can not copy or move directory between different external file storage, but files work fine

[tuxcrafter]

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Steps to reproduce

I can not copy or move directory between different external file storage, but normal files work fine. How can I get this working?

The first argument to copy() function cannot be a directory at

{"reqId":"XJAjnlYH6@rVQbcVclaXfwAAAAg","level":3,"time":"2019-03-18T23:02:54+00:00","remoteAddr":"80.127.158.83","user":"jdejong","app":"PHP","method":"MOVE","url":"\/nextcloud\/remote.php\/dav\/files\/jdejong\/Communications\/communication-jdejong","message":"rename(): The first argument to copy() function cannot be a directory at \/var\/www\/html\/nextcloud\/lib\/private\/Files\/Storage\/Local.php#272","userAgent":"Mozilla\/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:60.0) Gecko\/20100101 Firefox\/60.0","version":"15.0.4.0"}
{"reqId":"XJAjnlYH6@rVQbcVclaXfwAAAAg","level":3,"time":"2019-03-18T23:02:54+00:00","remoteAddr":"80.127.158.83","user":"jdejong","app":"PHP","method":"MOVE","url":"\/nextcloud\/remote.php\/dav\/files\/jdejong\/Communications\/communication-jdejong","message":"rename(\/\/mnt\/nfs\/communications\/communication-jdejong,\/\/mnt\/nfs\/programmes\/communication-jdejong): Invalid cross-device link at \/var\/www\/html\/nextcloud\/lib\/private\/Files\/Storage\/Local.php#272","userAgent":"Mozilla\/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:60.0) Gecko\/20100101 Firefox\/60.0","version":"15.0.4.0"}

Moving a normal file works but still gives this message:

{"reqId":"XJAmBLAHf2Bocyt--HDF@gAAAAA","level":3,"time":"2019-03-18T23:13:08+00:00","remoteAddr":"80.127.158.83","user":"jdejong","app":"PHP","method":"MOVE","url":"\/nextcloud\/remote.php\/dav\/files\/jdejong\/Communications\/communication-jdejong\/communicaton-jdejong.txt","message":"rename(\/\/mnt\/nfs\/communications\/communication-jdejong\/communicaton-jdejong.txt,\/\/mnt\/nfs\/programmes\/communicaton-jdejong.txt): Operation not permitted at \/var\/www\/html\/nextcloud\/lib\/private\/Files\/Storage\/Local.php#272","userAgent":"Mozilla\/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:60.0) Gecko\/20100101 Firefox\/60.0","version":"15.0.4.0"}

The setup:

sudo -u apache php occ group:add communications
sudo -u apache php occ group:add generalinformation
sudo -u apache php occ group:add officemanagement
sudo -u apache php occ group:add programmes
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:create -c datadir=/mnt/nfs/communications "Communications" local null::null
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:create -c datadir=/mnt/nfs/generalinformation "General Information" local null::null
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:create -c datadir=/mnt/nfs/officemanagement "Office Management" local null::null
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:create -c datadir=/mnt/nfs/programmes "Programmes" local null::null
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:applicable --add-group communications 11
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:option 11 enable_sharing true
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:option 11 encrypt false
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:applicable --add-group generalinformation 14
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:option 14 enable_sharing true
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:option 14 encrypt false
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:applicable --add-group officemanagement 15
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:option 15 enable_sharing true
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:option 15 encrypt false
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:applicable --add-group programmes 16
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:option 16 enable_sharing true
sudo -u apache php occ files_external:option 16 encrypt false

# sudo -u apache php occ --version
Nextcloud 15.0.4
# cat /etc/redhat-release 
CentOS Linux release 7.6.1810 (Core) 

[danaivehr]

Hi! The same issue here.
Nextcloud 16.0.2 in docker
FIles are movable between External storage and data directory, while folders are not, with the same messages in nextcloud.log

I can provide additional info, but don't to, which.

[danaivehr]

Perhaps the 'Invalid cross-device link' is the main clue in error message. I have external storage pointing to local directory, which is binded from another /dev/

[kesselb]

@danaivehr would you mind to share the stacktrace (the log message) from 16.0.2? That makes it easier to locate the error.

[kesselb]

server/lib/private/Files/Storage/Local.php

Lines 259 to 270 in 81339c7

	if ($this->is_dir($path1)) {
	// we can't move folders across devices, use copy instead
	$stat1 = stat(dirname($this->getSourcePath($path1)));
	$stat2 = stat(dirname($this->getSourcePath($path2)));
	if ($stat1['dev'] !== $stat2['dev']) {
	$result = $this->copy($path1, $path2);
	if ($result) {
	$result &= $this->rmdir($path1);
	}
	return $result;
	}
	}

There is code to handle this case. Not sure why you reach line 272. Looks like the is_dir does not return true. Could you add the code below before if ($this->is_dir($path1)) { and check the logs?

