Fastest way to copy a file in Node.js

Question

The project that I am working on (Node.js) implies lots of operations with the file system (copying, reading, writing, etc.).

Which methods are the fastest?

Answer 1

Use the standard built-in way fs.copyFile:

const fs = require('fs');

// File destination.txt will be created or overwritten by default.
fs.copyFile('source.txt', 'destination.txt', (err) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('source.txt was copied to destination.txt');
});

If you have to support old end-of-life versions of Node.js - here is how you do it in versions that do not support fs.copyFile:

const fs = require('fs');
fs.createReadStream('test.log').pipe(fs.createWriteStream('newLog.log'));

Answer 2

Same mechanism, but this adds error handling:

function copyFile(source, target, cb) {
  var cbCalled = false;

  var rd = fs.createReadStream(source);
  rd.on("error", function(err) {
    done(err);
  });
  var wr = fs.createWriteStream(target);
  wr.on("error", function(err) {
    done(err);
  });
  wr.on("close", function(ex) {
    done();
  });
  rd.pipe(wr);

  function done(err) {
    if (!cbCalled) {
      cb(err);
      cbCalled = true;
    }
  }
}

Answer 3

I was not able to get the createReadStream/createWriteStream method working for some reason, but using the fs-extra npm module it worked right away. I am not sure of the performance difference though.

npm install --save fs-extra

var fs = require('fs-extra');

fs.copySync(path.resolve(__dirname, './init/xxx.json'), 'xxx.json');

Answer 4

Since Node.js 8.5.0 we have the new fs.copyFile and fs.copyFileSync methods.

Usage example:

var fs = require('fs');

// File "destination.txt" will be created or overwritten by default.
fs.copyFile('source.txt', 'destination.txt', (err) => {
    if (err) 
        throw err;
    console.log('source.txt was copied to destination.txt');
});

Answer 5

Fast to write and convenient to use, with promise and error management:

function copyFile(source, target) {
  var rd = fs.createReadStream(source);
  var wr = fs.createWriteStream(target);
  return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
    rd.on('error', reject);
    wr.on('error', reject);
    wr.on('finish', resolve);
    rd.pipe(wr);
  }).catch(function(error) {
    rd.destroy();
    wr.end();
    throw error;
  });
}

The same with async/await syntax:

async function copyFile(source, target) {
  var rd = fs.createReadStream(source);
  var wr = fs.createWriteStream(target);
  try {
    return await new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
      rd.on('error', reject);
      wr.on('error', reject);
      wr.on('finish', resolve);
      rd.pipe(wr);
    });
  } catch (error) {
    rd.destroy();
    wr.end();
    throw error;
  }
}

Answer 6

Well, usually it is good to avoid asynchronous file operations. Here is the short (i.e. no error handling) sync example:

var fs = require('fs');
fs.writeFileSync(targetFile, fs.readFileSync(sourceFile));

Answer 7

If you don't care about it being async, and aren't copying gigabyte-sized files, and would rather not add another dependency just for a single function:

function copySync(src, dest) {
  var data = fs.readFileSync(src);
  fs.writeFileSync(dest, data);
}

Answer 8

Mike Schilling's solution with error handling with a shortcut for the error event handler.

function copyFile(source, target, cb) {
  var cbCalled = false;

  var rd = fs.createReadStream(source);
  rd.on("error", done);

  var wr = fs.createWriteStream(target);
  wr.on("error", done);
  wr.on("close", function(ex) {
    done();
  });
  rd.pipe(wr);

  function done(err) {
    if (!cbCalled) {
      cb(err);
      cbCalled = true;
    }
  }
}

Answer 9

   const fs = require("fs");
   fs.copyFileSync("filepath1", "filepath2"); //fs.copyFileSync("file1.txt", "file2.txt");

This is what I personally use to copy a file and replace another file using Node.js :)

Answer 10

You may want to use async/await, since node v10.0.0 it's possible with the built-in fs Promises API.

Example:

const fs = require('fs')

const copyFile = async (src, dest) => {
  await fs.promises.copyFile(src, dest)
}

Note:

As of node v11.14.0, v10.17.0 the API is no longer experimental.

More information:

Promises API

Promises copyFile

Answer 11

Use Node.js's built-in copy function

It provides both async and sync version:

const fs = require('fs');

// File "destination.txt" will be created or overwritten by default.
fs.copyFile('source.txt', 'destination.txt', (err) => {
  if (err) 
      throw err;
  console.log('source.txt was copied to destination.txt');
});

fs.copyFileSync(src, dest[, mode])

Answer 12

For fast copies you should use the fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE flag. It allows (for filesystems that support this) to not actually copy the content of the file. Just a new file entry is created, but it points to a Copy-on-Write "clone" of the source file.

