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Object Storage Service:Download an object by using a signed URL (PHP SDK V1)

Last Updated:Nov 29, 2025

By default, objects in an Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket are private and can be accessed only by the object owner. You can use the OSS PHP software development kit (SDK) to generate a signed URL for a GET request. This URL has an expiration time and allows other users to temporarily download the object. The URL can be accessed multiple times before it expires. After the URL expires, you must generate a new one.

Notes

  • In this topic, the public endpoint of the China (Hangzhou) region is used. To access OSS from other Alibaba Cloud services in the same region, use an internal endpoint. For details about supported regions and endpoints, see Regions and endpoints.

  • This topic provides an example of how to obtain access credentials from environment variables. For more information about how to configure access credentials, see Configure access credentials (PHP SDK V1).

  • To generate a signed URL for a GET request, you must have the oss:GetObject permission. For more information, see Grant custom access policies to a RAM user.

  • This topic uses a V4 signed URL as an example. The maximum validity period is 7 days. For more information, see Signature Version 4 (recommended).

  • If a signed URL generated from the following examples contains a plus sign (+), you may be unable to access the URL. To access the URL, replace the + sign with %2B.

  • To generate a signed URL that uses the HTTPS protocol, set the communication protocol in the Endpoint to HTTPS.

Process

The following steps describe how to use a signed URL to download an object:

image

Code examples

  1. The object owner generates a signed URL for a GET request.

    <?php
    if (is_file(__DIR__ . '/../autoload.php')) {
        require_once __DIR__ . '/../autoload.php';
    }
    if (is_file(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php')) {
        require_once __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
    }
    
    use OSS\OssClient;
    use OSS\Core\OssException;
    use OSS\Http\RequestCore;
    use OSS\Http\ResponseCore;
    use OSS\Credentials\EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider;
    
    // Obtain access credentials from environment variables. Before you run this code, make sure that the OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET environment variables are configured.
    $provider = new EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider();
    // Set yourEndpoint to the Endpoint of the region where the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the Endpoint to https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com.
    $endpoint = "yourEndpoint";
    // Specify the bucket name.
    $bucket= "examplebucket";
    // Specify the full path of the object. Do not include the bucket name.
    $object = "exampleobject.txt";
    // Set the expiration time of the signed URL to 600 seconds. The maximum value is 32400 seconds.
    $timeout = 600;
    try {
        $config = array(  
            "provider" => $provider,
            "endpoint" => $endpoint,
            'signatureVersion'=>OssClient::OSS_SIGNATURE_VERSION_V4,
            "region"=> "cn-hangzhou"
        );
        $ossClient = new OssClient($config);
        // Generate a signed URL.
        $signedUrl = $ossClient->signUrl($bucket, $object, $timeout, "GET");
        print_r($signedUrl);
    } catch (OssException $e) {
        printf(__FUNCTION__ . ": FAILED\n");
        printf($e->getMessage() . "\n");
        return;
    }           
  2. Another user uses the signed URL for the GET request to download the object.

    curl

    curl -SO "https://examplebucket.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/exampleobject.txt?x-oss-date=20241112T092756Z&x-oss-expires=3599&x-oss-signature-version=OSS4-HMAC-SHA256&x-oss-credential=LTAI5************/20241112/cn-hangzhou/oss/aliyun_v4_request&x-oss-signature=ed5a939feb8d79a389572719f7e2939939936d0**********"