\OCP\Util::writeLog('core', 'trying to rename: ' . $path1 . ' is_dir: ' . print_r($this->is_dir($path1), true), ILogger::WARN);

Moving a normal file works but still gives this message:

{"reqId":"XJAmBLAHf2Bocyt--HDF@gAAAAA","level":3,"time":"2019-03-18T23:13:08+00:00","remoteAddr":"80.127.158.83","user":"jdejong","app":"PHP","method":"MOVE","url":"\/nextcloud\/remote.php\/dav\/files\/jdejong\/Communications\/communication-jdejong\/communicaton-jdejong.txt","message":"rename(\/\/mnt\/nfs\/communications\/communication-jdejong\/communicaton-jdejong.txt,\/\/mnt\/nfs\/programmes\/communicaton-jdejong.txt): Operation not permitted at \/var\/www\/html\/nextcloud\/lib\/private\/Files\/Storage\/Local.php#272","userAgent":"Mozilla\/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:60.0) Gecko\/20100101 Firefox\/60.0","version":"15.0.4.0"}

https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.rename.php#117590
https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=50676

[miguelarios]

I have this similar issue when i delete a folder I get this issue consistently always #289. I have docker version of 16.0.5 for Nextcloud and I am using local as type for external storage plugin and the shares are being mapped through docker volume paths.

{"reqId":"O7mSOgFqennvMzd77f8H","level":3,"time":"2019-09-28T21:52:13+00:00","remoteAddr":"172.18.0.2","user":"miguel","app":"PHP","method":"DELETE","url":"\/remote.php\/dav\/files\/miguel\/Documents\/Shared%20Files","message":"rename(): The first argument to copy() function cannot be a directory at \/config\/www\/nextcloud\/lib\/private\/Files\/Storage\/Local.php#289","userAgent":"Mozilla\/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:69.0) Gecko\/20100101 Firefox\/69.0","version":"16.0.5.1"}
{"reqId":"O7mSOgFqennvMzd77f8H","level":3,"time":"2019-09-28T21:52:13+00:00","remoteAddr":"172.18.0.2","user":"miguel","app":"PHP","method":"DELETE","url":"\/remote.php\/dav\/files\/miguel\/Documents\/Shared%20Files","message":"rename(\/\/miguel\/Documents\/Shared Files,\/\/data\/miguel\/files_trashbin\/files\/Shared Files.d1569707533): Cross-device link at \/config\/www\/nextcloud\/lib\/private\/Files\/Storage\/Local.php#289","userAgent":"Mozilla\/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:69.0) Gecko\/20100101 Firefox\/69.0","version":"16.0.5.1"}

What is very peculiar is that although i get this error and I also get an error pop up on the top if I refresh the site I don't see the file anymore and if I visit the trash bin i don't see the file there at all either.

[madpipeline]

Detected this issue in 20.0.4 as well, with a local external storage.

[raleonardo]

Still the same issue in 21.0.0 ( on docker nextcloud:21)

Happens while moving a directory from external storage to my user storage.

When trying to delete the directory from external storage, I get a popup: ' Error deleting file "<folder_name>" '

[Xalaxis]

I believe this issue causes permanent file deletion in current Nextcloud versions. Attempts to move files to the recycle bin are regarded as a success even though they fail. Without backups you will lose data. I ran into this issue attempting to move a directory from a VirtualFiles backed local folder.

[szaimen]

Seems like is_dir doesn't return true in all cases
e.g. https://www.php.net/manual/de/function.is-dir.php#98338
Does the mentioned workaround help?

[ghost]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity and seems to be missing some essential information. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[tuxcrafter]

Please reopen this ticket!

[raleonardo]

I agree. The issue still exists in 22.1.0

[NobeKanai]

Same problem. Any solution here?

[eleminer]

Same here?

[63OR63]

The ability to move folders to external folders is crucial, especially considering you can't upload to external storage from official Windows Nextcloud app. The only way to do so currently is through web interface, which isn't optimal in many use cases to say the least.

[enchained]

Can confirm the issue on 23.0.0. Removing a folder from external storage (local type) gives those errors:

Error | PHP | Error: rename(): The first argument to copy() function cannot be a directory at /config/www/nextcloud/lib/private/Files/Storage/Local.php#347
Error | PHP | Error: rename(//ext-data/pathTo/myFolderName,//data/myUser/files_trashbin/files/myFolderName.d1643307398): Cross-device link at /config/www/nextcloud/lib/private/Files/Storage/Local.php#347

And leads to permanent removal instead of moving to the trashbin.

[bendev25689]

Any progress on this issue? I am still having the same issue on nextcloud 26

[sjash]

Can confirm the issue on 23.0.0. Removing a folder from external storage (local type) gives those errors:

Error | PHP | Error: rename(): The first argument to copy() function cannot be a directory at /config/www/nextcloud/lib/private/Files/Storage/Local.php#347
Error | PHP | Error: rename(//ext-data/pathTo/myFolderName,//data/myUser/files_trashbin/files/myFolderName.d1643307398): Cross-device link at /config/www/nextcloud/lib/private/Files/Storage/Local.php#347

And leads to permanent removal instead of moving to the trashbin.

