How to Download Files from cPanel and via Command Line Make it Rain Paper

Pre-requirements

• Access to your cPanel account or SSH for command line usage.
• Basic understanding of file management in cPanel or Linux command line.

Downloading Files Using cPanel File Manager

Once you have successfully created a web hosting account and logged in to your cPanel account, follow these steps to download files:

1. Scroll to the Files section and click on the File Manager icon.
2. Navigate to the correct directory where the file you want to download is located.
3. Select the file by clicking on it to highlight it.
4. Click on the Download option from the toolbar to begin downloading the file.

Tip for Downloading Multiple Files:

If you need to download more than one file, it's recommended to first compress the files into an archive. Here's how to do it:

1. Select the files you wish to download.
2. Click on the Compress option in the toolbar.
3. Choose your preferred archive format (e.g., .zip, .tar.gz).
4. Once the files are compressed, download the resulting archive file.

Downloading Files Using the Command Line (SSH)

1. Compress Files Before Downloading

To compress all the files in the public_html directory via SSH, use the following command:

cd public_html && tar -czvf public_html_archive.tar.gz *

Optional: Remove Files After Archiving

If you want to remove the files after archiving them, you can add the --remove-files flag to the command:

tar -czvf public_html_archive.tar.gz --remove-files *

2. Confirm the Contents of the Archive

Before downloading, you can verify the contents of an archive without extracting it by running the following command:

tar -tvf public_html_archive.tar.gz

3. Download Files via SCP (Secure Copy)

To copy files from your cPanel server to your local machine using SCP, run this command:

scp $username@domain.com:public_html/$filename ~/Downloads/

4. Recursively Copy Directories via SCP

If you want to recursively copy a directory from your cPanel server to your local machine, use the -r flag:

scp -r $username@domain.com:public_html/$project ~/Downloads/$project

Gotchas to Avoid

• Ensure you correctly specify the file paths to avoid downloading the wrong files or directories.
• Be mindful of disk space when compressing large directories before downloading them.
• If using SCP, double-check the file paths to ensure you're downloading the correct files from the remote server.

Downloading files from cPanel or using the command line is a straightforward process. Whether you're managing a single file or downloading an entire directory, using cPanel's File Manager or command-line tools like scp offers flexibility. For multiple files, compressing them first into an archive is highly recommended for easier management and faster downloads.

If you want to add to this tutorial or have found an error in it, please send an email to team+editorial@webhostingm.com