Fix uploads over 4 GB failing with a misleading size error

Livewire's temporary upload rule was hard-coded to max:4194304 (4 GB),
so /livewire/upload-file rejected any larger file no matter how high
PHP_UPLOAD_MAX_FILESIZE or the admin's max file size were set.
_uploadErrored() then replaced Livewire's actual message with "file
exceeds the maximum size of N MB", quoting the admin limit the file was
under.

The cap is removed: PHP's upload_max_filesize is the hard limit and the
admin setting is still enforced in updatedFiles() and createShare(). A
rejected upload now logs the real validation errors and tells the user
the server could not accept the file.

max_upload_time is configurable via LIVEWIRE_MAX_UPLOAD_TIME, and the
README documents every limit large uploads depend on.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_017XYnWFt9pJEwvAmNFN38XD

README.md

@@ -86,6 +86,19 @@ Migrations run automatically on startup. Open your configured domain — the Set
 | `caddy_data` | `/data` | TLS certificates |
 | `caddy_config` | `/config` | Caddy configuration |
 
+**Large files:**
+
+Uploads beyond the defaults need these limits raised together:
+
+| Limit | Where | Default |
+|-------|-------|---------|
+| `PHP_UPLOAD_MAX_FILESIZE` / `PHP_POST_MAX_SIZE` | Environment | `4G` — hard cap per file / per upload batch |
+| Max file size / Max size per share | Admin → Settings | 100 MB / 2 GB |
+| `LIVEWIRE_MAX_UPLOAD_TIME` | Environment | 30 minutes per upload |
+| `OCTANE_MAX_EXECUTION_TIME` / `PHP_MAX_EXECUTION_TIME` | Environment | 300 seconds — encrypting a large file takes a while |
+
+Behind a reverse proxy, raise its request body limit and read timeout as well (nginx: `client_max_body_size`, `proxy_read_timeout`).
+
 ### Manual (without Docker)
 
 ```bash

app/Livewire/FileUploader.php

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ namespace App\Livewire;
 
 use App\Models\Setting;
 use App\Services\ShareService;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;
 use Illuminate\Validation\ValidationException;
 use Livewire\Attributes\Layout;
 use Livewire\Component;
@@ -36,30 +37,29 @@ class FileUploader extends Component
         $this->expiration = Setting::get('default_expiration', '7d') ?: '7d';
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Handle an upload the temporary upload endpoint did not accept.
+     *
+     * Validation errors (a 422) mean the whole file reached the server and was
+     * rejected there, so the real reason is logged for the administrator rather
+     * than guessed at in front of the user. Anything else is a transport failure.
+     */
     public function _uploadErrored($name, $errorsInJson, $isMultiple): void
     {
         $this->dispatch('upload:errored', name: $name)->self();
 
-        $maxFileSize = (int) Setting::get('max_file_size', 100 * 1024 * 1024);
-        $maxFileSizeMb = (int) ($maxFileSize / (1024 * 1024));
+        $errors = is_null($errorsInJson) ? null : (json_decode($errorsInJson, true)['errors'] ?? null);
 
-        if (! is_null($errorsInJson)) {
-            $errors = json_decode($errorsInJson, true)['errors'] ?? null;
+        if ($errors) {
+            Log::warning('File upload rejected by the temporary upload endpoint.', ['errors' => $errors]);
 
-            if ($errors) {
-                $messages = [];
-                foreach ($errors as $messages_array) {
-                    foreach ((array) $messages_array as $msg) {
-                        $messages[] = $msg;
-                    }
-                }
-
-                throw ValidationException::withMessages([
-                    'files' => __('Upload failed: file exceeds the maximum size of :max MB.', ['max' => $maxFileSizeMb]),
-                ]);
-            }
+            throw ValidationException::withMessages([
+                'files' => __('Upload failed: the server could not accept the file. Please try again or contact the administrator.'),
+            ]);
         }
 
+        $maxFileSizeMb = (int) ((int) Setting::get('max_file_size', 100 * 1024 * 1024) / (1024 * 1024));
+
         throw ValidationException::withMessages([
             'files' => __('Upload failed: file may be too large (max :max MB) or the connection was interrupted.', ['max' => $maxFileSizeMb]),
         ]);

config/livewire.php

@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ return [
 
