[FIXED] Uploading an image in Codeigniter shows error The upload path does not appear to be valid

Issue

$config['upload_path'] = site_path().'photos/';
$config['allowed_types'] = 'gif|jpg|png|jpeg';
$config['max_size'] = '2048';
$this->load->library('upload', $config);    
if ( ! $this->upload->do_upload())
{ 
    $this->data['alert'] = $this->upload->display_errors();                     
    $this->load->view('profile/photo', $this->data);
}   
else
{
    $upload_data = $this->upload->data();

    $filename = $upload_data['file_name'];
    $width = $upload_data['image_width'];
    $height = $upload_data['image_height'];
    $config1 = array();
    $this->load->library('image_lib');
    $config1['source_image'] = site_path().'photos/'.$filename;


    $this->remove_existing_file($this->session->userdata('user_id'));
    $this->Profile_model->savephoto('Edit', $filename );
    redirect('/profile/photo');
}

I am getting this error:

The upload path does not appear to be valid.

Solution

There's only a few reasons for this error to occur:

1. The directory site_path().'photos/' does not exist, try running is_dir() to ensure that it does.
2. The directory exists but is not writable. Make sure you have set the appropriate permissions on the directory. Try running is_writable() to make sure.
3. The directory you want to use exists, but you have not represented it properly to the Upload library. Try using an absolute path with a trailing forward slash, similar to the example in the User Guide.

Beyond that, there is no explanation I can think of. Here is the CI code that validates the path (part of the Upload class):

public function validate_upload_path()
{
    if ($this->upload_path == '')
    {
        $this->set_error('upload_no_filepath');
        return FALSE;
    }

    if (function_exists('realpath') AND @realpath($this->upload_path) !== FALSE)
    {
        $this->upload_path = str_replace("\\", "/", realpath($this->upload_path));
    }

    // This is most likely the trigger for your error
    if ( ! @is_dir($this->upload_path))
    {
        $this->set_error('upload_no_filepath');
        return FALSE;
    }

    if ( ! is_really_writable($this->upload_path))
    {
        $this->set_error('upload_not_writable');
        return FALSE;
    }

    $this->upload_path = preg_replace("/(.+?)\/*$/", "\\1/",  $this->upload_path);
    return TRUE;
}

Update:

Per your comments, try this instead and let's see what happens before moving to the next step of debugging:

$config['upload_path'] = './community/photos/';

Answered By - Wesley Murch