**Author:**  [@aris](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/aris)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/x-accel-redirect-serving-html-download-page-instead-of-file/222415/1 "2012-08-28T03:30:04Z")
I have a script that uses x-accel-redirect on a nginx server to send
large
files (150mb+). The script serves downloads fine as long as their is a
space
in the name of the directory but not when the directory is a single
word.
Anyone know why it would be doing so when the file exists and the path
is
correct?
Layout: /Dir/file.exe /Dir2/file.exe /Another Dir/file.exe
If it’s /Another Dir/file.exe it serves the file perfectly, however if
its
/Dir/file.exe it serves the html of the download page. Anyone seen this
before?
nginx config:
server {
access\_log logs/access\_log;
access\_log on;
limit\_conn gulag 3;
error\_log /var/log/nginx/vhost-error\_log crit;
listen 80 default;
server\_name [www.my.com](http://www.my.com) [my.com](http://my.com);
root /home/mysite/public\_html;
#root /usr/share/nginx/html;
autoindex off;
index index.php index.html index.htm;
#rewrite ^._/([-\w.]+)/([-\w.]+).zip$
/download.php?model=$1&file=$2.zip last;
#rewrite ^._/([-\w.]+)/([-\w.]+).exe$
/download.php?model=$1&file=$2.exe last;
#rewrite ^._/([-\w.]+)/([-\w.]+).nbh$
/download.php?model=$1&file=$2.nbh last;
#rewrite ^._/([-\w.]+)/([-\w.]+).rar$
/download.php?model=$1&file=$2.rar last;
error\_page 503 /503.html;
location = /503.html {
root /home/mysite/public\_html/errors;
}
error\_page 504 /504.html;
location = /504.html {
root /home/mysite/public\_html/errors;
}
# pass the PHP scripts to FastCGI server
```
location ~ \.php$ {
fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:8888;
#fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/nginx-fcgi.sock;
fastcgi_index index.php;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME
```
/home/mysite/public\_html$fastcgi\_script\_name;
include /etc/nginx/fastcgi\_params;
```
fastcgi_intercept_errors off;
}
```
}
php code:
\&file=\
"; } if (! isset($\_GET["model"])) { $error=TRUE; $msg .= "No Model information present. Unable to continue.
"; } else { $fileserver\_path .= $model."/"; $fileurlpath .= $model."/"; /\* check if file exists \*/ if (!file\_exists($fileserver\_path.$req\_file)) { $error=TRUE; $msg .= "$req\_file doesn't exist."; } } /\* no web spamming \*/ if (!preg\_match("/^[a-zA-Z0-9.\_-]+$/", $req\_file, $matches)) { $error=TRUE; $msg .= "Spamming! I can't do that. Sorry."; } if(! ($error)) { //Hotlink Code if(eregi($\_SERVER["HTTP\_HOST"], str\_replace("www.", "", strtolower($\_SERVER["HTTP\_REFERER"])))) { if (! isset($\_GET['send\_file'])) { Header("Refresh: 5; url=http://my.com/$thisfile?model=$model&file=$req\_file&send\_file=yes"); } else { header("Cache-Control: public"); header('Content-Description: File Transfer'); header("Content-type: application/octet-stream"); //header('Content-Type: application/force-download'); //header('Content-Length: ' . filesize($fileserver\_path.$req\_file)); header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=' . $req\_file); header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary"); header("X-Accel-Redirect: /shipped/" . $path); exit; } //More Hotlink Code } else { Header("Refresh: ; url=http://my.com/$thisfile?model=$model&file=$req\_file"); } //End Hotlink } ?\>
Posted at Nginx Forum:
> **[X-accel-redirect serving html download page instead of file.](https://forum.nginx.org/read.php?2,230161,230161#msg-230161)**
>
> I have a script that uses x-accel-redirect on a nginx server to send large files (150mb+). The script serves downloads fine as long as their is a space in the name of the directory but not when the directory is a single word. Anyone know why it would...
---
**Author:**  [@wideawake](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wideawake)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/x-accel-redirect-serving-html-download-page-instead-of-file/222415/2 "2012-08-28T03:56:56Z")
Hey,
Try adding this to your nginx conf where applicable:
add\_header Content-Disposition attachment;
Regards,
Justin D. [http://www.twitter.com/jdorfman](http://www.twitter.com/jdorfman)
NetDNA [http://www.netdna.com](http://www.netdna.com)
The Science of Acceleration
---
**Author:**  [@wideawake](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wideawake)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/x-accel-redirect-serving-html-download-page-instead-of-file/222415/3 "2012-08-28T04:05:42Z")
I tried adding what you suggested like so
location = /shipped {
add\_header Content-Disposition attachment;
root /home/mysite/public\_html/shipped;
internal;
}
and by just adding the line to the site config. Neither of which worked
unfortunately.
