File Manager that hangs system!

Virtualmin
1

Hi
I know I should have reported that since a while but I have since nearly 2 years now and problem becomes more and more present, the File Manager in Virtualmin that hangs system completely. I have seen the issue on multiple machines with different debian releases and different Virtualmin versions.
Each time I try to access the File Manager the left vertical panel that shows the directory listing is usually spining endlessly and I can use only the right panel.
Very often the File Manager process starts to use an insane amount of RAM and CPU till the system completely hangs and is not responsive at all (Virtualmin indicates a lost connection at server and server is unreachable). Most of times it comes back at a normal level after few minutes but sometimes I have to hard reboot the machine which is very annoying.
How to debug that issue ?
I use Virtualmin both in Pro and GPL version and it’s the same issue.
The problematic process is that one:
/usr/share/webmin/authentic-theme/extensions/file-manager/list.cgi

Thanks

Vincèn

2

You should post relevant info to help others help you
What OS version? Virtualmin version?
You can use the copy to clipboard in Virtual to grab this information and paste it here

Screenshot 2026-05-23 071702

3

Well looks like you didn’t read my post :wink: Problem is there through multiple versions of Debian (since version 11 at least) and for Virtualmin it’s since at least 2 years (I keep Virtualmin up-to-date on my systems).
Are there some logs specific at File Manager app that I could share ?

4

I did read your post
You are leaving people guessing on many variables

5

Forum Guidlines:

Super Important Do

  • Include your Linux distribution and version! Click the Clipboard (:clipboard:) icon in the upper right hand corner of the Virtualmin dashboard to place basic system information into the clipboard, so you can easily paste it into your forum post.

Thanks for reading!

6

Yeah I know but out of listing the different configurations where I encounter problems it’s difficult to restrict it easily :frowning:

Debian 11 to 13 distro
Virtualmin versions since 2 years

I have checked both webmin and virtualmin log files in /var/webmin but it looks to log only actions done by users :frowning:

7

ok
Best of luck :grinning_face:

8

do you have any browser extensions loaded ? if so disable them all and see if it works, if it does add then 1 at at time, recheck after each one until it fails. Conversly you could install another browser and see if it works there. TBF if it affected the majority of virtualmin users this topic would be full of comments

9

How many file are in the directory, and what kind(s)?