file browser: I can create folders but cannot upload

I went through all the settings and spent hours on this. 2 servers. same configuration. i checked and re-checked my php connector config and it all looks fine. i mean if the paths were wrong, i would not be able to create folders right?

here is the kicker, on the first server upload works just fine. the second server creates folders but cannot upload.

please help, i think i tried everything i could google.

i should also mention that i get no errors or warnings. it all seems to go through, but when the form finishes uploading the listing refreshes but no files. i sftp to the folder on server to check and files are not there.

oh and i just checked my error log:
Warning: Unknown: open_basedir restriction in effect. File(/var/tmp) is not within the allowed path(s):
...
PHP Warning: File upload error - unable to create a temporary file in Unknown on line 0

i compared the 2 servers and permissions on /var/temp was identical. what is wrong here? what is different?

thanks.

.......


MEMO TO SELF:

edit php.ini and set upload_tmp_dir to /var/tmp
PS - do not forget to remove the ; in front of upload_tmp_dir and to restart apache after saving changes.