POST/upload size limited - why?

Havin_it2

Hi,

I wonder if anyone knows of any bugs that could severely limit the maximum size of $POST or $FILES. I have had no problem using POST methods before, but recently tried forms with larger textareas and image uploading via POST, neither of which work. Here's my stats:

WinXP Home on Celeron 2.6Ghz (30GB HD)
OpenSA web server comprising:
- Apache 1.3.27
- PHP 4.2.2
- mod_ssl 2.8.11
- OpenSSL 0.96g
- mod_gzip 1.3.19.1a
- DAV 1.0.3
Testing locally with IE6 SP1

The largest CONTENT_LENGTH I can successfully pass in a form is 488 bytes. The largest GIF I can successfully upload is just under 3kb. It appears as if the POST is initially successful, as the CONTENT_LENGTH value is never null, but if I echo $POST or $FILES, these are null (and no temporary files are created in my temp folder).

I have all max filesize directives in php.ini set to 8MB, and have also tried writing them as 8000000 (bytes), but can't find any way around this limitation. Any ideas?

Merve

Check upload_max_filesize and post_max_size in your php.ini

Havin_it2

I HAVE checked them, those were the directives I was referring to in my post.

post_max_size = 8M
max_upload_size = 8M
memory_limit = 8M

There is a bugreport at bugs.php.net
http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=22427

but no meaningful answers have been given. They seem to say "update your version of PHP" when users are reporting the same bug in the most recent builds. Someone there suggested it was an Apache problem but there are no size-relatede directives in my httpd.conf (should there be?)

I'm just wondering if any of you have encountered this same problem, and if you found a workaround or solution? I'd rather not reinstall new-version Apache/PHP unless i KNOW the new build fixes the problem.

Anyone?

onlinegs

I know this may sound stupid, but run a phpinfo(), and double check its listed as 8M in there. I have accidentally modified the wrong php.ini file.

Also, maybe try updating to PHP 4.3.4 and/or Apache2 (Unless this is a public server, then its your call if you think you wanna risk Apache2).

Havin_it2

Well, there's the rub: it's not much good if I can get it working on my test server, but no one is hosting with Apache2 yet. Also, there was one user at bugs.php who reported the problem with Apache2 as well (though their report was kinda inconclusive).

I might try PHP4.3.4 for testing, but I fear this isn't widely supported by hosting companies yet either.

I just wonder if the problem lies somewhere beyond the scope of PHP or even Apache, as there aren't as many people with the same problem as I would expect. But it has been reported on Unix boxes too, so it's hard to imagine where to start.

My only hope from this thread is to find someone who's experiencing the same phenomenon, and maybe we can compare system spec's to narrow down the scope.

(Yes, it's the right php.ini - I only have one, and no PHP directives in .htaccess files either.)

onlinegs

Could me maybe just be a browser bug...have you tried different browsers?

Havin_it2

OH DEAR.

I just tried Mozilla Firebird and my pages hardly run at all - NONE of my html forms are behaving, even the ones that worked before! Pardon my naiivety, but i never realised browser compatibility was such an issue with server-side programming!
Anyone have a good source of info on this type of issue?

Well, one thing at a time. The original problem affects only the back-end of the site, which would only be accessed by IE anyway (or could be another browser if it *&%^$ works).

I'll try updating PHP but not really sure how, as I got it as part of an all-in-one binary with Apache and OpenSSL. Do I only need to replace php4ts.dll?

Havin_it2

UPDATE:

It appears the bundled server I was using actually had PHP as CGI executable, so I ditched it and experimented with about a million alternatives (it ain't easy getting Apache with mod_ssl and OpenSSL precompiled y'know) and...

Basically gave up on Apache for the time being. Now using Sambar server which includes OpenSSL, added PHP 4.3.4 as ISAPI module, and so far things are working as planned, though there's more testing to be done.

So I still don't really know whether it was a PHP bug, Apache bug or browser bug. I'd like to keep this thread alive to learn more, purely on the basis that php.net and apache.org are stolidly ignoring anyone who mentions it.

Cheers

Batgar

locate your php.conf file and change the LimitRequestBody variable to something higher.

Changing php.ini, .htaccess (for your dir), or Apache will not help.

It is in the php.conf file.

Restart Apache, and you are good to go.