Data loss due to 256 folder/file path limit
Answered
Windows cannot accommodate file/folder lengths greater than 256 characters.
This means that when a download is performed, any data with a path is greater than 256 is not downloaded, the rest of the data will download successfully. There is no warning or error message therefore it is not conceivable that the user will spot that their download is not complete.
I know this is a Windows limit but I would suggest:
a. implementing an admin controlled folder / file path character limit to force the person uploading not to be able to upload data with paths that will cause this issue when download.
or
b. a Cerabus warning message when some data has not been successfully downloaded so that the user knows there has been some data loss.
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Official comment
Hi Mike,
The 256 path limit has never been an issue for Cerberus FTP Server. That's a very old limit for Windows, and there have long been newer Windows APIs that allow applications to exceed 256 character path lengths. Cerberus has always used those newer APIs, and we've generally always supported paths as large as 2048 characters.
We've actually been working behind the scenes for a few months now to remove the 2048 limit as well. Our upcoming 12.7 release will likely include this new capability, and will allow paths as long as 32,768 characters in length. That's the approximate modern Windows path length limit, although finding an SFTP or FTPS client that supports anything approaching those limits will be challenging.
For all intents and purposes, version 12.7 will no longer have any path limits.
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Hey Mike,
Out of curiosity (and depending on your OS), have you tried setting LongPathsEnabled = 1 in the registry? Does it still behave the same way when it is?
Looks like Win10 1607 and Windows Server 2016 (and later) supports this.
Steve
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Will the email also support these longer paths without shortening them?
https://support.cerberusftp.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360003390460-Full-path-for-files-uploaded
Steve
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Hello Steve,
No, in that particular case it's not a question of the path being too long for Cerberus to process. We're intentionally shortening the path for the sake of readability in the case of the email reports. If you let your mouse hover over the path you should see a tooltip with the full path.
I'll add some comments to that post as well.
Grant
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