    Java

    import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
    import java.io.FileOutputStream;
    import java.io.IOException;
    import java.io.InputStream;
    import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
    import java.net.URL;
    
    public class Demo {
        public static void main(String[] args) {
            // Replace the URL with the generated signed URL for the GET request.
            String fileURL = "https://examplebucket.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/exampleobject.txt?x-oss-date=20241112T092756Z&x-oss-expires=3599&x-oss-signature-version=OSS4-HMAC-SHA256&x-oss-credential=LTAI5************/20241112/cn-hangzhou/oss/aliyun_v4_request&x-oss-signature=ed5a939feb8d79a389572719f7e2939939936d0**********";
            // Specify the destination path to save the file, including the file name and extension.
            String savePath = "C:/downloads/myfile.txt";
    
            try {
                downloadFile(fileURL, savePath);
                System.out.println("Download completed!");
            } catch (IOException e) {
                System.err.println("Error during download: " + e.getMessage());
            }
        }
    
        private static void downloadFile(String fileURL, String savePath) throws IOException {
            URL url = new URL(fileURL);
            HttpURLConnection httpConn = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
            httpConn.setRequestMethod("GET");
    
            // Check the response code.
            int responseCode = httpConn.getResponseCode();
            if (responseCode == HttpURLConnection.HTTP_OK) {
                // Input stream.
                InputStream inputStream = new BufferedInputStream(httpConn.getInputStream());
                // Output stream.
                FileOutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream(savePath);
    
                byte[] buffer = new byte[4096]; // Buffer.
                int bytesRead;
                while ((bytesRead = inputStream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
                    outputStream.write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
                }
    
                outputStream.close();
                inputStream.close();
            } else {
                System.out.println("No file to download. Server replied HTTP code: " + responseCode);
            }
            httpConn.disconnect();
        }
    }

    Node.js

    const https = require('https');
    const fs = require('fs');
    
    const fileURL = "https://examplebucket.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/exampleobject.txt?x-oss-date=20241112T092756Z&x-oss-expires=3599&x-oss-signature-version=OSS4-HMAC-SHA256&x-oss-credential=LTAI5************/20241112/cn-hangzhou/oss/aliyun_v4_request&x-oss-signature=ed5a939feb8d79a389572719f7e2939939936d0**********";
    const savePath = "C:/downloads/myfile.txt";
    
    https.get(fileURL, (response) => {
        if (response.statusCode === 200) {
            const fileStream = fs.createWriteStream(savePath);
            response.pipe(fileStream);
            
            fileStream.on('finish', () => {
                fileStream.close();
                console.log("Download completed!");
            });
        } else {
            console.error(`Download failed. Server responded with code: ${response.statusCode}`);
        }
    }).on('error', (err) => {
        console.error("Error during download:", err.message);
    });

    Python

    import requests
    
    file_url = "https://examplebucket.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/exampleobject.txt?x-oss-date=20241112T092756Z&x-oss-expires=3599&x-oss-signature-version=OSS4-HMAC-SHA256&x-oss-credential=LTAI5************/20241112/cn-hangzhou/oss/aliyun_v4_request&x-oss-signature=ed5a939feb8d79a389572719f7e2939939936d0**********"
    save_path = "C:/downloads/myfile.txt"
    
    try:
        response = requests.get(file_url, stream=True)
        if response.status_code == 200:
            with open(save_path, 'wb') as f:
                for chunk in response.iter_content(4096):
                    f.write(chunk)
            print("Download completed!")
        else:
            print(f"No file to download. Server replied HTTP code: {response.status_code}")
    except Exception as e:
        print("Error during download:", e)

    Go

    package main
    
    import (
        "io"
        "net/http"
        "os"
    )
    
    func main() {
        fileURL := "https://examplebucket.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/exampleobject.txt?x-oss-date=20241112T092756Z&x-oss-expires=3599&x-oss-signature-version=OSS4-HMAC-SHA256&x-oss-credential=LTAI5************/20241112/cn-hangzhou/oss/aliyun_v4_request&x-oss-signature=ed5a939feb8d79a389572719f7e2939939936d0**********"
        savePath := "C:/downloads/myfile.txt"
    
        response, err := http.Get(fileURL)
        if err != nil {
            panic(err)
        }
        defer response.Body.Close()
    
        if response.StatusCode == http.StatusOK {
            outFile, err := os.Create(savePath)
            if err != nil {
                panic(err)
            }
            defer outFile.Close()
    