To do nothing/less is the fastest way of doing something ;)

https://nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_fs_copyfile_src_dest_flags_callback

let fs = require("fs");

fs.copyFile(
  "source.txt",
  "destination.txt",
  fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE,
  (err) => {
    if (err) {
      // TODO: handle error
      console.log("error");
    }
    console.log("success");
  }
);

Using promises instead:

let fs = require("fs");
let util = require("util");
let copyFile = util.promisify(fs.copyFile);


copyFile(
  "source.txt",
  "destination.txt",
  fs.constants.COPYFILE_FICLONE
)
  .catch(() => console.log("error"))
  .then(() => console.log("success"));

Answer 13

benweet's solution, but also checking the visibility of the file before copy:

function copy(from, to) {
    return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
        fs.access(from, fs.F_OK, function (error) {
            if (error) {
                reject(error);
            } else {
                var inputStream = fs.createReadStream(from);
                var outputStream = fs.createWriteStream(to);

                function rejectCleanup(error) {
                    inputStream.destroy();
                    outputStream.end();
                    reject(error);
                }

                inputStream.on('error', rejectCleanup);
                outputStream.on('error', rejectCleanup);

                outputStream.on('finish', resolve);

                inputStream.pipe(outputStream);
            }
        });
    });
}

Answer 14

You can do it using the fs-extra module very easily:

const fse = require('fs-extra');

let srcDir = 'path/to/file';
let destDir = 'pat/to/destination/directory';

fse.moveSync(srcDir, destDir, function (err) {

    // To move a file permanently from a directory
    if (err) {
        console.error(err);
    } else {
        console.log("success!");
    }
});

Or

fse.copySync(srcDir, destDir, function (err) {

     // To copy a file from a directory
     if (err) {
         console.error(err);
     } else {
         console.log("success!");
     }
});

Answer 15

I wrote a little utility to test the different methods:

https://www.npmjs.com/package/copy-speed-test

run it with

npx copy-speed-test --source someFile.zip --destination someNonExistentFolder

It does a native copy using child_process.exec(), a copy file using fs.copyFile and it uses createReadStream with a variety of different buffer sizes (you can change buffer sizes by passing them on the command line. run npx copy-speed-test -h for more info).

Answer 16

Mike's solution, but with promises:

const FileSystem = require('fs');

exports.copyFile = function copyFile(source, target) {
    return new Promise((resolve,reject) => {
        const rd = FileSystem.createReadStream(source);
        rd.on('error', err => reject(err));
        const wr = FileSystem.createWriteStream(target);
        wr.on('error', err => reject(err));
        wr.on('close', () => resolve());
        rd.pipe(wr);
    });
};

Answer 17

Improvement of one other answer.

Features:

• If the dst folders do not exist, it will automatically create it. The other answer will only throw errors.
• It returns a promise, which makes it easier to use in a larger project.
• It allows you to copy multiple files, and the promise will be done when all of them are copied.

Usage:

var onePromise = copyFilePromise("src.txt", "dst.txt");
var anotherPromise = copyMultiFilePromise(new Array(new Array("src1.txt", "dst1.txt"), new Array("src2.txt", "dst2.txt")));

Code:

function copyFile(source, target, cb) {
    console.log("CopyFile", source, target);

    var ensureDirectoryExistence = function (filePath) {
        var dirname = path.dirname(filePath);
        if (fs.existsSync(dirname)) {
            return true;
        }
        ensureDirectoryExistence(dirname);
        fs.mkdirSync(dirname);
    }
    ensureDirectoryExistence(target);

    var cbCalled = false;
    var rd = fs.createReadStream(source);
    rd.on("error", function (err) {
        done(err);
    });
    var wr = fs.createWriteStream(target);
    wr.on("error", function (err) {
        done(err);
    });
    wr.on("close", function (ex) {
        done();
    });
    rd.pipe(wr);
    function done(err) {
        if (!cbCalled) {
            cb(err);
            cbCalled = true;
        }
    }
}

function copyFilePromise(source, target) {
    return new Promise(function (accept, reject) {
        copyFile(source, target, function (data) {
            if (data === undefined) {
                accept();
            } else {
                reject(data);
            }
        });
    });
}

function copyMultiFilePromise(srcTgtPairArr) {
    var copyFilePromiseArr = new Array();
    srcTgtPairArr.forEach(function (srcTgtPair) {
        copyFilePromiseArr.push(copyFilePromise(srcTgtPair[0], srcTgtPair[1]));
    });
    return Promise.all(copyFilePromiseArr);
}

Answer 18

All previous solutions that do not check an existence of a source file are dangerous... For example,

fs.stat(source, function(err,stat) { if (err) { reject(err) }

Otherwise there is a risk in a scenario in case the source and target are by a mistake replaced, your data will be permanently lost without noticing any error.