How can the PHP "failed to open stream" error be resolved when trying to access files on a network path?

The "failed to open stream" error in PHP when trying to access files on a network path can be resolved by specifying the full network path to the file using UNC (Universal Naming Convention) format. This includes using double backslashes (\\) and the server name followed by the file path. Additionally, ensure that the PHP process has the necessary permissions to access the network path.

$file = '\\\\servername\\sharename\\path\\to\\file.txt';
if (file_exists($file)) {
    $contents = file_get_contents($file);
    echo $contents;
} else {
    echo "File not found.";
}