diff --git a/includes/filetransfer/filetransfer.inc b/includes/filetransfer/filetransfer.inc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2fb76991308
--- /dev/null
+++ b/includes/filetransfer/filetransfer.inc
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+<?php
+// $Id$
+
+/*
+ * Connection class.
+ *
+ * This class does file operations on directories not writeable by the
+ * webserver. It connects back to the server using some backend (for example
+ * FTP or SSH). To keep security the password should always be asked from the
+ * user and never stored.
+ */
+abstract class FileTransfer {
+
+  /**
+   * The constructer for the UpdateConnection class. This method is also called
+   * from the classes that extend this class and override this method.
+   */
+  function __construct($settings) {
+    $this->username = $settings['username'];
+    $this->password = $settings['password'];
+    $this->hostname = isset($settings['hostname']) ? $settings['hostname'] : 'localhost';
+    if (isset($settings['port'])) {
+      $this->port = $settings['port'];
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Implementation of the magic __get() method. If the connection isn't set to
+   * anything, this will call the connect() method and set it to and return the
+   * result; afterwards, the connection will be returned directly without using
+   * this method.
+   */
+  function __get($name) {
+    static $connection;
+    if ($name == 'connection') {
+      $this->connection = $this->connect();
+      return $this->connection;
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Copies a directory.
+   *
+   * @param $source
+   *   The source path.
+   * @param $destination
+   *   The destination path.
+   */
+  protected function copyDirectory($source, $destination) {
+    $this->createDirectory($destination . basename($source));
+    foreach (new RecursiveIteratorIterator(new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($source), RecursiveIteratorIterator::SELF_FIRST) as $filename => $file) {
+      $relative_path = basename($source) . substr($filename, strlen($source));
+      if ($file->isDir()) {
+        $this->createDirectory($destination . $relative_path);
+      }
+      else {
+        $this->copyFile($file->getPathName(), $destination . $relative_path);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Creates a directory.
+   *
+   * @param $directory
+   *   The directory to be created.
+   */
+  abstract function createDirectory($directory);
+
+  /**
+   * Removes a directory.
+   *
+   * @param $directory
+   *   The directory to be removed.
+   */
+  abstract function removeDirectory($directory);
+
+  /**
+   * Copies a file.
+   *
+   * @param $source
+   *   The source file.
+   * @param $destination
+   *   The destination file.
+   */
+  abstract function copyFile($source, $destination);
+
+
+  /**
+   * Removes a file.
+   *
+   * @param $destination
+   *   The destination file to be removed.
+   */
+  abstract function removeFile($destination);
+}
+
+/**
+ * FileTransferException class.
+ */
+class FileTransferException extends Exception {
+}
diff --git a/includes/filetransfer/ftp.inc b/includes/filetransfer/ftp.inc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d21e88becf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/includes/filetransfer/ftp.inc
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+<?php
+// $Id$
+
+/**
+ * Common code for the FTP connections.
+ */
+abstract class FileTransferFTP extends FileTransfer {
+  function __construct($settings) {
+    // This is the default, if $settings contains a port, this will be overridden.
+    $this->port = 21;
+    parent::__construct($settings);
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Connection class using the FTP URL wrapper.
