# FileSettings.Directory not respected by bulk export tool **URL:** \ **Category:** Troubleshooting\ **Created:** [July 21, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://forum.mattermost.com/t/filesettings-directory-not-respected-by-bulk-export-tool/10146 "2020-07-21T14:31:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![willg101](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.mattermost.com/willg101/32/4012_2.png) [@willg101](https://forum.mattermost.com/u/willg101)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://forum.mattermost.com/t/filesettings-directory-not-respected-by-bulk-export-tool/10146/1 "2020-07-21T14:31:02Z")
Hello! I am running Mattermost Team Edition 5.25 and am running into an issue with the bulk export tool: ```auto mattermost@hostname:/var/lib/mattermost$ ./bin/mattermost export bulk out.json {"level":"info","ts":1595340223.2989829,"caller":"utils/i18n.go:83","msg":"Loaded system translations","for locale":"en","from locale":"/var/lib/mattermost/i18n/en.json"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340223.2992501,"caller":"app/server_app_adapters.go:58","msg":"Server is initializing..."} {"level":"info","ts":1595340223.3029568,"caller":"sqlstore/supplier.go:227","msg":"Pinging SQL","database":"master"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340223.5842798,"caller":"app/license.go:40","msg":"License key from https://mattermost.com required to unlock enterprise features."} {"level":"info","ts":1595340223.5965817,"caller":"mlog/log.go:167","msg":"Starting up plugins"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340223.5966902,"caller":"app/plugin.go:202","msg":"Syncing plugins from the file store"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.1485968,"caller":"mlog/sugar.go:19","msg":"Ensuring Surveybot exists","plugin_id":"com.mattermost.nps"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.1664796,"caller":"app/server.go:273","msg":"Current version is 5.25.0 (5.25.0/Wed Jul 15 16:22:44 UTC 2020/0e46bac9fdd8c1140ad0e036104735fb4cbebef3/b544b15ccc487c8b438c786f6f54847071786920)","current_version":"5.25.0","build_number":"5.25.0","build_date":"Wed Jul 15 16:22:44 UTC 2020","build_hash":"0e46bac9fdd8c1140ad0e036104735fb4cbebef3","build_hash_enterprise":"b544b15ccc487c8b438c786f6f54847071786920"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.166563,"caller":"app/server.go:282","msg":"Enterprise Build","enterprise_build":true} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.166597,"caller":"app/server.go:288","msg":"Printing current working","directory":"/var/lib/mattermost"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.166621,"caller":"app/server.go:289","msg":"Loaded config","source":"file:///var/lib/mattermost/config/config.json"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.1809533,"caller":"sqlstore/post_store.go:1571","msg":"Post.Message has size restrictions","max_characters":16383,"max_bytes":65535} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.2319896,"caller":"bleveengine/bleve.go:267","msg":"UpdateConf Bleve"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.23319,"caller":"app/license.go:40","msg":"License key from https://mattermost.com required to unlock enterprise features."} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.2458985,"caller":"app/export.go:57","msg":"Bulk export: exporting version"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.2464123,"caller":"app/export.go:62","msg":"Bulk export: exporting teams"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.249107,"caller":"app/export.go:67","msg":"Bulk export: exporting channels"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.2530622,"caller":"app/export.go:72","msg":"Bulk export: exporting users"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340224.3575327,"caller":"app/export.go:77","msg":"Bulk export: exporting posts"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340294.3842757,"caller":"app/export.go:82","msg":"Bulk export: exporting emoji"} BulkExport: Unable to copy custom emoji images, err=Error reading data/emoji/yneq4mm4ctn5f8e773646fa8za/imagefile {"level":"info","ts":1595340294.4187405,"caller":"app/server.go:416","msg":"Stopping Server..."} {"level":"info","ts":1595340294.4188159,"caller":"app/web_hub.go:130","msg":"stopping websocket hub connections"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340294.4196887,"caller":"app/plugin.go:279","msg":"Shutting down plugins"} {"level":"info","ts":1595340294.4263282,"caller":"app/server.go:469","msg":"Server stopped"} Error: BulkExport: Unable to copy custom emoji images, err=Error reading data/emoji/yneq4mm4ctn5f8e773646fa8za/imagefile Usage: mattermost export bulk [file] [flags] Examples: export bulk bulk_data.json Flags: --all-teams Export all teams from the server. (default true) -h, --help help for bulk Global Flags: -c, --config string Configuration file to use. (default "config.json") --disableconfigwatch When set config.json will not be loaded from disk when the file is changed. ``` As far as I can tell, this is caused by having my files directory outside of the mattermost installation directory: ```auto mattermost@hostname:/var/lib/mattermost$ ./bin/mattermost config get FileSettings.Directory FileSettings.Directory: "/srv/files-mattermost/data/" ``` If I create a symlink at `/var/lib/mattermost/data` pointing to `/srv/files-mattermost/data`, it fixes the issue. Is this expected behavior, or should I create an issue on GitHub? ---
**Author:** ![ahmaddanial](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.mattermost.com/ahmaddanial/32/2938_2.png) [@ahmaddanial](https://forum.mattermost.com/u/ahmaddanial)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://forum.mattermost.com/t/filesettings-directory-not-respected-by-bulk-export-tool/10146/2 "2020-07-22T02:40:28Z")
Hello, @willg101 Thanks for sharing. I am confirming this with the team if the behavior is expected for directory configuration outside of the default Mattermost installation directory. ```auto Error: BulkExport: Unable to copy custom emoji images, err=Error reading data/emoji/yneq4mm4ctn5f8e773646fa8za/imagefile ``` Stay tuned for now. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![amy.blais](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.mattermost.com/amy.blais/32/7481_2.png) [@amy.blais](https://forum.mattermost.com/u/amy.blais)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://forum.mattermost.com/t/filesettings-directory-not-respected-by-bulk-export-tool/10146/3 "2020-07-22T12:37:22Z")
Ticket: [https://mattermost.atlassian.net/browse/MM-27178](https://mattermost.atlassian.net/browse/MM-27178).