I'm too facing the same issue on Nextcloud 25.0.6. Any leads will be helpfull

[proofrock]

Same issue here whenever I try to delete any directory. It gets deleted even though the error message is shown and it isn't present in the trash bin. Version 26.0.1. I don't have external storages mounted, just a normal setup.

[teije]

Also experiencing the same issue, this makes Nextcloud unusable on a Raspberry Pi since you're practically only able to use an external drive for file storage.

(Using Portainer/Nextcloud and an 8TB external drive)

"Invalid cross-device link at "<path/of/drive/mount">

[joshtrichards]

Okay I was looking at #38569 then I realized it was a dup of #37741. Then I realized this was the real original issue so I'm moving my comments here rather than post them there.

Any chance any of you (@mebtte included) have symbolic links involved with some of these mount points/folders? Or maybe the underlying mounts are SMB/CIFS (not in NC, but at the OS level)?

Something is not right here.

That was a good catch on the PHP bug note @rbeier, but we definitely go out of our way to not do a regular PHP rename(), particularly if it's a directory (let alone across devices).

(one has to dig through the classes to see it, but it looks alright to me - note: copy below isn't PHP's built-in one).

I think what is happening is these folders are either not getting detected as such (the is_dir() at line 363) for some reason or the two stat() calls are being called on symbolic links on a parent filesystem (in which case I think adding 'localstorage.allowsymlinks' => true, to your config.php should fix it).

It could also be some other variations on these theme, but those are the two that are most obvious.

server/lib/private/Files/Storage/Local.php

Lines 363 to 378 in c392182

	if ($this->is_dir($source)) {
	// we can't move folders across devices, use copy instead
	$stat1 = stat(dirname($this->getSourcePath($source)));
	$stat2 = stat(dirname($this->getSourcePath($target)));
	if ($stat1['dev'] !== $stat2['dev']) {
	$result = $this->copy($source, $target);
	if ($result) {
	$result &= $this->rmdir($source);
	}
	return $result;
	}
	$this->checkTreeForForbiddenItems($this->getSourcePath($source));
	}
	return rename($this->getSourcePath($source), $this->getSourcePath($target));

So we have one of the following scenarios:

• have some code that isn't detecting these as directories somewhere/somehow
• a local misconfiguration
• weird local underlying filesystem

[kesselb]

@joshtrichards #19289

[proofrock]

weird local underlying filesystem

You bet! 😅 I had this issue with the following setup:

• docker image of nextcloud (from linuxservers)
• data dir mounted as a volume
• PUID/PGID set to 1000 (my local user)
• in the volume, the _data subdir (the one docker actually uses) has ownership to 1000/1000
• now the tricky part: the files/ subdir of my nextcloud user subtree is a docker mount to a directory in my home dir

So, I had a docker -v nextcloud_data:/data with the volume, and -v /home/mano/myfiles:/data/mano/files for the files inside it.

It worked... sort of, the only problem is the one described in OP. Keeping everything in the docker volume, i.e. removing the second -v made this issue disappear.

Hope this is useful. I can setup a VPS with a reproduction of the problem, if useful, and give you access.

Thank you,

 G.

[bendev25689]

The issue in my case is using the official docker image nextcloud:latest, currently 26.0.2.

The external storage directory (Shared) is mounted to the docker container as /mnt/Shared. File system is zfs.
The data directory is also mounted to the docker container, as /mnt/data.

The Shared directory is and its contents is owned by www-data, which is uid 33 both inside and outside the container.

I am receiving an error when moving a directory, however copying a directory works fine, as does moving files to and from the external storage. Moving folders within the external storage also does not work.
The error in the log is:

{"reqId":"clc1937gUFOup8fkbkEb","level":3,"time":"2023-06-03T11:02:53+00:00","remoteAddr":"120.xx.xxx.xx","user":"Benjamin","app":"PHP","method":"MOVE","url":"/cloud/remote.php/dav/files/Benjamin/test_folder_for_move","message":"rename(): The first argument to copy() function cannot be a directory at /var/www/html/lib/private/Files/Storage/Local.php#378","userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:109.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/112.0","version":"26.0.2.1","data":{"app":"PHP"}}
{"reqId":"clc1937gUFOup8fkbkEb","level":3,"time":"2023-06-03T11:02:53+00:00","remoteAddr":"120.xx.xxx.xx","user":"Benjamin","app":"PHP","method":"MOVE","url":"/cloud/remote.php/dav/files/Benjamin/test_folder_for_move","message":"rename(//mnt/data/Benjamin/files/test_folder_for_move,//mnt/Shared/Documents/test_folder_for_move): Success at /var/www/html/lib/private/Files/Storage/Local.php#378","userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:109.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/112.0","version":"26.0.2.1","data":{"app":"PHP"}}

[solracsf]

Feel free to try #38623