+ */
+class FileTransferFTPWrapper extends FileTransfer {
+  function connect() {
+    $this->connection = 'ftp://' . urlencode($this->username) . ':' . urlencode($this->password) . '@' . $this->hostname . ':' . $this->port . '/';
+    if (!is_dir($this->connection)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('FTP Connection failed.');
+    }
+  }
+
+  function createDirectory($directory) {
+    if (!@createDirectory($directory)) {
+      $exception = new FileTransferException('Cannot create directory @directory.', NULL, array('@directory' => $directory));
+      throw $exception;
+    }
+  }
+
+  function removeDirectory($directory) {
+    if (realpath(substr($directory, 0, strlen(DRUPAL_ROOT))) !== DRUPAL_ROOT) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('@directory is outside of the Drupal root.', NULL, array('@directory' => $directory));
+    }
+    if (is_dir($directory)) {
+      $dh = opendir($directory);
+      while (($resource = readdir($dh)) !== FALSE) {
+        if ($resource == '.' || $resource == '..') {
+          continue;
+        }
+        $full_path = $directory . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $resource;
+        if (is_file($full_path)) {
+          $this->removeFile($full_path);
+        }
+        elseif (is_dir($full_path)) {
+          $this->removeDirectory($full_path . '/');
+        }
+      }
+      closedir($dh);
+      if (!removeDirectory($directory)) {
+        $exception = new FileTransferException('Cannot remove @directory.', NULL, array('@directory' => $directory));
+        throw $exception;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  function copyFile($source, $destination) {
+    if (!@copy($this->connection . '/' . $source, $this->connection . '/' . $destination)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('Cannot copy @source_file to @destination_file.', NULL, array('@source' => $source, '@destination' => $destination));
+    }
+  }
+
+  function removeFile($destination) {
+    if (!@unlink($destination)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('Cannot remove @destination', NULL, array('@destination' => $destination));
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+class FileTransferFTPExtension extends FileTransfer {
+  function connect() {
+    $this->connection = ftp_connect($this->hostname, $this->port);
+
+    if (!$this->connection) {
+      throw new FileTransferException("Cannot connect to FTP Server, please check settings");
+    }
+    if (!ftp_login($this->connection, $this->username, $this->password)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException("Cannot login to FTP server, please check username and password");
+    }
+  }
+
+  function copyFile($source, $destination) {
+    if (!@ftp_put($this->connection,  $destination, $source, FTP_BINARY)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException("Cannot move @source to @destination", NULL, array("@source" => $source, "@destination" => $destination));
+    }
+  }
+
+  function createDirectory($directory) {
+    if (!@ftp_createDirectory($this->connection, $directory)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException("Cannot create directory @directory", NULL, array("@directory" => $directory));
+    }
+  }
+
+  function removeDirectory($directory) {
+    if (realpath(substr($directory, 0, strlen(DRUPAL_ROOT))) !== DRUPAL_ROOT) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('@directory is outside of the Drupal root.', NULL, array('@directory' => $directory));
+    }
+    $pwd = ftp_pwd($this->connection);
+    if (!@ftp_chdir($this->connection, $directory)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException("Unable to change to directory @directory", NULL, array('@directory' => $directory));
+    }
+    $list = @ftp_nlist($this->connection, '.');
+    foreach ($list as $item){
+      if ($item == '.' || $item == '..') {
+        continue;
+      }
+      if (@ftp_chdir($this->connection, $item)){
+        ftp_chdir($this->connection, '..');
+        $this->removeDirectory($item);
+      }
+      else {
+        $this->removeFile($item);
+      }
+    }
+    ftp_chdir($this->connection, $pwd);
+    if (!ftp_removeDirectory($this->connection, $directory)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException("Unable to remove to directory @directory", NULL, array('@directory' => $directory));
+    }
+  }
+
+  function removeFile($destination) {
+    if (!ftp_delete($this->connection, $item)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException("Unable to remove to file @file", NULL, array('@file' => $item));
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/includes/filetransfer/ssh.inc b/includes/filetransfer/ssh.inc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..846b976dd3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/includes/filetransfer/ssh.inc
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+<?php
+// $Id$
+
+/**
+ * The SSH connection class for the update module.
+ */
+class FileTransferSSH extends FileTransfer {
+
+  function __construct($settings) {
+    // This is the default, if $settings contains a port, this will be overridden.
