $dir = opendir($src); 
    @mkdir($dst); 
    while(false !== ( $file = readdir($dir)) ) { 
        if (( $file != '.' ) && ( $file != '..' )) { 
            if ( is_dir($src . '/' . $file) ) { 
                recurse_copy($src . '/' . $file,$dst . '/' . $file); 
            } 
            else { 
                copy($src . '/' . $file,$dst . '/' . $file); 
            } 
        } 
    } 
    closedir($dir); 
}

For people of the future, I would recommend to put the body of this method in `if(is_dir($src)){ ..code.. }else{ copy($src, $dst); }`. This also prevents DoS on your server if you try to copy regular file using this method — vakus, Apr 16 '19 at 19:45

score 7 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 04 '14 at 09:35

The Symfony's FileSystem Component offers a good error handling as well as recursive remove and other useful stuffs. Using @OzzyCzech's great answer, we can do a robust recursive copy this way:

use Symfony\Component\Filesystem\Filesystem;

// ...

$fileSystem = new FileSystem();

if (file_exists($target))
{
    $this->fileSystem->remove($target);
}

$this->fileSystem->mkdir($target);

$directoryIterator = new \RecursiveDirectoryIterator($source, \RecursiveDirectoryIterator::SKIP_DOTS);
$iterator = new \RecursiveIteratorIterator($directoryIterator, \RecursiveIteratorIterator::SELF_FIRST);
foreach ($iterator as $item)
{
    if ($item->isDir())
    {
        $fileSystem->mkdir($target . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $iterator->getSubPathName());
    }
    else
    {
        $fileSystem->copy($item, $target . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $iterator->getSubPathName());
    }
}

Note: you can use this component as well as all other Symfony2 components standalone.

The Symfony Filesystem component has a [mirror](https://symfony.com/doc/current/components/filesystem.html#mirror) method : `$filesystem->mirror('/path/to/source', '/path/to/target');` — Silviu G, Jan 10 '20 at 09:50

Joseph Beeson · Answer 6 · 2012-01-13T13:59:10.813

6

Here's what we use at our company:

static public function copyr($source, $dest)
{
    // recursive function to copy
    // all subdirectories and contents:
    if(is_dir($source)) {
        $dir_handle=opendir($source);
        $sourcefolder = basename($source);
        mkdir($dest."/".$sourcefolder);
        while($file=readdir($dir_handle)){
            if($file!="." && $file!=".."){
                if(is_dir($source."/".$file)){
                    self::copyr($source."/".$file, $dest."/".$sourcefolder);
                } else {
                    copy($source."/".$file, $dest."/".$file);
                }
            }
        }
        closedir($dir_handle);
    } else {
        // can also handle simple copy commands
        copy($source, $dest);
    }
}

edited Jan 13 '12 at 13:59

answered Jan 13 '12 at 13:36

Joseph Beeson

69
1
4

It needs to add if (!file_exists($dest."/".$sourcefolder)) check before mkdir($dest."/".$sourcefolder); in cases when folders are exists – Pavel Nazarov May 26 '16 at 19:42
almost worked for me. but replaced like this. 「copy($source."/".$file, $dest."/".$file);」 ⇒ 「 copy($source."/".$file, $dest."/".$sourcefolder."/".$file);」 – harufumi.abe Feb 14 '20 at 07:35

score 2 · Answer 7 · edited Mar 26 '14 at 06:45

function recurse_copy($source, $dest)
{
    // Check for symlinks
    if (is_link($source)) {
        return symlink(readlink($source), $dest);
    }

    // Simple copy for a file
    if (is_file($source)) {
        return copy($source, $dest);
    }

    // Make destination directory
    if (!is_dir($dest)) {
        mkdir($dest);
    }

    // Loop through the folder
    $dir = dir($source);
    while (false !== $entry = $dir->read()) {
        // Skip pointers
        if ($entry == '.' || $entry == '..') {
            continue;
        }

        // Deep copy directories
        recurse_copy("$source/$entry", "$dest/$entry");
    }

    // Clean up
    $dir->close();
    return true;
}

score 2 · Answer 8 · edited Dec 01 '15 at 17:55

2

Why not just ask the OS to take care of this?

system("cp -r olddir newdir");

Done.

edited Dec 01 '15 at 17:55

Paulo Freitas

13,194
14
74
96

answered Dec 01 '15 at 17:28

William

69
1

1

Not just OS dependent, but "system" call is usually disabled in production. – user2716262 Jul 21 '17 at 10:05
1

Not a good idea,never use shell in php unless you have to. – Steve Moretz Aug 29 '20 at 07:48

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Nov 20 '13 at 09:38

OzzyCheck's is elegant and original, but he forgot the initial mkdir($dest); See below. No copy command is ever provided with contents only. It must fulfill its entire role.