     'temporary_file_upload' => [
         'disk' => env('LIVEWIRE_TEMPORARY_FILE_UPLOAD_DISK'), // Example: 'local', 's3'             | Default: 'default'
-        'rules' => ['required', 'file', 'max:4194304'],          // 4GB — fine-grained limits enforced per-component
+        'rules' => ['required', 'file'],                      // No size cap: PHP's upload_max_filesize is the hard limit, the admin limit is enforced per-component
         'directory' => null,                                  // Example: 'tmp'                     | Default: 'livewire-tmp'
         'middleware' => null,                                 // Example: 'throttle:5,1'            | Default: 'throttle:60,1'
         'preview_mimes' => [                                  // Supported file types for temporary pre-signed file URLs...
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ return [
             'mov', 'avi', 'wmv', 'mp3', 'm4a',
             'jpg', 'jpeg', 'mpga', 'webp', 'wma',
         ],
-        'max_upload_time' => 30, // Max duration (in minutes) before an upload is invalidated...
+        'max_upload_time' => (int) env('LIVEWIRE_MAX_UPLOAD_TIME', 30), // Max duration (in minutes) before an upload is invalidated...
         'cleanup' => true, // Should cleanup temporary uploads older than 24 hrs...
     ],
 

docker-compose.example.yml

@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ services:
       # PHP_MAX_EXECUTION_TIME: "300"   # Upload timeout in seconds
       # PHP_MAX_INPUT_TIME: "300"       # Input processing timeout
       # PHP_MEMORY_LIMIT: "512M"        # PHP memory limit
+      # LIVEWIRE_MAX_UPLOAD_TIME: "30"  # Minutes a single upload may take (raise for large files on slow links)
     healthcheck:
       test: ["CMD", "curl", "--silent", "--fail", "http://localhost/up"]
       interval: 30s

docker-compose.yml

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ services:
       PHP_MAX_EXECUTION_TIME: ${PHP_MAX_EXECUTION_TIME:-300}
       PHP_MAX_INPUT_TIME: ${PHP_MAX_INPUT_TIME:-300}
       PHP_MEMORY_LIMIT: ${PHP_MEMORY_LIMIT:-512M}
+      LIVEWIRE_MAX_UPLOAD_TIME: ${LIVEWIRE_MAX_UPLOAD_TIME:-30}
     healthcheck:
       test: ["CMD", "curl", "--silent", "--fail", "http://localhost/up"]
       interval: 30s

tests/Feature/FileUploadTest.php

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use App\Livewire\SystemPasswordPrompt;
 use App\Models\Setting;
 use App\Models\Share;
 use Illuminate\Http\UploadedFile;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;
 use Livewire\Livewire;
 
@@ -119,6 +120,39 @@ test('files added in multiple batches end up in the same share', function () {
     expect($share->files->pluck('original_name')->all())->toBe(['first.txt', 'second.txt']);
 });
 
+test('files larger than 4 GB can be shared when within the admin file size limit', function () {
+    Storage::fake('shares');
+    Setting::set('max_file_size', 15000 * 1024 * 1024);
+    Setting::set('max_size_per_share', 20 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024);
+
+    Livewire::test(FileUploader::class)
+        ->set('files', [UploadedFile::fake()->create('backup.dump', 6 * 1024 * 1024)])
+        ->assertHasNoErrors('files')
+        ->call('createShare')
+        ->assertHasNoErrors()
+        ->assertRedirectContains('/share/');
+
+    expect(Share::query()->first()->total_size)->toBe(6 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024);
+});
+
+test('a rejected upload logs the real reason instead of blaming the file size limit', function () {
+    Log::spy();
+    Setting::set('max_file_size', 15000 * 1024 * 1024);
+
+    $errors = ['files.0' => ['The files.0 failed to upload.']];
+
+    $component = Livewire::test(FileUploader::class)
+        ->call('_uploadErrored', 'files', json_encode(['errors' => $errors]), true)
+        ->assertDispatched('upload:errored');
+
+    expect($component->errors()->first('files'))
+        ->toBe('Upload failed: the server could not accept the file. Please try again or contact the administrator.');
+
+    Log::shouldHaveReceived('warning')
+        ->withArgs(fn (string $message, array $context): bool => $context['errors'] === $errors)
+        ->once();
+});
+
 test('file upload requires at least one file', function () {
     Livewire::test(FileUploader::class)
         ->set('files', [])