PHP4 is not deleting the session files in tmp???

[Anon]

Hi,
urgent problem. PHP4 is not deleting the sessionfiles in the tmp directory. Therefore there are way too many files there. MySQL is also using that directory for it's temporary stuff and doesn't have enough space, therefore it all goes down.

This is a mission critical website need to get this fixed asap.

I can't find anything wrong with the settings in php.ini (as seen through phpinfo.php)

I have a script running now that deletes session files, but it's obviously a far from perfect solution....

Questions:

1. PHP4 is supposed to do this deleting, not linux, correct?

2. session.gc_maxlifetime and session.gc_probability control how often PHP4 deletes old session files. Correct?

3. Any suggestions on where to start at all????

Settings:

session.auto_start
Off Off
session.cache_expire
180 180
session.cache_limiter
nocache nocache
session.cookie_domain
no value no value
session.cookie_lifetime
43200 43200
session.cookie_path
/ /
session.entropy_file
no value no value
session.entropy_length
0 0
session.gc_maxlifetime
1440 1440
session.gc_probability
1 1
session.name
SESSID SESSID
session.referer_check
no value no value
session.save_handler
files files
session.save_path
/tmp /tmp
session.serialize_handler
php php
session.use_cookies
On On

[Anon]

Pete,

Im having the same problems. Session files do not clean up after the browser closes..

I cant even seem to get the session to time out..

Have any brewed solutions?

-Buzzlightyear
To Infinity and Beyond!

[Anon]

Peter I think i can help!
FEW DISCLAIMERS:
1. I dont check this forum often so email me if u have more questions.

2. I'm still new to php, but am very familar with this stuff.

3. I'm not on Linux, on windows, but still I think I know your problem.

To answer your questions 1. Yes php4 does the deleting. It does it thru whats called the garbage collecter. 2. Yes you are right on those two settings: gc_maxlifetime and session.gc_probability, these control when to delete files. 3. Heres where to start: Try setting maxlifetime to like 10, this means that after ten seconds that file will be labeled as trash. "Trash" is emptied only on the next call of the garbage collecter. So set the gc.probabablity to 100. This means everytime a new cookie is instantiated, it'll clean up any "old" (10second old) session files. This should do the trick. Now, Being new at PHP, I presume that the garbage collecter is a very processor intensive operation or else they would not set the default value to 1. You may want to experiment and find whats right for you. If this post has helped, please let me know, for I'd like to know if I'm wrong.
Good luck
--joe

[Anon]

Hey Joe, your solution I think worked. But you posted this back in Jan, any new ideas or things you have learned about this?