How to Change PHP Upload Size in HestiaCP

Prerequisites

Before changing PHP upload size, make sure you have:

• SSH access to your VPS
• Root or sudo privileges

PHP Settings to Change

Three main settings control upload limits:

• upload_max_filesize - Maximum file upload size (default: 2M)
• post_max_size - Maximum POST data size (must be larger than upload_max_filesize)
• memory_limit - Maximum memory a script can use

Method 1: Edit php.ini

For PHP 8.2 FPM:

nano /etc/php/8.2/fpm/php.ini

Change values (example for 100MB uploads):

upload_max_filesize = 100M
post_max_size = 110M
memory_limit = 128M

Also update CLI version:

nano /etc/php/8.2/cli/php.ini

Method 2: Change for Specific Domain via .htaccess

For Apache in HestiaCP, create .htaccess:

nano /home/admin/web/example.com/public_html/.htaccess

Add:

php_value upload_max_filesize 100M
php_value post_max_size 110M
php_value memory_limit 128M

Method 3: Change via User ini File

Create user.ini in domain root:

nano /home/admin/web/example.com/public_html/.user.ini

Add:

upload_max_filesize = 100M
post_max_size = 110M
memory_limit = 128M

Restart PHP-FPM:

systemctl restart php8.2-fpm

Method 4: Using HestiaCP Web Template

Edit backend template:

nano /usr/local/hestia/data/templates/web/php-fpm/php82-custom.tpl

Add:

PHP_ADMIN_VALUE[upload_max_filesize] = 100M
PHP_ADMIN_VALUE[post_max_size] = 110M
PHP_ADMIN_VALUE[memory_limit] = 128M

Also Update Nginx Settings (If Using Nginx)

For large file uploads, also update Nginx:

nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

In http block:

client_max_body_size 100M;

Restart Nginx:

systemctl restart nginx

Verify Changes

Create PHP info file:

echo "" > /home/admin/web/example.com/public_html/info.php

Browse to https://example.com/info.php and search for upload_max_filesize.

Recommended Upload Limits by Use Case

Use Case	upload_max_filesize	post_max_size
Basic website	2M-10M	10M-12M
WordPress with images	32M	64M
Video uploads	100M-500M	110M-550M
Large file sharing	1G-2G	2G