jordansissel/fpm · error · FPM::Package::InvalidArgument

Options file given to --fpm-options-file is seems too large.

Error message

Options file given to --fpm-options-file is seems too large. For safety, fpm is refusing to load this. Path: #{path} - Size: #{stat.size}, maximum allowed size #{max}.

What it means

As a safety valve, load_options refuses options files larger than 100 KiB (100 * 1024 bytes, checked via File.stat). Larger files raise FPM::Package::InvalidArgument with the observed size and the limit — usually a sign the wrong file was referenced or the flags file is machine-generated and bloated.

Source

Thrown at lib/fpm/command.rb:630

    if !File.exist?(path)
      logger.fatal("Cannot load options from file because the file doesn't exist.", :path => path)
    end

    if !File.readable?(path)
      logger.fatal("Cannot load options from file because the file isn't readable.", :path => path)
    end

    @loaded_files << path

    logger.info("Loading flags from file", :path => path)

    # Safety check, abort if the file is huge. Arbitrarily chosen limit is 100kb
    stat = File.stat(path)
    max = 100 * 1024
    if stat.size > max
      logger.fatal("Refusing to load options from file because the file seems pretty large.", :path => path, :size => stat.size)
      raise FPM::Package::InvalidArgument, "Options file given to --fpm-options-file is seems too large. For safety, fpm is refusing to load this. Path: #{path} - Size: #{stat.size}, maximum allowed size #{max}."
    end

    File.read(path).split($/).each do |line|
      logger.info("Processing flags from file", :path => path, :line => line)
      # With apologies for this hack to mdub (Mike Williams, author of Clamp)...
      # The following code will read a file and parse the file
      # as flags as if they were in same argument position as the given --fpm-options-file option.

      args = Shellwords.split(line)
      while args.any?
        arg = args.shift

        # Lookup the Clamp option by its --flag-name or short  name like -f
        if arg =~ /^-/
          # Single-letter options like -a or -z
          if single_letter = arg.match(/^(-[A-Za-z0-9])(.*)$/)
            option = self.class.find_option(single_letter.match(1))
            arg, remainder = single_letter.match(1), single_letter.match(2)

View on GitHub (pinned to b6d77ba72a)

Solutions

1. Split the options file into several smaller files (each under 100 KiB) and reference them individually
2. Deduplicate and trim flag lines (repeated --exclude patterns often collapse with wildcards)
3. Verify the path actually points at an fpm flags file, not an arbitrary large file

Example fix

# before: single generated excludes.txt at 300kb
fpm --fpm-options-file excludes.conf ...

# after: split by concern
csplit -k excludes.conf 50000   # then keep each part under 100kb
fpm --fpm-options-file excludes-a.conf --fpm-options-file excludes-b.conf ...

path = 'fpm.conf'
abort 'options file exceeds fpm 100kb safety limit' if File.size(path) > 100 * 1024
system('fpm', '--fpm-options-file', path, '-s', 'dir', '-t', 'deb', './app')

begin
  FPM::Command.run(argv)
rescue FPM::Package::InvalidArgument => e
  abort "options file rejected: #{e.message}"
end

When it happens

Trigger: A generated options file with thousands of --exclude/--depends lines exceeding 100 KiB; accidentally pointing --fpm-options-file at a large unrelated file or binary.

Common situations: Auto-generated exclusion lists from find/grep; monorepos accumulating per-package flags in one shared file; a wrong path hitting a big artifact.

Related errors

• Invalid log level, #{v.inspect}. Must be one of: #{loglevels
• The given workdir '#{workdir}' does not exist.
• The given workdir '#{workdir}' must be a directory.
• Options file already loaded once. Refusing to load a second
• #{self.class.name} does not yet support reading #{self.type}

AI-assisted analysis of jordansissel/fpm@b6d77ba72a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e797fd3b5f197df8. Report an issue: GitHub.