            _, err = io.Copy(outFile, response.Body)
            if err != nil {
                panic(err)
            }
            println("Download completed!")
        } else {
            println("No file to download. Server replied HTTP code:", response.StatusCode)
        }
    }

    JavaScript

    const fileURL = "https://examplebucket.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/exampleobject.txt?x-oss-date=20241112T092756Z&x-oss-expires=3599&x-oss-signature-version=OSS4-HMAC-SHA256&x-oss-credential=LTAI5************/20241112/cn-hangzhou/oss/aliyun_v4_request&x-oss-signature=ed5a939feb8d79a389572719f7e2939939936d0**********";
    const savePath = "C:/downloads/myfile.txt"; // The file name to be used when the file is downloaded.
    
    fetch(fileURL)
        .then(response => {
            if (!response.ok) {
                throw new Error(`Server replied HTTP code: ${response.status}`);
            }
            return response.blob(); // Convert the response to a blob.
        })
        .then(blob => {
            const link = document.createElement('a');
            link.href = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
            link.download = savePath; // Set the name of the downloaded file.
            document.body.appendChild(link); // This step ensures that the link exists in the document.
            link.click(); // Simulate a click on the download link.
            link.remove(); // Remove the link after the download is complete.
            console.log("Download completed!");
        })
        .catch(error => {
            console.error("Error during download:", error);
        });

    Android-Java

    import android.os.AsyncTask;
    import android.os.Environment;
    import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
    import java.io.FileOutputStream;
    import java.io.InputStream;
    import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
    import java.net.URL;
    
    public class DownloadTask extends AsyncTask<String, String, String> {
        @Override
        protected String doInBackground(String... params) {
            String fileURL = params[0];
            String savePath = Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS) + "/myfile.txt"; // The modified save path.
            try {
                URL url = new URL(fileURL);
                HttpURLConnection httpConn = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
                httpConn.setRequestMethod("GET");
                int responseCode = httpConn.getResponseCode();
                if (responseCode == HttpURLConnection.HTTP_OK) {
                    InputStream inputStream = new BufferedInputStream(httpConn.getInputStream());
                    FileOutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream(savePath);
                    byte[] buffer = new byte[4096];
                    int bytesRead;
                    while ((bytesRead = inputStream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
                        outputStream.write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
                    }
                    outputStream.close();
                    inputStream.close();
                    return "Download completed!";
                } else {
                    return "No file to download. Server replied HTTP code: " + responseCode;
                }
            } catch (Exception e) {
                return "Error during download: " + e.getMessage();
            }
        }
    }

    Objective-C

    #import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
    
    int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
        @autoreleasepool {
            // Define the file URL and save path. Modify the path to a valid one.
            NSString *fileURL = @"https://examplebucket.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/exampleobject.txt?x-oss-date=20241112T092756Z&x-oss-expires=3599&x-oss-signature-version=OSS4-HMAC-SHA256&x-oss-credential=LTAI5************/20241112/cn-hangzhou/oss/aliyun_v4_request&x-oss-signature=ed5a939feb8d79a389572719f7e2939939936d0**********";
            NSString *savePath = @"/Users/your_username/Desktop/myfile.txt"; // Replace your_username with your username.
            
