What causes "editor::lang.filesystem.error_moving_directory" in octobercms/october?

Make the destination directory writable by the PHP user (chown/chmod -R), then retry and clean up any partial copy

octobercms/october · error · ApplicationException

editor::lang.filesystem.error_moving_directory

Error message

editor::lang.filesystem.error_moving_directory

What it means

Thrown by editorMoveFilesOrDirectories when @File::copyDirectory() fails while moving a directory (lines 216-222). Message: 'Error moving directory :dir'. Directories are moved by copy-then-delete (works across devices), and copyDirectory aborts on the first file that cannot be written — typically the destination is not writable by the PHP user or the disk is full. IMPORTANT: this throws AFTER copying may have partially succeeded, and the original directory is left untouched.

Source

Thrown at modules/editor/traits/FileSystemFunctions.php:218

            if ((is_file($originalFullPath) && is_file($newFullPath))
                || (is_dir($originalFullPath) && is_dir($newFullPath))) {
                throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get(
                    'editor::lang.filesystem.destination_exists',
                    ['name' => $basename]
                ));
            }

            if (is_file($originalFullPath)) {
                if (!@File::move($originalFullPath, $newFullPath)) {
                    throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get(
                        'editor::lang.filesystem.error_moving_file',
                        ['file' => $basename]
                    ));
                }
            }
            elseif (is_dir($originalFullPath)) {
                if (!@File::copyDirectory($originalFullPath, $newFullPath)) {
                    throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get(
                        'editor::lang.filesystem.error_moving_directory',
                        ['dir' => $basename]
                    ));
                }

                if (strpos($originalFullPath, '../') !== false) {
                    throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get(
                        'editor::lang.filesystem.error_deleting_directory',
                        ['dir' => $basename]
                    ));
                }

                if (strpos($originalFullPath, $safeDir) !== 0) {
                    throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get(
                        'editor::lang.filesystem.error_deleting_directory',
                        ['dir' => $basename]
                    ));
                }

View on GitHub (pinned to b608633a7e)

Solutions

Make the destination directory writable by the PHP user (chown/chmod -R), then retry and clean up any partial copy
Check disk space (df -h) and free space if full
Identify unreadable files inside the source tree (permissions on individual files) and fix them
After any failed dir move, compare source and destination trees and delete the partial copy before retrying

Example fix

# before: partial copy left in destination
$ sudo rm -rf themes/demo/assets/img/archive-lib
$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data themes/demo/assets/img
# retry the move — full tree now copies, original is deleted after

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if (!is_writable($destinationFullPath) || disk_free_space($assetsBase) < $expectedTreeSize) {
    // dir moves are copy+delete: destination must be writable AND disk must fit the tree
}

Try / catch

use October\Rain\Exception\ApplicationException;

try {
    if (!@File::copyDirectory($originalFullPath, $newFullPath)) {
        throw new ApplicationException(Lang::get('editor::lang.filesystem.error_moving_directory', ['dir' => $basename]));
    }
} catch (ApplicationException $e) {
    // original tree is intact; remove the partial copy before any retry
    @File::deleteDirectory($newFullPath);
    throw $e;
}

Prevention

Remember directory moves copy first — always delete partial copies after failures
Keep destinations writable and disks above a healthy free-space margin
Fix permissions on individual files inside large trees before moving them

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at modules/editor/traits/FileSystemFunctions.php:218 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: Deep asset trees where the destination was auto-created with different ownership; low disk space on the theme volume; one locked/unreadable file inside the tree aborting the whole copy; retries after partial copies leaving duplicated content.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of octobercms/october@b608633a7e (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/066edf15bb043267. Report an issue: GitHub.