Download from server to Mac - High Sierra

[jbross]

I know I have done this in the past, but it has been hit or miss. I have read some remedies online, but they don't seem to work for me. I am sorry that this topic seems to be redundant, but I would appreciate a definitive answer.

Here's the Problem:

I wan to download a file from a remote server. I logon to the remote server and then I access my Users directory on my iMac.

I then go to the desktop folder and drag the file I want to download to that desktop folder, but only a shadow copy is made in a second. There is no data, just a shell file.

I have tried downloading to other directories, locations, etc., but I cannot seem to get a consistent download.

Last week I was able to download a file, but I don't remember the exact path.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you for your time on my behalf!

Regards,

J. Ross

[botg]

What's inside the shell file?

[jbross]

The "shell" file appears to be blank. I can't really open it to see what it contains. When I have downloaded the actual backup from softaculous, it takes a while and I can watch the progress as it downloads. The shell file downloads in a couple of seconds. It is 4 kb in size which probably contains any actual data.

Thank you for your time and consideration.