File download via servlet doesn't work with IE via https

Question

I have a URL from a jsp page which points to a struts action servlet. This works with firefox via http and https. With IE it works via http but it doesn't work via https. The error message I get is "Internet Explorer cannot download ...File_name.doc from Server_name.
Internet Explorer was not able to open this Internet site. The requested site is either unavailable or cannot be found. Please try again later."
Here is my code.
public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form,
               HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
               throws Exception {
          String attachmentURL = AppSettings.get("EAIAttachmentURL");
          String encodingScheme = AppSettings.get("EAI_encoding");
          String filename = request.getParameter("URL");
          String fileStr = URLEncoder.encode(filename, encodingScheme);
          fileStr = fileStr.replaceAll("\\+","%20");
          URL targetURL = new URL(attachmentURL + "/" + fileStr);
          URLConnection connection = targetURL.openConnection();
          connection.setDoInput(true);
          connection.setDoOutput(false);
          connection.setAllowUserInteraction(false);
          BufferedInputStream attachmentStream = new BufferedInputStream(
                    connection.getInputStream());
          * Setting the content disposition filename, so that the
          * attachment preserves the original filename
          response.setHeader("Content-Disposition",
                    " attachment; filename=" + filename);
          if (connection.getContentType() != null) {
               response.setContentType(connection.getContentType());
          else {
               response.setContentType("application/octet-stream");
          response.setContentLength(connection.getContentLength());
          response.setHeader("Pragma", "public");
          response.setHeader("Cache-Control", "public, max-age=-1, must-revalidate");
          if ( connection.getContentEncoding() != null ) {
               response.setHeader("Content-Encoding",
                         connection.getContentEncoding());
          BufferedOutputStream responseStream = new BufferedOutputStream(
                    response.getOutputStream());
          byte[] buffer = new byte[4096];
          int bytesRead;
          try {
               while ((bytesRead = attachmentStream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
                    responseStream.write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
          } catch (Exception e) {
               log.error("AttachmentProxy error: " + e.getMessage());
          } finally {
               if (attachmentStream != null) {
                    attachmentStream.close();
               if (responseStream != null) {
                    responseStream.flush();
                    responseStream.close();
          return null;
There is a bug with IE when downloading via https according to Microsoft support site. Refer to http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;812935
According to this bug, I have set the response header - "pragma" to public and "cache-control" to public. I've also unchecked the Do not save encrypted pages to disk setting in IE Options, Advanced tab.
Has anyone come across this problem or a similar problem. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

I have a URL from a jsp page which points to a struts action servlet. This works with firefox via http and https. With IE it works via http but it doesn't work via https. The error message I get is "Internet Explorer cannot download ...File_name.doc from Server_name.
Internet Explorer was not able to open this Internet site. The requested site is either unavailable or cannot be found. Please try again later."
Here is my code.
public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form,
               HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
               throws Exception {
          String attachmentURL = AppSettings.get("EAIAttachmentURL");
          String encodingScheme = AppSettings.get("EAI_encoding");
          String filename = request.getParameter("URL");
          String fileStr = URLEncoder.encode(filename, encodingScheme);
          fileStr = fileStr.replaceAll("\\+","%20");
          URL targetURL = new URL(attachmentURL + "/" + fileStr);
          URLConnection connection = targetURL.openConnection();
          connection.setDoInput(true);
          connection.setDoOutput(false);
          connection.setAllowUserInteraction(false);
          BufferedInputStream attachmentStream = new BufferedInputStream(
                    connection.getInputStream());
          * Setting the content disposition filename, so that the
          * attachment preserves the original filename
          response.setHeader("Content-Disposition",
                    " attachment; filename=" + filename);
          if (connection.getContentType() != null) {
               response.setContentType(connection.getContentType());
          else {
               response.setContentType("application/octet-stream");
          response.setContentLength(connection.getContentLength());
          response.setHeader("Pragma", "public");
          response.setHeader("Cache-Control", "public, max-age=-1, must-revalidate");
          if ( connection.getContentEncoding() != null ) {
               response.setHeader("Content-Encoding",
                         connection.getContentEncoding());
          BufferedOutputStream responseStream = new BufferedOutputStream(
                    response.getOutputStream());
          byte[] buffer = new byte[4096];
          int bytesRead;
          try {
               while ((bytesRead = attachmentStream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
                    responseStream.write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
          } catch (Exception e) {
               log.error("AttachmentProxy error: " + e.getMessage());
          } finally {
               if (attachmentStream != null) {
                    attachmentStream.close();
               if (responseStream != null) {
                    responseStream.flush();
                    responseStream.close();
          return null;
There is a bug with IE when downloading via https according to Microsoft support site. Refer to http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;812935
According to this bug, I have set the response header - "pragma" to public and "cache-control" to public. I've also unchecked the Do not save encrypted pages to disk setting in IE Options, Advanced tab.
Has anyone come across this problem or a similar problem. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.