octobercms/october · error · ApplicationException

editor::lang.filesystem.error_deleting_dir

Error message

editor::lang.filesystem.error_deleting_dir

What it means

Thrown by editorDeleteFileOrDirectory when @rmdir() fails on a directory that was just confirmed empty (lines 147-152). Message: 'Error deleting directory :name.'. An empty directory whose removal fails means the PHP user lacks write permission on the directory's PARENT (removing a dir modifies the parent's entry), or a race where something recreated a file between the isDirectoryEmpty check and rmdir.

Source

Thrown at modules/editor/traits/FileSystemFunctions.php:148

                if (!File::isDirectory($fullPath)) {
                    if (!@File::delete($fullPath)) {
                        throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get(
                            'editor::lang.filesystem.error_deleting_file',
                            ['name' => $path]
                        ));
                    }
                }
                else {
                    $empty = File::isDirectoryEmpty($fullPath);
                    if (!$empty) {
                        throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get(
                            'editor::lang.filesystem.error_deleting_dir_not_empty',
                            ['name' => $path]
                        ));
                    }

                    if (!@rmdir($fullPath)) {
                        throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get(
                            'editor::lang.filesystem.error_deleting_dir',
                            ['name' => $path]
                        ));
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

    /**
     * editorMoveFilesOrDirectories
     */
    protected function editorMoveFilesOrDirectories($basePath, $selectedList, $destinationDir)
    {
        if (!count($selectedList)) {
            throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get('editor::lang.filesystem.selected_files_not_found'));
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to b608633a7e)

Solutions

  1. Make the PARENT directory writable by the PHP user (chown/chmod the folder that contains the directory being deleted)
  2. Stop build watchers or other writers, refresh, and retry the delete
  3. Check SELinux/AppArmor if standard permissions look fine
  4. Retry once after a refresh — the emptiness check may have raced a transient file

Example fix

# before: parent owned by root
$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data themes/demo/assets
# then retry the delete in the Editor
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

$full = $assetsBase.'/'.$path;
if (is_dir($full) && !is_writable(dirname($full))) {
    // rmdir needs write on the PARENT directory — fix it first
}

Try / catch

try {
    if (!@rmdir($fullPath)) {
        throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get('editor::lang.filesystem.error_deleting_dir', ['name' => $path]));
    }
} catch (ApplicationException $e) {
    // possible race: re-check emptiness and retry once
    clearstatcache(true, $fullPath);
    if (!is_dir($fullPath)) { return; } // someone else removed it
    throw $e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: command_onAssetDelete on an empty dir under themes/<theme>/assets when the parent directory is root-owned or not writable by the webserver user; SELinux denying rmdir; a background process (build, watcher) recreating files inside the directory at the moment of deletion.

Common situations: Assets directory tree created by root deploys but served/edited by www-data; platform permission drift after moving a project between users; dev watchers (webpack --watch, vite) continuously writing output into asset folders.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of octobercms/october@b608633a7e (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/41bfe6362539dc92. Report an issue: GitHub.