Question

PHP copy() and a 4GB limit

Asked by: glcummins

On a FreeBSD 6.2 system, my PHP scripts are encountering a 4GB filesize limit when using copy(). The copy process simply fails when 4 gigabytes have been transferred.

The attempted transfer is from a local file to a local file, and the filesystem is UFS (which has a 1TB filesize limit).

I have been unable to find any documentation regarding such a limit in PHP or FreeBSD. Can anyone provide a work-around for copying large files within PHP? Shelling out and using system commands is a possibility, but I would prefer to stay in PHP if possible.

PHP version is 5.1.6 with the Suhosin patch.

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Asked On
2008-10-13 at 06:58:35ID23809473
Tags

PHP, FreeBSD

,

5.1.6, 6.2

,

PHP

,

4GB filesize limit

Topics

PHP Scripting Language

,

FreeBSD

,

BSD Unix

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
12

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Answers

 

by: chingmdPosted on 2008-10-13 at 08:51:31ID: 22703445

I'm no php expert, but reading your question, made me think that the limit is PHP itself.    That being the case, I would split the file into managable sizes, and unsplit (if needed) in the destination location.

 

by: glcumminsPosted on 2008-10-13 at 08:57:28ID: 22703488

I agree that this sounds like a PHP limit. However, I have been unable to find anything in the PHP documentation that would indicate such a limit.

Unfortunately, splitting the file is not an option in this case. A confirmation from someone that they have encountered a similar issue would be enough to determine that this is a system (rather than a user) error.

 

by: smueller72Posted on 2008-10-13 at 08:59:06ID: 22703503

You can always use shell_exec to run shell commands with php
http://us3.php.net/shell_exec

There will be no limit as you are basically running a shell command, and it uses php.

 

by: glcumminsPosted on 2008-10-13 at 09:02:22ID: 22703537

Shelling out is a possibility, but I would prefer to stay in PHP if I can.

If no other solution presents itself, however, this will be the only option I can see.

 

by: smueller72Posted on 2008-10-13 at 11:32:16ID: 22704934

can you do a df -h in bash and post the results here? im wondering if your /tmp dir only has 4gb available.

 

by: smueller72Posted on 2008-10-13 at 11:34:17ID: 22704951

also, if you are using a fat32 filesystem, it does not support files larger than 4gb.

 

by: glcumminsPosted on 2008-10-13 at 11:43:43ID: 22705031

I am using ufs which should have a 1TB filesize limit. Here is the output of df:

Filesystem     Size    Used   Avail Capacity  Mounted on
/dev/ad4s1a   190M     57M   117M    33%     /
devfs              1.0K    1.0K       0B   100%    /dev
/dev/ad4s4d     74G     42G     26G     62%    /usr
/dev/ad4s3d     69G     56M     64G      0%    /var
/dev/ad5s1     144G     35G     97G     27%    /var/db/mysql

If the file copy process was dependent on the /tmp directory it would fail much sooner than 4GB, I think, since the / directory has only 190M in total size.

 

by: smueller72Posted on 2008-10-13 at 12:21:33ID: 22705397

have you tried a similar transfer with something large, but not as large as 4gb? (ex. 1gb).

 

by: glcumminsPosted on 2008-10-13 at 12:34:38ID: 22705567

Yes, I have tested with a range of file sizes, and anything up to 4GB works.

 

by: michel-angeloPosted on 2008-10-13 at 12:46:50ID: 22705699

If this is a PHP limitation and you would like to stay within the script (No exec""), could you use fopen and fread to copy the file in chuncks?

 

by: glcumminsPosted on 2008-10-13 at 12:52:14ID: 22705753

@michel-angelo:

That's an idea. I'll give it a try and report back.

 

by: glcumminsPosted on 2008-11-17 at 07:29:58ID: 22976200

I apologize for the delay in closing this question. Thank you for your assistance.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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