Download a File
Download a .fmp12 file from a FileMaker Server to your local machine. Two source types are supported:
- Backup file — a static
.fmp12in the server’s backup directory, streamed to you as-is. - Live hosted file — a currently hosted database. The live file is not streamed directly (that would be slow and could produce an inconsistent copy). Instead the portal takes a snapshot first, then downloads that.
This workflow shows an Experimental banner. Downloading a live/hosted database copies data — including production data — onto your local machine. Handle it accordingly.
The wizard has four steps:
1. Select a client and server
From the homepage, click Download File, choose a client, then the server to download from. Production servers show a red badge. Mac and Linux servers are both supported.
2. Choose a file
Two tabs:
- Backup file — browse the server’s backup directory (folders and
.fmp12files) and select one. - Live hosted file — pick from the server’s currently hosted databases.
The Live hosted file tab is disabled when the FM Admin API is not configured for the portal, because the snapshot step needs to pause the database. Backup downloads still work in that case.
3. Review and download
Shows the server, source type, filename and size.
- Compress before download (gzip) — optional. Produces a
.fmp12.gzthat can be much smaller over slow links. Trade-offs: the browser cannot show a download progress bar while the file is being compressed, and already-encrypted (EAR) files compress very little. Leave unchecked to download the raw.fmp12with a normal progress bar. - For a live file, a disk-space card shows the snapshot’s projected impact on the server’s staging volume. Because the snapshot is deleted once the download finishes, the card’s After figure returns to where Used now started — the volume only has to hold it while the download is in progress, which is what Peak during shows. The snapshot is a real write to the server, so the disk-capacity policy applies: the button is disabled if the snapshot will not fit, or until you acknowledge taking the volume above 90%, and it is refused above 95%. A backup download only reads, so it has no disk card.
Production servers require an explicit confirmation before the download starts.
Click Download (backup) or Snapshot & download (live).
4. Live-file snapshot
For a live file, a progress page shows the snapshot being taken:
| Phase | What is happening |
|---|---|
| Initialising | Connecting and resolving server paths |
| Pausing | The hosted file is paused (skipped if it is already closed/paused) |
| Snapshot | A sudo cp copy is taken into the staging directory |
| Resuming | The hosted file is resumed |
| Download | The snapshot is sent to your browser, then deleted from the server |
The database is paused only for the brief snapshot copy — it is resumed before the download begins, so the download itself does not keep the file paused. The staged snapshot is removed once the download completes (or is cancelled). Abandoned snapshots are also swept automatically after 60 minutes.
If you cancel the download
Once the transfer is handed to your browser it is the browser’s request, not the portal’s page — so the page asks the server how it ended and updates itself when it knows. Cancelling in your browser’s download manager resolves the card to Download cancelled, noting that the partial file in your downloads folder is incomplete.
For a live file, cancelling also means the staged snapshot has already been removed and the one-time download link has been used, so the card offers Download again — which takes a fresh snapshot — instead of a retry link that would no longer work.
The server learns about a cancel by seeing your browser drop the connection. If you cancel after the last byte has already been sent, the download is recorded as OK — from the server’s side it finished.
History
The Downloads tab on the History page lists every download, with server, source type, filename, and result — OK, Cancelled, or Failed (hover the badge for the error).