`download` operation

lib/vagrant/communication/base.rb

@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ module Vagrant
       def ready?
       end
 
+      # Download a file from the virtual machine to the local machine.
+      #
+      # @param [String] from Path of the file on the virtual machine.
+      # @param [String] to Path to where to save the remote file.
+      def download(from, to)
+      end
+
       # Upload a file to the virtual machine.
       #
       # @param [String] from Path to a file to upload.

lib/vagrant/communication/ssh.rb

@@ -71,20 +71,20 @@ module Vagrant
         execute(command, opts, &block)
       end
 
+      def download(from, to=nil)
+        @logger.debug("Downloading: #{from} to #{to}")
+
+        scp_connect do |scp|
+          scp.download!(from, to)
+        end
+      end
+
       def upload(from, to)
         @logger.debug("Uploading: #{from} to #{to}")
 
-        # Do an SCP-based upload...
+        scp_connect do |scp|
-        connect do |connection|
-          scp = Net::SCP.new(connection)
           scp.upload!(from, to)
         end
-      rescue Net::SCP::Error => e
-        # If we get the exit code of 127, then this means SCP is unavailable.
-        raise Errors::SCPUnavailable if e.message =~ /\(127\)/
-
-        # Otherwise, just raise the error up
-        raise
       end
 
       protected
@@ -219,6 +219,22 @@ module Vagrant
         # Return the final exit status
         return exit_status
       end
+
+      # Opens an SCP connection and yields it so that you can download
+      # and upload files.
+      def scp_connect
+        # Connect to SCP and yield the SCP object
+        connect do |connection|
+          scp = Net::SCP.new(connection)
+          return yield scp
+        end
+      rescue Net::SCP::Error => e
+        # If we get the exit code of 127, then this means SCP is unavailable.
+        raise Errors::SCPUnavailable if e.message =~ /\(127\)/
+
+        # Otherwise, just raise the error up
+        raise
+      end
     end
   end
 end

lib/vagrant/easy_command/operations.rb

@@ -16,6 +16,19 @@ module Vagrant
         @vm = vm
       end
 
+      # Download a file from the remote virtual machine. If `to` is nil, then
+      # the contents are returned as a string.
+      #
+      # @param [String] from Path on the remote VM to download.
+      # @param [String] to Path to a local file to save to.
+      # @return [String] File contents if `to` is nil.
+      def download(from, to=nil)
+        raise Errors::VMNotRunningError if @vm.state != :running
+
+        @logger.info("download: #{from} => #{to}")
+        @vm.channel.download(from, to)
+      end
+
       # Runs a command on the local machine. This will return an object where
       # you can access the `exit_code`, `stdout`, and `stderr` easiy:
       #
@@ -69,6 +82,8 @@ module Vagrant
       # @param [String] from Path to a local file or an IO object.
       # @param [String] to Path where to upload to.
       def upload(from, to)
+        raise Errors::VMNotRunningError if @vm.state != :running
+
         # If we're dealing with an IO object, then save it to a temporary
         # file and upload that. We define `temp = nil` here so that it
         # doesn't go out of scope and get GC'd until after the method