Download File using MVC Core

Question

I cannot find a reference to downloading a file using MVC Core.

We have a single exe file for members to download from our website. In the past we have put

<a href=(file path)> Download < /a> for our users to click. I would like to do something equivalent in MVC Core along the lines of

<a href=@ViewData["DownloadLink"]> Download < /a>

with DownloadLink populated with the file path.

public class DownloadController : Controller
{
    [HttpGet]
    public IActionResult Index()
    {
        ViewData["DownloadLink"] = ($"~/Downloads/{V9.Version}.exe");
        return View();
    }
}

`

The link <a href=@ViewData["DownloadLink"]> Download < /a> gets the correct path, but when clicked only renders the path in the address bar. Is there a simple way to set a download link?

Your action should return a content result, not a view. Look into the Controller.File method. — Tieson T., Feb 07 '16 at 00:12

score 44 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

44

I used this answer posted by @Tieson T to come up with this solution

    public FileResult Download()
    {
        var fileName = $"{V9.Version}.exe";
        var filepath = $"Downloads/{fileName}";
        byte[] fileBytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(filepath);
        return File(fileBytes, "application/x-msdownload", fileName);
    }

The view is now

<a asp-action="Download" asp->
Download

@Ageonix was also correct about not requiring the ~ to get to wwwroot

edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

Community

1
1

answered Feb 07 '16 at 01:39

Vague

2,198
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`return File`, this File is a static class, how can I use this in .Net Core 2.0? – Mohammed Noureldin Dec 16 '17 at 01:45
1

File is a static method in "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ControllerBase" that returns "FileContentResult".It is similar to "Ok()" or "NotFound()". FileContentResult is StatusResult just like OkResult. – Code Name Jack Dec 26 '17 at 15:05
If you are using .net core, you probably wanna use wwwroot in the filepath, eg: var filePath = $"wwwroot/downloads/{fileName}"; – Akbar Badhusha Apr 20 '18 at 05:35
Thanks for this straight forward answer. Works for me 100% – Chidi-Nwaneto May 15 '20 at 23:45

Ageonix · Answer 2 · 2016-02-06T06:17:53.053

1

I'm not somewhere where I can try it, but would something like this do the trick?

<a href="<%= Url.Content('~/Downloads/{ V9.Version}.exe') %>"> Download </a>

edited Feb 06 '16 at 06:17

answered Feb 06 '16 at 05:58

Ageonix

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Thank you @Ageonix for the suggestion but VS2015 is complaining href is missing a closing angle bracket. I assume that is to do the with double-quotes within double-quotes but I can't get it right. – Vague Feb 06 '16 at 06:16
Oops. Try using a single tick on those inner quotes instead. – Ageonix Feb 06 '16 at 06:17
1

I'm not sure how your site structure is, but if you're getting a 400 are you sure you need the tilde (~) on there? In other words, have you double-checked to see if you're getting to the right place? – Ageonix Feb 06 '16 at 06:32
None of the variations on @Ageonix. answer seems to parse the path correctly. My first attempt gets the correct path, but doesn't download. Is this an MVC thing ... the path has to point to a controller action and cannot point to a file to download? – Vague Feb 06 '16 at 21:24

Download File using MVC Core

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