<p>MySQL throws ER_PATH_LENGTH when a file or directory path supplied to a statement or server variable exceeds the maximum length allowed by the operating system or MySQL build.</p>
<p>MySQL Error 1680 ER_PATH_LENGTH appears when the file or directory path you pass to a statement is longer than the server permits. Shorten or relocate the path, then retry the statement to resolve the issue.</p>
The path specified for %s is too long.
Error 1680 occurs when MySQL receives a file or directory path that exceeds the maximum length compiled into the server or imposed by the host operating system. The server rejects the request and returns the message The path specified for %s is too long.
The error commonly surfaces during LOAD DATA INFILE, SELECT ... INTO OUTFILE, secure_file_priv changes, or when setting file related system variables. Fixing it is crucial because the statement fails completely and no data is read or written.
The error appears immediately after MySQL parses the offending statement. Nothing is executed on disk, so you can retry safely after correcting the path. It is version agnostic and can appear on Windows, Linux, and macOS builds.
Long paths stall ETL jobs, backups, and migrations. Repeated failures can leave teams with partial data loads and broken automation pipelines. Resolving the path limit early keeps deployments and cron jobs reliable.
Deeply nested folders can push the full absolute path past the MySQL or OS limit.
Generated exports with long table names, timestamps, or UUIDs easily breach path length limits.
A misconfigured secure_file_priv pointing to a lengthy path triggers the error on any file operation.
Relative paths expanded by the server can silently become longer than expected, especially inside container builds.
Raised when file operations occur outside the permitted folder.
Triggered when OUTFILE tries to overwrite an existing file.
Indicates the connection limit is reached, unrelated to file paths but often seen in the same batch jobs.
Most builds respect the OS limit, typically 255 characters for individual segments and 4096 characters for the entire path on Linux.
The limit is fixed at compile time and by the OS, so it cannot be changed without recompiling and risking incompatibility.
Yes. If secure_file_priv points to a long path, any file operation referencing it may exceed limits.
Galaxy flags long paths during query validation and suggests shorter alternates, preventing ER_PATH_LENGTH before execution.
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