+    $this->port = 22;
+    parent::__construct($settings);
+  }
+
+  function connect() {
+    $this->connection = @ssh2_connect($setings['hostname'], $this->port);
+    if (!$this->connection) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('SSH Connection failed.');
+    }
+    if (!@ssh2_auth_password($this->connection, $this->username, $this->password)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('The supplied username/password combination was not accepted.');
+    }
+  }
+
+  function copyFile($source, $destination) {
+    if (!@ssh2_scp_send($this->connection, $source, $destination)) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('Cannot copy @source_file to @destination_file.', NULL, array('@source' => $source, '@destination' => $destination));
+    }
+  }
+
+  function copyDirectory($source, $destination) {
+    if (!@ssh2_exec($this->connection, 'cp -Rp ' . escapeshellarg($source) . ' ' . escapeshellarg($destination))) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('Cannot copy directory @directory.', NULL, array('@directory' => $source));
+    }
+  }
+
+  function createDirectory($directory) {
+    if (!@ssh2_exec($this->connection, 'mkdir ' . escapeshellarg($directory))) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('Cannot create directory @directory.', NULL, array('@directory' => $directory));
+    }
+  }
+
+  function removeDirectory($directory) {
+    if (realpath(substr($directory, 0, strlen(DRUPAL_ROOT))) !== DRUPAL_ROOT) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('@directory is outside of the Drupal root.', NULL, array('@directory' => $directory));
+    }
+    if (!@ssh2_exec($this->connection, 'rm -Rf ' . escapeshellarg($directory))) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('Cannot remove @directory.', NULL, array('@directory' => $directory));
+    }
+  }
+  
+  function removeFile($destination) {
+    if (!@ssh2_exec($this->connection, 'rm ' . escapeshellarg($destination))) {
+      throw new FileTransferException('Cannot remove @directory.', NULL, array('@directory' => $destination));
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/modules/system/system.module b/modules/system/system.module
index c4224423df5..807b800154f 100644
--- a/modules/system/system.module
+++ b/modules/system/system.module
@@ -827,6 +827,36 @@ function system_admin_menu_block_access($path, $permission) {
   return !empty($content);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Implementation of hook_filetransfer_backends().
+ */
+function system_filetransfer_backends() {
+  $backends = array();
+
+  // SSH2 lib connection is only available if the proper PHP extension is
+  // installed.
+  if (function_exists('ssh2_connect')) {
+    $backends['ssh'] = array(
+      'title' => t('SSH'),
+      'class' => 'FileTransferSSH',
+    );
+  }
+  if (function_exists('ftp_connect')) {
+    $backends['ftp_extension'] = array(
+      'title' => t('FTP Extension'),
+      'class' => 'FileTransferFTPExtension',
+    );
+  }
+
+  if (ini_get('allow_url_fopen')) {
+    $backends['ftp_wrapper'] = array(
+      'title' => t('FTP Wrapper'),
+      'class' => 'FileTransferFTPWrapper',
+    );
+  }
+  return $backends;
+}
+
 /**
  * Implement hook_init().
  */
@@ -2509,3 +2539,33 @@ function system_image_toolkits() {
     ),
   );
 }
+
+/**
+ * Attempts to get a file using drupal_http_request and to store it locally.
+ *
+ * @param $path
+ *   The URL of the file to grab.
+ * @return
+ *   On success the address the files was saved to, FALSE on failure.
+ */
+function system_retrieve_file($path) {
+  // Get each of the specified files.
+  $parsed_url = parse_url($path);
+  $local = file_directory_temp() . '/update-cache/' . basename($parsed_url['path']);
+  if (!file_exists(file_directory_temp() . '/update-cache/')) {
+    mkdir(file_directory_temp() . '/update-cache/');
+  }
+
+  // Check the cache and download the file if needed.
+  if (!file_exists($local)) {
+    // $result->data is the actual contents of the downloaded file. This saves
+    // it into a local file, whose path is stored in $local. $local is stored
+    // relative to the Drupal installation.
+    $result = drupal_http_request($path);
+    if ($result->code != 200 || !file_save_data($result->data, $local)) {
+      drupal_set_message(t('@remote could not be saved.', array('@remote' => $path)), 'error');
+      return FALSE;
+    }
+  }
+  return $local;
+}