Working with php.ini resource limits

You may come across limitations with your server configuration when installing or using Mautic. These commonly manifest as errors such as:

The Uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive

Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded - in file <filepath> - at line <line number> 

PHP Error: Allowed memory size of <number> bytes exhausted (tried to allocate <number> bytes) - in file <filepath> - at line <number>

These are, in general, not errors with Mautic, they are related to the way in which your server has been configured. To resolve these issues you will need to make some changes to your server configuration.

Requirements

To resolve these problems you will require:

• Access to your server to change configuration files - generally via SSH - or;
• Access to your hosting provider's Control Panel, which may allow you to change these settings via the User Interface
• Access to a text editor such as nano or Vi

Note: nano is used in this walkthrough, if you don't use Nano simply replace 'nano' with the name of the editor you prefer to use. See this resource for a useful keyboard shortcut guide when using Nano.

If you do not have either of these, or if you do not feel confident making these changes, you will probably need to raise a support ticket with your hosting provider or hire a freelancer to make these changes for you.

Find the php.ini file being loaded

The first step is to find which php.ini file is being loaded. The php.ini file is a configuration file which controls how PHP functions.

I have access to Mautic

If you have access to your Mautic instance, navigate to Settings > System Info > PHP Info where you will be able to view a file which tells you every configuration setting for PHP that Mautic is using. In particular, the areas outlined in red in the screenshot below will give you the paths to the relevant files.

A note on local v master values

When you view the PHP info file, you will notice two values, Master and Local.

Master Value

This comes from your main php.ini file (the one being loaded above in the ‘Loaded configuration file’ section). This is the value which applies server-wide.

Local Value

The global setting can be overridden locally in multiple locations, such as httpd.conf, .htaccess or other Apache configuration.

This is often used to get around restrictive settings at the server level, and can sometimes mean that making changes at the top global level doesn’t trickle down to your specific folder or location. So if you have a discrepancy between the two, check for a local .htaccess or a *.ini file within your Mautic directory (or check with your hosting provider!)

I do not have access to Mautic

If you can't access the System Info page of Mautic, you can check the file path for php.ini using a command:

php -i | grep .ini

You can also use the same command to find the specific value being used:

php -i | grep upload_max_filesize

where upload_max_filesize is the value you need to change.

Updating the value

Once you have located the php.ini file that is being used, you should be able to edit it using the following command:

sudo nano path/to/file/php.ini

Find the relevant setting using ctrl+w (keyboard shortcut for 'where') and then typing the setting you need to change - e.g. upload_max_filesize.

Change the value you see in the php.ini file, and then save, using ctrl+x (keyboard shortcut for 'exit') and then pressing 'y' to save changes.

Restarting Apache

Once the changes have been saved, you will need to restart Apache for the changes to take effect.

It is always a good idea to do a dry-run first, using the configtest command

sudo apachectl configtest

This checks that your Apache configuration is sound before you restart the service. Resolve any issues that are identified before restarting Apache.

Once you are happy, run the following command to restart Apache:

Ubuntu and Debian

sudo systemctl restart apache2

CentOS and Red Hat

sudo systemctl restart httpd

Overriding the value

If you are not able to change the value at the php.ini level, it may be possible (dependant on your server configuration) to override the value at the local folder level.

Check out this article for more details on how to override the php.ini settings with a local .htaccess file.

As an example of two settings you may wish to use in a local htaccess file to override the values in the global php.ini file:

php_value upload_max_filesize 20M

php_value max_execution_time 600

This should be considered as a last resort, and may not be supported by your hosting provider.