PHP Extension

Remove a Remote Directory on an SFTP Server

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.RemoveDir method, which deletes a remote directory. The only argument is the directory path.

Background: Most SFTP servers refuse to remove a directory that is not empty, so deleting a populated tree means removing its files and subdirectories first — the inverse of building a path level by level. There is no single "recursive delete" in the SFTP protocol; a client implements it by listing, descending, and removing bottom-up.

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PHP Extension

<?php

include("chilkat.php");

$success = false;

//  Demonstrates the SFtp.RemoveDir method, which deletes a remote directory.  The only argument
//  is the directory path.

$sftp = new CkSFtp();

//  Connect, authenticate, and initialize the SFTP subsystem.
$port = 22;
$success = $sftp->Connect('sftp.example.com',$port);
if ($success == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  Normally you would not hard-code the password in source.  You should instead obtain it
//  from an interactive prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
$password = 'mySshPassword';

$success = $sftp->AuthenticatePw('mySshLogin',$password);
if ($success == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

$success = $sftp->InitializeSftp();
if ($success == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  Delete a remote directory.  Most SFTP servers require the directory to be empty first.
$success = $sftp->RemoveDir('subdir/oldfolder');
if ($success == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'Directory removed.' . "\n";

$sftp->Disconnect();

?>