How to fix EE_FILENOTFOUND (29): File not found in MySQL

First, confirm the file actually exists at the location you specified:

# On Linux/Mac
ls -la /path/to/your/file.csv

# On Windows
dir C:\path\to\your\file.csv

For LOAD DATA operations, use an absolute path instead of a relative path to eliminate ambiguity:

-- Use absolute path
LOAD DATA INFILE '/var/lib/mysql-files/data.csv'
INTO TABLE your_table
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','
LINES TERMINATED BY '\n';

On Windows, use forward slashes or escaped backslashes:

-- Forward slashes (recommended)
LOAD DATA INFILE 'C:/data/file.csv'
INTO TABLE your_table;

-- Or escaped backslashes
LOAD DATA INFILE 'C:\\data\\file.csv'
INTO TABLE your_table;

If your file is on the client machine (not the MySQL server), you must use LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE:

-- For files on your local machine
LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE '/home/user/data.csv'
INTO TABLE your_table
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','
ENCLOSED BY '"'
LINES TERMINATED BY '\n'
IGNORE 1 ROWS;

Without LOCAL, MySQL expects the file to be on the database server host. With LOCAL, the MySQL client reads the file and sends it to the server.

The local_infile setting controls whether LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE is allowed. Check if it's enabled:

SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES LIKE 'local_infile';

If it shows OFF, enable it:

SET GLOBAL local_infile = 1;

To make this permanent, add to your MySQL configuration file:

# In /etc/mysql/my.cnf or /etc/my.cnf (Linux)
# Or C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 8.0\my.ini (Windows)
[mysqld]
local-infile=1

[mysql]
local-infile=1

After editing the config file, restart MySQL:

# Linux (systemd)
sudo systemctl restart mysql

# Linux (older systems)
sudo service mysql restart

# Windows
net stop MySQL80
net start MySQL80

MySQL Workbench: Edit your connection, go to the Advanced tab, and add OPT_LOCAL_INFILE=1 in the "Others:" box.

MySQL's secure-file-priv setting restricts file operations to a specific directory. Check the current setting:

SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'secure_file_priv';

Possible values:
- A directory path: You can only load files from this directory
- Empty string: No restrictions (not recommended for production)
- NULL: File operations are completely disabled

If a directory is set, move your file there:

# Common secure-file-priv directories
# Linux: /var/lib/mysql-files/
# Windows: C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 8.0\Uploads\

sudo cp /path/to/data.csv /var/lib/mysql-files/
sudo chown mysql:mysql /var/lib/mysql-files/data.csv

To change the secure-file-priv directory (requires restart), edit your my.cnf:

[mysqld]
secure-file-priv = "/path/to/your/data/directory"

Note: Setting secure-file-priv = "" disables restrictions but creates security risks.

MySQL must have read access to the file. Set appropriate permissions:

# Make file readable by MySQL
sudo chmod 644 /path/to/file.csv

# Make directory accessible
sudo chmod 755 /path/to/directory

# Change ownership to mysql user (if needed)
sudo chown mysql:mysql /path/to/file.csv

Verify permissions:

ls -la /path/to/file.csv
# Should show: -rw-r--r-- mysql mysql

On Windows, right-click the file → Properties → Security tab, and ensure the MySQL service account has Read permissions.

If you're on Ubuntu or Debian, AppArmor may be blocking MySQL file access even when permissions are correct. Check AppArmor status:

sudo aa-status | grep mysql

To allow MySQL to access your directory, edit the local AppArmor profile:

sudo nano /etc/apparmor.d/local/usr.sbin.mysqld

Add your directory (replace with your actual path):

/path/to/your/data/** r,

Reload the AppArmor profile:

sudo systemctl reload apparmor
# Or
sudo apparmor_parser -r /etc/apparmor.d/usr.sbin.mysqld

Temporary testing: Switch MySQL to complain mode (logs violations but doesn't block):

sudo aa-complain /usr/sbin/mysqld

If this fixes the issue, AppArmor was the problem. Switch back to enforce mode after updating the profile:

sudo aa-enforce /usr/sbin/mysqld