Posted at Nginx Forum:
> **[Re: X-accel-redirect serving html download page instead of file.](https://forum.nginx.org/read.php?2,230161,230163#msg-230163)**
>
> I have a script that uses x-accel-redirect on a nginx server to send large files (150mb+). The script serves downloads fine as long as their is a space in the name of the directory but not when the directory is a single word. Anyone know why it would...
---
**Author:**  [@wideawake](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wideawake)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/x-accel-redirect-serving-html-download-page-instead-of-file/222415/4 "2012-08-28T04:31:58Z")
I checked my configs and add\_header is after the root directive like so:
location = /shipped {
root /home/mysite/public\_html/shipped;
internal;
add\_header Content-Disposition attachment;
}
Not sure if order matters or if it should be above or below the internal
directive. I know Maxim and Piotr S. will know 😉
Regards,
Justin D. [http://www.twitter.com/jdorfman](http://www.twitter.com/jdorfman)
NetDNA [http://www.netdna.com](http://www.netdna.com)
The Science of Acceleration
---
**Author:**  [@wideawake](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wideawake)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/x-accel-redirect-serving-html-download-page-instead-of-file/222415/5 "2012-08-28T05:02:57Z")
I noticed that if I use this in my config then shipped/Dir 1/file.exe
returns file not found in browser and shipped/dir/file.exe still returns
proper file extension (exe, etc) but contains the html content of the
download page.
location = /files {
root /home/mysite/public\_html/shipped;
internal;
add\_header Content-Disposition attachment;
}
header(“X-Accel-Redirect: /files/” . $path);
While removing that and using “header(“X-Accel-Redirect: /shipped/” .
$path);” the actual file location works for shipped/Dir 1/file.exe but
not
for shipped/dir/file.exe.
I’m at a lose as to why it’s not working properly.
Posted at Nginx Forum:
> **[Re: X-accel-redirect serving html download page instead of file.](https://forum.nginx.org/read.php?2,230161,230165#msg-230165)**
>
> I have a script that uses x-accel-redirect on a nginx server to send large files (150mb+). The script serves downloads fine as long as their is a space in the name of the directory but not when the directory is a single word. Anyone know why it would...
---
**Author:**  [@wideawake](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wideawake)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/x-accel-redirect-serving-html-download-page-instead-of-file/222415/6 "2012-12-04T15:08:34Z")
I’ve correct this bug adding an expire header like :
location ^~ /protected-file/ {
expires 30s;
add\_header Pragma public;
add\_header Cache-Control “public, must-revalidate,
proxy-revalidate”;
gzip off;
internal;
alias /;
}
And my PHP headers are :
header(“X-Accel-Redirect: /protected-file”.realpath($realpath));
header(“X-Accel-Buffering: yes”);
header(‘Content-Length: ‘.$size);
header("Content-Type: “);
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=”’.$filename.’"');
Nginx MIME types are /etc/nginx/mime.conf (from normal config)
Posted at Nginx Forum:
> **[Re: X-accel-redirect serving html download page instead of file.](https://forum.nginx.org/read.php?2,230161,233566#msg-233566)**
>
> I have a script that uses x-accel-redirect on a nginx server to send large files (150mb+). The script serves downloads fine as long as their is a space in the name of the directory but not when the directory is a single word. Anyone know why it would...
---
**Author:**  [@wideawake](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wideawake)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/x-accel-redirect-serving-html-download-page-instead-of-file/222415/7 "2012-09-03T20:31:20Z")
Hello!
On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 09:29:47PM -0400, wideawake wrote:
> before?
> I would suggest that the reason is that rewrites which are
> commented out in the config you’ve posted:
> #rewrite ^._/([-\w.]+)/([-\w.]+).zip$
> /download.php?model=$1&file=$2.zip last;
> #rewrite ^._/([-\w.]+)/([-\w.]+).exe$
> /download.php?model=$1&file=$2.exe last;
> #rewrite ^._/([-\w.]+)/([-\w.]+).nbh$
> /download.php?model=$1&file=$2.nbh last;
> #rewrite ^._/([-\w.]+)/([-\w.]+).rar$
> /download.php?model=$1&file=$2.rar last;
aren’t really commented out. And any X-Accel-Redirect results in
rewrite match, and a download.php output being returned instead.
Obvious solution would be to actually comment them out (or, if
they are needed, to place them into a location which doesn’t match
URIs returned in X-Accel-Redirect).
(Files/directories with space work as regular expressions above
doesn’t match them.)
Maxim D.