GNU bug report logs - #7036
ls, mv, etc on LINUX

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Elisabet Wahlgren <elisabet.wahlgren <at> ericsson.com>
To: "bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org" <bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org>
Subject: ls, mv, etc on LINUX
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:02:00 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Hi Guys,

Greatly surprised (and not very happy) that my attempts to list or move files satisfying a file name pattern (like ls *.tgz for example)  fail miserably on my linux machine, when the number of files satisfying the pattern is large. Error message example: "/bin/mv: Argument list too long". Is this a bug or a feature, would you know?

I used to work with a Unix version (Solaris) quite a number of years (decades) and cannot remember having seen this limitation before.

Any tips?

Regards,
Elisabet Wahlgren

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #10 received at 7036-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Bob Proulx <bob <at> proulx.com>
To: Elisabet Wahlgren <elisabet.wahlgren <at> ericsson.com>
Cc: 7036-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#7036: ls, mv, etc on LINUX
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:48:30 -0600

Elisabet Wahlgren wrote:
> Greatly surprised (and not very happy) that my attempts to list or
> move files satisfying a file name pattern (like ls *.tgz for
> example) fail miserably on my linux machine, when the number of
> files satisfying the pattern is large. Error message example:
> "/bin/mv: Argument list too long". Is this a bug or a feature, would
> you know?

This is a long standing kernel limitation.  Because file glob
expansion occurs by the shell before program invocation this doesn't
have anything to do with any program.  The shell is running out of
space while trying to set up the command environment.

See this reference for all of the details:

  http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/faq/#Argument-list-too-long

> I used to work with a Unix version (Solaris) quite a number of years
> (decades) and cannot remember having seen this limitation before.

It has been around forever in traditional Unix kernels.  Note that a
recent change has enhanced the Linux kernel to avoid this limitation.

Bob

Message #13 received at 7036 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eric Blake <eblake <at> redhat.com>
To: Elisabet Wahlgren <elisabet.wahlgren <at> ericsson.com>
Cc: 7036 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#7036: ls, mv, etc on LINUX
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:50:38 -0600

On 09/15/2010 09:02 AM, Elisabet Wahlgren wrote:
>
> Hi Guys,
>
> Greatly surprised (and not very happy) that my attempts to list or move files satisfying a file name pattern (like ls *.tgz for example)  fail miserably on my linux machine, when the number of files satisfying the pattern is large. Error message example: "/bin/mv: Argument list too long". Is this a bug or a feature, would you know?

Feature of your OS, and a FAQ:
http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/faq/#Argument-list-too-long

>
> I used to work with a Unix version (Solaris) quite a number of years (decades) and cannot remember having seen this limitation before.

Solaris has the same problem - it's just that you never presented it 
with enough data to reach the limit.

-- 
Eric Blake   eblake <at> redhat.com    +1-801-349-2682
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org

Message #16 received at 7036 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Elisabet Wahlgren <elisabet.wahlgren <at> ericsson.com>
To: Eric Blake <eblake <at> redhat.com>
Cc: "7036 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <7036 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: RE: bug#7036: ls, mv, etc on LINUX
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:57:45 +0200

Thank you very much for your prompt answer and very valuable info! I did try to surf the web for info before asking you, but I did not find your excellent FAQ link though.

My company's Linux has an ARG_MAX value of 128K, as compared to the (probable - I never had a reason to check it then) 2M limit for the Solaris OS we used to work with - seems a number of the commercial Unix variants noticed the advantage of a larger limit. The Solaris value seemed to be enough for what I was doing then and would most probably be enough for what I am doing now. Hopefully, our next Linux Service Pack might involve a recompiled kernel with an increased value, for simplicity and to avoid changing too much in our build environment etc. I'll talk to our Linux team.

Thanks again,
Regards,
Elisabet Wahlgren

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Blake [mailto:eblake <at> redhat.com] 
Sent: den 15 september 2010 18:51
To: Elisabet Wahlgren
Cc: 7036 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#7036: ls, mv, etc on LINUX

On 09/15/2010 09:02 AM, Elisabet Wahlgren wrote:
>
> Hi Guys,
>
> Greatly surprised (and not very happy) that my attempts to list or move files satisfying a file name pattern (like ls *.tgz for example)  fail miserably on my linux machine, when the number of files satisfying the pattern is large. Error message example: "/bin/mv: Argument list too long". Is this a bug or a feature, would you know?

Feature of your OS, and a FAQ:
http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/faq/#Argument-list-too-long

>
> I used to work with a Unix version (Solaris) quite a number of years (decades) and cannot remember having seen this limitation before.

Solaris has the same problem - it's just that you never presented it with enough data to reach the limit.

-- 
Eric Blake   eblake <at> redhat.com    +1-801-349-2682
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org

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