Copy a file on firebase storage? - firebase

Question

Is it possible to copy an existing file on firebase storage without needing to uploading it again?
I need it for a published/working version setup of my app.

Answer 1

There is no method in the Firebase Storage API to make a copy of a file that you've already uploaded.
But Firebase Storage is built on top of Google Cloud Storage, which means that you can use the latter's API too. It looks like gsutil cp is what you're looking for. From the docs:
The gsutil cp command allows you to copy data between your local file system and the cloud, copy data within the cloud, and copy data between cloud storage providers.
Keep in mind that gsutil has full access to your storage bucket. So it is meant to be run on devices you fully trust (such as a server or your own development machine).

Answer 2

Here is an approach I ended up with for my project.
While it covers a broader case and copies all files under folder fromFolder to toFolder, it can be easily adopted to the case from the question (to copy only files one can pass delimiter = "/" - refer to the docs for more details)
const {Storage} = require('#google-cloud/storage');
module.exports = class StorageManager{
constructor() {
this.storage = new Storage();
this.bucket = this.storage.bucket(<bucket-name-here>)
}
listFiles(prefix, delimiter){
return this.bucket.getFiles({prefix, delimiter});
}
deleteFiles(prefix, delimiter){
return this.bucket.deleteFiles({prefix, delimiter, force: true});
}
copyFilesInFolder(fromFolder, toFolder){
return this.listFiles(fromFolder)
.then(([files]) => {
let promiseArray = files.map(file => {
let fileName = file.name
let destination = fileName.replace(fromFolder, toFolder)
console.log("fileName = ", fileName, ", destination = ", destination)
return file.copy(destination)
})
return Promise.all(promiseArray)
})
}
}

Answer 3

I needed to copy folders (including all it's descendants) in Google Cloud Storage. Here is the solution proposed by #vir-us, simplified and for NodeJS.
import type { Bucket } from '#google-cloud/storage';
/** Copy Cloud Storage resources from one folder to another. */
export const copyStorageFiles = async (input: {
bucket: Bucket;
fromFolder: string;
toFolder: string;
logger?: Console['info'];
}) => {
const { bucket, fromFolder, toFolder, logger = console.info } = input;
const [files] = await bucket.getFiles({ prefix: fromFolder });
const promiseArray = files.map((file) => {
const destination = file.name.replace(fromFolder, toFolder);
logger("fileName = ", file.name, ", destination = ", destination);
return file.copy(destination);
});
return Promise.all(promiseArray);
};