move_uploaded_file failure

Question

Can someone help me understand why this is returning false?

if ((move_uploaded_file($_FILES[$field]['tmp_name'], $path))) {

As in, potential causes. I have checked the variables are correct and I have checked permissions on the destination folder which is 777.

Cheers!

For those wanting to see var_dump ($_FILES);

array(1) { ["image"]=>  array(5) { ["name"]=>  string(14) "accountile.png" 
["type"]=>  string(9) "image/png" ["tmp_name"]=>  string(14) "/tmp/php28IQhv" 
["error"]=>  int(0) ["size"]=>  int(394) } }

Answer 1

With move_uploaded_file you don't need 777 permissions. What is the output of $path? Have you verified that $path exists? Have you verified that $field exists?

Either $field or $path don't exist, or open_basedir is in effect is my guess.

Is open_basedir restriction enabled? That could prevent the destination of the uploaded file from being written to. Look in your php.ini for open_basedir, if there's a path specified then it is enabled and you want to see if the destination path of your uploaded file is within this path. If it is, that's why it's failing.

update

$path cannot be a URL, it must be a local path such as /home/user/public_html/

Answer 2

Basic debugging steps:

• What does a print_r($_FILES) look like?
• Does the source file actually exist?
• Is the "error" flag of the file upload zero (will be visible when doing the print_r)
• What does the target $path look like?
• Are you specifying a full file name in the target path?

My guess is that $path is only a path to a folder, not to a full file name.

Update: You need to specify a filesystem path as $path.

Answer 3

Did you check permission on the temporary upload folder?

What does php tell you if you do:

var_dump($_FILES);

Answer 4

Don't use

$path = "http://www.barbadostravelbuddy.co.uk/demo/images/carhire
    /accountile10420103260403000000pm.png"

but

$path = "/home/sites/barbadostravelbuddy.co.uk/public_html/demo/images/carhire/
    accountile10420103260403000000pm.png"

It needs to be a path on the system, not an URL.

Answer 5

I have checked the variables

Do not check variables but check error messages.
It's the only thing you need.
Add these lines at the top of your code

ini_set('display_errors',1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);

and see what it says.
If move_uploaded_file failed, it will always raise an error with detailed explanation.
You won't believe it, but reading error messages is way more efficient way to find a problem than guesswork you tried before

I can't believe noone mentioned it already.