$source = "dir/dir/dir";
$dest= "dest/dir";

mkdir($dest, 0755);
foreach (
  $iterator = new RecursiveIteratorIterator(
  new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($source, RecursiveDirectoryIterator::SKIP_DOTS),
  RecursiveIteratorIterator::SELF_FIRST) as $item) {
  if ($item->isDir()) {
    mkdir($dest . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $iterator->getSubPathName());
  } else {
    copy($item, $dest . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $iterator->getSubPathName());
  }
}

You should check if the dir exists before creating it. – Works for a Living Mar 28 '18 at 04:28 — Works for a Living, Mar 28 '18 at 04:28

Николай Лубышев · Answer 10 · 2022-10-10T21:22:22.793

1

hmm. as that's complicated ))

function mkdir_recursive( $dir ){
  $prev = dirname($dir);
  if( ! file_exists($prev))
  {
    mkdir_recursive($prev);
  }
  if( ! file_exists($dir))
  {
     mkdir($dir);
  }
}

...
$srcDir = "/tmp/from"
$dstDir = "/tmp/to"
mkdir_recursive($dstDir);
foreach( $files as $file){
  copy( $srcDir."/".$file, $dstDir."/".$file);
}

$file - somthing like that file.txt

edited Oct 10 '22 at 21:22

answered May 05 '15 at 04:08

Николай Лубышев

622
5
10

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Nov 13 '15 at 15:29

Here's a simple recursive function to copy entire directories

source: http://php.net/manual/de/function.copy.php

<?php 
function recurse_copy($src,$dst) { 
    $dir = opendir($src); 
    @mkdir($dst); 
    while(false !== ( $file = readdir($dir)) ) { 
        if (( $file != '.' ) && ( $file != '..' )) { 
            if ( is_dir($src . '/' . $file) ) { 
                recurse_copy($src . '/' . $file,$dst . '/' . $file); 
            } 
            else { 
                copy($src . '/' . $file,$dst . '/' . $file); 
            } 
        } 
    } 
    closedir($dir); 
} 
?>

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Feb 22 '18 at 19:19

<?php

/**
 * code by Nk (nk.have.a@gmail.com)
 */

class filesystem
{
    public static function normalizePath($path)
    {
        return $path.(is_dir($path) && !preg_match('@/$@', $path) ? '/' : '');      
    }

    public static function rscandir($dir, $sort = SCANDIR_SORT_ASCENDING)
    {
        $results = array();

        if(!is_dir($dir))
        return $results;

        $dir = self::normalizePath($dir);

        $objects = scandir($dir, $sort);

        foreach($objects as $object)
        if($object != '.' && $object != '..')
        {
            if(is_dir($dir.$object))
            $results = array_merge($results, self::rscandir($dir.$object, $sort));
            else
            array_push($results, $dir.$object);
        }

        array_push($results, $dir);

        return $results;
    }

    public static function rcopy($source, $dest, $destmode = null)
    {
        $files = self::rscandir($source);

        if(empty($files))
        return;

        if(!file_exists($dest))
        mkdir($dest, is_int($destmode) ? $destmode : fileperms($source), true);

        $source = self::normalizePath(realpath($source));
        $dest = self::normalizePath(realpath($dest));

        foreach($files as $file)
        {
            $file_dest = str_replace($source, $dest, $file);

            if(is_dir($file))
            {
                if(!file_exists($file_dest))
                mkdir($file_dest, is_int($destmode) ? $destmode : fileperms($file), true);
            }
            else
            copy($file, $file_dest);
        }
    }
}

?>

/var/www/websiteA/backup.php :

<?php /* include.. */ filesystem::rcopy('/var/www/websiteA/', '../websiteB'); ?>

score 0 · Answer 13 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

There were some issues with the functions that I tested in the thread and here is a powerful function that covers everything. Highlights:

No need to have an initial or intermediate source directories. All of the directories up to the source directory and to the copied directories will be handled.

Ability to skip directory or files from an array. (optional) With the global $skip; skipping of files even under sub level directories are handled.

Full recursive support, all the files and directories in multiple depth are supported.

$from = "/path/to/source_dir";
$to = "/path/to/destination_dir";
$skip = array('some_file.php', 'somedir');

copy_r($from, $to, $skip);

function copy_r($from, $to, $skip=false) {
    global $skip;
    $dir = opendir($from);
    if (!file_exists($to)) {mkdir ($to, 0775, true);}
    while (false !== ($file = readdir($dir))) {
        if ($file == '.' OR $file == '..' OR in_array($file, $skip)) {continue;}
        
        if (is_dir($from . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $file)) {
            copy_r($from . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $file, $to . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $file);
        }
        else {
            copy($from . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $file, $to . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $file);
        }
    }
    closedir($dir);
}

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Apr 18 '11 at 19:29

0

I guess you should check user(group)rights. You should consider chmod for example, depending on how you run (su?)PHP. You could possibly also choose to modify your php configuration.

answered Apr 18 '11 at 19:29

Robert de W

316
8
24

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Jul 22 '22 at 20:39

Recursively copies files from source to target, with choice of overwriting existing files on the target.

function copyRecursive($sourcePath, $targetPath, $overwriteExisting) {
$dir = opendir($sourcePath);
while (($file = readdir($dir)) !== false) {
    if ($file == "." || $file == "..") continue; // ignore these.

    $source = $sourcePath . "/" . $file;
    $target = $targetPath. "/" . $file;

    if (is_dir($source) == true) {
        // create the target directory, if it does not exist.
        if (file_exists($target) == false) @mkdir($target);
        copyRecursive($source, $target, $overwriteExisting);
    } else {
        if ((file_exists($target) == false) || ($overwriteExisting == true)) {
            copy($source, $target);
        }
    }
}
closedir($dir);

}

Recursive Copy of Directory

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