Downloading a File Protected by NTLM/SSPI Without Prompting For Credentials Using Python on Win32?
curl, python, pywin32, winapi
Solution
I ended up finding some VB code from a Microsoft support page that uses a function from `urlmon.dll` I replicated it with a single line of `ctypes` code and it accomplished exactly what I needed it to do.
ctypes.windll.urlmon.URLDownloadToFileA(0,url,local_file_name,0,0)
- `url` is the location of the resource (in this case, an Excel file on a Sharepoint site)
- `local_file_name` is the local path and name of the file to be saved.
This passed credentials across the wire with no prompts.
Problem
I need to download a file on a corporate Sharepoint site using CPython. Existing codebase prevents me from using Ironpython without porting the code, so .NET's `WebClient` library is out. I also want to download the file without prompting the user to save and without prompting the user for network credentials. I tried other libraries, but they all had short-comings: - `urllib2` plus `python-ntlm`: requires user/pass to be provided - COM automation of Internet Explorer: requires the user to click 'Save' - `subprocess` using `wget` or `cURL`: couldn't get either to authenticate without requesting user/pass I couldn't find anything in `pywin32` that looks like it hooks into urllib2 or provides equivalent functionality. So, is there a way to download the file without requesting credentials and without prompting the user to click 'Save'?