How to Zip and Download files using NodeJS

In this tutorial, I’ll show you the basic procedure of how to zip and Download files using NodeJS.

For a web application, zipping multiple files and downloading is a key feature for any web developer or programmer. Assume you are developing functionality on a web application for zipping and downloading files using NodeJS. I will explain everything step by step in this article about how to zip and download files using NodeJS.

Before getting started, take a look at the file structure 

zip and Download files using NodeJS

REQUIREMENTS

• Nodejs (12.x)
• NPM 6.x
• Express (4.x)
• adm-zip (0.4.x)

Project Setup

For this project, we’ll be using the Node Express framework. You will, of course, need to have Node installed.

Watch: How to install Nodejs tutorials in hindi

Create a directory for our project

mkdir zip-file-nodejs

Move into the directory

cd zip-file-nodejs

create a .json file that manages all the dependencies for our application

npm init

Now, install adm-zip, Express, and the other necessary dependencies

npm install express adm-zip body-parser nodemon

Now create an app.js file

const express = require('express')
const app = express()
const port = 9000
 
app.listen(port, ()=> console.log(Server started on port ${port}))

Create “upload” folder in root directory.

upload or add some files in “upload” folder to zip and download

adm-zip Configuration

Add the AdmZip object to your app.js file

const AdmZip = require('adm-zip');

Now copy and paste complete code to app.js file

const express = require('express')
// require fs package to read files
var fs = require('fs'); 
const app = express()
const port = 9000
const AdmZip = require('adm-zip');
var uploadDir = fs.readdirSync(__dirname+"/upload"); 

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
 
    const zip = new AdmZip();

    for(var i = 0; i < uploadDir.length;i++){
        zip.addLocalFile(__dirname+"/upload/"+uploadDir[i]);
    }
 
    // Define zip file name
    const downloadName = ${Date.now()}.zip;

    const data = zip.toBuffer();

    // save file zip in root directory
    zip.writeZip(__dirname+"/"+downloadName);
    
    // code to download zip file

    res.set('Content-Type','application/octet-stream');
    res.set('Content-Disposition',attachment; filename=${downloadName});
    res.set('Content-Length',data.length);
    res.send(data);
 
})
 
app.listen(port, () => console.log(Server started on port ${port}))

Now our code is ready for test.

Now open your terminal and run below command

node app.js
or
nodemon

After running node app.js. You will get message:

node app.js

Server started on port 9000

Now open http://localhost:9000/ in your browser

The zip file will store in your root directory and also auto-download the zip file to your local system.

Also Read: File Upload in Node js using Multer

Conclusion:

I hope you found this tutorial helpful for your project. Zip and Download files using NodeJS is an important feature for any web application. So here we are, completed the basic step using adm-zip in node.js and express.js

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