Re: BUG #14280: Error in PostgreSQL - could not extend file "base...": File too large

"David G. Johnston" <david.g.johnston@gmail.com> writes:
> On Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 2:41 AM, <prikshat@cadence.com> wrote:
>> A table has 400 columns. While inserting data into this table, We are
>> getting the error - "could not extend file "base/16385/16872": File too
>> large".

> Possibly a bit more guessing could be had from someone knowledgeable with
> the code surrounding that error path but this is awfully light, transient,
> and potentially machine specific, to track down.

"File too large" is EFBIG, which ordinarily I'd say is impossible because
we don't let individual files exceed 1GB, precisely to avoid the type of
filesystem limitation that would be reported with this error code.
However, the man page for write(2) on my Linux box saith

       EFBIG  An attempt was made to write a file that exceeds the implementa-
              tion-defined maximum file size or the process's file size limit,
              or to write at a position past the maximum allowed offset.

So that gives us a plausible explanation after all: you have an active file
size limit imposed on the backend processes, and it was reached by this
particular process.  What made the error go away was simply using a fresh
backend session.  You'll want to turn off the restriction before starting
the postmaster, though.  See ulimit.

            regards, tom lane