Does ext3 disk has a 2 GB file size limit?

[Geert Van Pamel]

I have read somewhere that Linux ext3 disks have a file size limit of 2 GB. Could it be dependend on the distribution /version?

For MySQL database files this could become a blocking factor for (very) big tables.

Is there any solution?

[Stuart Browne]

No, this is most definately *NOT* the case.

MySQL (in pre v4) had a table-size limit of 2GB however.

[Patrick Terlisten · Accepted solution]

Hello Geert,

the maximum file size for ext3 depends on the used block-size for the filesystem.

1 kb 16 GB
2 kb 256 GB
4 kb 2048 GB
8 kb 2048 GB

Use tune2fs -l /dev/$DISKDEVICE to show up the used blocksize. On the other hand ulimit can limit the max filesize that can be created. The command 'ulimit -f' should be output 'unlimited'.

Regards,
Patrick