            // Create a URL object.
            NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:fileURL];
            
            // Create a download task.
            NSURLSessionDataTask *task = [[NSURLSession sharedSession] dataTaskWithURL:url completionHandler:^(NSData *data, NSURLResponse *response, NSError *error) {
                // Handle errors.
                if (error) {
                    NSLog(@"Error during download: %@", error.localizedDescription);
                    return;
                }
                
                // Check the data.
                if (!data) {
                    NSLog(@"No data received.");
                    return;
                }
                
                // Save the file.
                NSError *writeError = nil;
                BOOL success = [data writeToURL:[NSURL fileURLWithPath:savePath] options:NSDataWritingAtomic error:&writeError];
                if (success) {
                    NSLog(@"Download completed!");
                } else {
                    NSLog(@"Error saving file: %@", writeError.localizedDescription);
                }
            }];
            
            // Start the task.
            [task resume];
            
            // Keep the main thread running so that the asynchronous request can be completed.
            [[NSRunLoop currentRunLoop] run];
        }
        return 0;
    }

Other scenarios

Generate a signed URL that contains a versionId

The following code shows how to generate a signed URL that contains a versionId.

<?php
if (is_file(__DIR__ . '/../autoload.php')) {
    require_once __DIR__ . '/../autoload.php';
}
if (is_file(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php')) {
    require_once __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
}

use OSS\OssClient;
use OSS\Core\OssException;
use OSS\Http\RequestCore;
use OSS\Http\ResponseCore;
use OSS\Credentials\EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider;

// Obtain access credentials from environment variables. Before you run this code, make sure that the OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET environment variables are configured.
$provider = new EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider();
// Set yourEndpoint to the Endpoint of the region where the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the Endpoint to https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com.
$endpoint = "yourEndpoint";
// Specify the bucket name.
$bucket= "examplebucket";
// Specify the full path of the object. Do not include the bucket name.
$object = "exampleobject.txt";
// Set the expiration time of the signed URL to 600 seconds. The maximum value is 32400 seconds.
$timeout = 600;
try{
  $config = array(
      "provider" => $provider,
      "endpoint" => $endpoint,
      "signatureVersion" => OssClient::OSS_SIGNATURE_VERSION_V4,
      "region"=> "cn-hangzhou"
  );
  $ossClient = new OssClient($config);
  $options = array(
      // Specify the versionId of the object.
      $ossClient::OSS_VERSION_ID=>"CAEQEhiBgIDmgPf8mxgiIDA1YjZlNDIxY2ZmMzQ1MmU5MTM1Y2M4Yzk4NjIx****"
  );
  // Generate a signed URL.
  $signedUrl = $ossClient->signUrl($bucket, $object, $timeout, "GET", $options);
  print_r($signedUrl);
} catch(OssException $e) {
  printf($e->getMessage() . "\n");
}

Generate a signed URL for download using a custom domain name

The following code example shows how to use a custom domain name to generate a signed URL for a GET request.

<?php
if (is_file(__DIR__ . '/../autoload.php')) {
    require_once __DIR__ . '/../autoload.php';
}
if (is_file(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php')) {
    require_once __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
}

use OSS\OssClient;
use OSS\Core\OssException;
use OSS\Http\RequestCore;
use OSS\Http\ResponseCore;
use OSS\Credentials\EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider;

// Obtain access credentials from environment variables. Before you run this code, make sure that the OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET environment variables are configured.
$provider = new EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider();
// Set yourEndpoint to the Endpoint of the region where the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the Endpoint to http://static.example.com.
$endpoint = "http://static.example.com";
// Specify the bucket name.
$bucket= "examplebucket";
// Specify the full path of the object. Do not include the bucket name.
$object = "exampleobject.txt";
// Set the expiration time of the signed URL to 600 seconds. The maximum value is 32400 seconds.
$timeout = 600;
try {
    $config = array(  
        "provider" => $provider,
        "endpoint" => $endpoint,
        'signatureVersion'=>OssClient::OSS_SIGNATURE_VERSION_V4,
        "cname"	=> true,
        "region"=> "cn-hangzhou"
    );
    $ossClient = new OssClient($config);
    // Generate a signed URL.
    $signedUrl = $ossClient->signUrl($bucket, $object, $timeout, "GET");
    print_r($signedUrl);
} catch (OssException $e) {
    printf(__FUNCTION__ . ": FAILED\n");
    printf($e->getMessage() . "\n");
    return;
}