System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception when uploading a file

Question

I'm getting this error when uploading a file that is 84MB (see error below) but when I upload a ~60MB file, it works fine. This only occurs on our 32bit 2008 VM w/ 4GB memory. On my R2 64bit VM w/8GB memory, it works fine with even 130MB file.

System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown. at System.IO.BinaryReader.ReadBytes(Int32 count) at CustWeb.Controllers.DownloadsController.Create(Download dl, HttpPostedFileBase file) in c:\...\CustWeb\Controllers\DownloadsController.cs:line 72

I monitored the Memory in the task manager, though, and it never goes above 74% during the entire upload process.

This is an MVC 4 application on the 4.5 .NET framework.

I have the max settings in my web.config in dealing with uploading files.

<httpRuntime requestValidationMode="4.5" targetFramework="4.5" maxRequestLength="2147483647" executionTimeout="84000" />

...

<security>
     <requestFiltering>
         <requestLimits maxAllowedContentLength="2147482624" />
     </requestFiltering> 
</security>

UPDATE Adding code as requested:

    public ActionResult Create(Download dl, HttpPostedFileBase file)
    {
        try
        {
            using (var binaryReader = new BinaryReader(file.InputStream))
            {
                dl.FileBytes = binaryReader.ReadBytes(file.ContentLength);
            }
            dl.FileContentType = file.ContentType;
            dl.FileName = file.FileName;
            dl.Insert();
            Success("<strong>" + dl.Label + "</strong> created and uploaded successfully.");
            return RedirectToAction("Index");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            SelectList list = new SelectList(new DownloadType().GetDownloadTypes(), "ID", "Name");
            ViewBag.DownloadTypeList = list;
            Error(ex.ToString());
            return View(dl);
        }
    }

@leppie I added my code - is there a better way to do what I'm doing than using the BinaryReader? — RichC
– RichC, Commented Jun 4, 2013 at 12:44
@leppie - I changed it from BinaryReader to just using MemoryStream and I still get the same error. — RichC
– RichC, Commented Jun 5, 2013 at 15:16

Comfortably Numb · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-03 21:37:17Z

3

By default ASP.NET is allowed 60% of available memory - check memoryLimit in processModel in machine.config. You can change that value to, say 80% to give ASP.NET more room, but this is not recommend. Consider other options, like uploading file in chunks etc.

answered Jun 3, 2013 at 21:37

Comfortably Numb

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4 Comments

RichC Over a year ago

Wow - how do you upload files in chunks?

Comfortably Numb Over a year ago

There are different way from using HTTP Modules e.g: dotnetslackers.com/Community/blogs/haissam/archive/2008/09/12/… to using 3rd party controls e.g. plupload.com. But even before that try playing with requestLengthDiskThreshold attribute of httpRuntime section of web.config you've shown above. It controls the size of the uploaded file that server can hold in memory before caching it to disk.

RichC Over a year ago

The default appears to be 256 bytes to prevent using too much memory. it seems like increasing it would use even more memory and make the problem worse, no?

Comfortably Numb Over a year ago

For .NET 4.5 default is 80 kilobytes, but you're right increasing would make it worse. Never mind this property then, unfortunately it won't help you. My thought was if default is to large - try to decrease it, but that is not the case

RichC · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-05 15:50:05Z

0

I changed it from stream to file.SaveAs and that prevented the memory error.

    public ActionResult Create(Download dl, HttpPostedFileBase file)
    {
        try
        {
            string tempFile = Path.Combine(Server.MapPath("~/App_Data/"), string.Format("{0}_{1}",Guid.NewGuid().ToString(), Path.GetFileName(file.FileName)));
            file.SaveAs(tempFile);
            dl.FileBytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(tempFile);
            dl.FileContentType = file.ContentType;
            dl.FileName = file.FileName;
            dl.Insert();
            System.IO.File.Delete(tempFile);
            Success("<strong>" + dl.Label + "</strong> created and uploaded successfully.");
            return RedirectToAction("Index");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            SelectList list = new SelectList(new DownloadType().GetDownloadTypes(), "ID", "Name");
            ViewBag.DownloadTypeList = list;
            Error(ex.ToString());
            return View(dl);
        }
    }

answered Jun 5, 2013 at 15:50

RichC

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2 Comments

RichC Over a year ago

I still occasionally get the memory errors but changing it to this method definitely improved (doubled) the filesize that I am able to upload. I'll have to increase the actual RAM to do better than a 160MB file, I guess.

RichC Over a year ago

After doing some reading on this subject. My issue isn't the uploading of the file, it's the readAllBytes before saving it to the database. It also looks like if I'm going to be possibly saving 200MB+ files, I should instead store those in the file system and save the reference to the DB.

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