2

I have a question.

I have a script that handles file upload, and after the file is done uploading, I send $_FILES data over to another local script via curl, which handles the files and puts it into proper place.

The problem is, it works perfectly on my local, using following curl settings:

curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_URL,$url);
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_POST,count($fields));
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS,$fields_string);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);

I run windows 7, but when I moved the script to my dedicated server (CentOS), it stopped working.

After doing some research, when the file is uploaded, it is stored in /tmp directory.

It turns out, the file uploaded to /tmp is deleted right before my curl call. It is known that PHP deletes tmp file uploads once the script finishes executing.

Is there a setting I could use in CURL to bypass this problem? It works fine locally, I just don't understand why it wouldn't work on my CentOS server..

UPDATE: It worked on my other server, which runs on linux as well... I don't know what particular setting it is to change this, but it seems like every server configuration is different on this.

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

Because you are using CURL you are sending the web server a new request. There are a couple of things you are asking the web server to do:

  • get uploaded file
  • process script send
  • new request to web server process
  • second request

in the mean time, the engine knows it needs to perform the following task; tidy up uploaded files

The different environments opens the possibilty to process those tasks in a different order (e.g. Linux+Apache vs Windows+IIS). When it decides to tidy up the uploaded files would explain what you are seeing:

  • get uploaded file
  • process script send
  • new request to web server
  • <- here
  • process second request
  • <- here

in the first position, your script breaks, in the second it will work. This is because in the first spot your uploaded file has been deleted before your second request/script is processed/run. Like Marc mentioned, this is core functionality so you will need to modify your script to use move_uploaded_file() and then pass the location of the file to your other script.

Hopefully that sheds some light on why it's operating differently in the different environments.

Improve this answer
Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Thank you for the detailed response, but is there anyway we could avoid that? I see the CURL has lots of options, is there anyway to make it persist?
If the file isn't there when you try to use CURL, there is no way you can get CURL to 'un-delete' the file. One other thing that is worth checking would be to see if the file is actually being uploaded. You said it's deleted before you CURL call, but have you established it's been properly uploaded? If it's actually not being uploaded correctly, it's a different issue and you should check write permissions on your tmp folder for the user the service is running under.
0

You'd have to move the file out of /tmp to another directory using move_uploaded_file() when the original upload finishes, or initiate the curl upload from within the same script. Otherwise PHP will clean up the file and there's not much else you can do.

The automatic cleanup is core PHP functionality, and curl can't affect it.

Improve this answer

1 Comment

I understand that, but why does it work on my local? It also worked on a different server, but I am not a sys admin so I can't say for sure why...

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.