Low Disk Space Conditions on SUSE

This document (7002723) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

Situation

The server hangs, applications may not start or hang, or network connections are lost.

#==[ Command ]======================================#
# /bin/df -h                           vvvv
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda7              13G   13G  0.0G 100% /
/dev/sales/south      500G  482G   18G  96% /ssales
/dev/sales/north      300G  246G   54G  82% /nsales
/dev/disk/by-name/38928374928732983000-part1
                     10.5G 10.2G  0.2G  98% /local
udev                  1.5G  176K  1.5G   1% /dev
/dev/sda5              35G  9.2G   25G  27% /shared
/dev/sr0              545M  545M     0 100% /media/GRTMUPD_EN
                                       ^^^^

You observe some file systems are out of disk space.
 

Resolution

It is never good to run out of disk space. It is particularly bad when you run out of space on /, /tmp or /home.

If you run out of space on a data volume, a volume other than the system disk, just delete files until you free up enough space to continue. You might consider installing more disk space with Linux Volume Management and move your data volumes under LVM control. This will allow you to add disk space easily as the need arises.

Running out of space on /tmp or /home may cause applications to hang, core dump or not start at all. This is because /tmp and /home are popular places to write temporary files and data needed for normal operation. Delete files until you free up enough disk space to continue running normally. Consider switching to LVM in case you need to add disk space in the future.

Running out of space on root "/" can cause serious service interruption. If the server is hung or nonoperational, you need to boot into rescue mode from CD1 of the installation media, mount the root partition manually, free up some disk space and reboot.

Additional Information

Useful commands to resolve low disk-space issues:

Use the "find" command:
Example:  To identify large files that may no longer be needed on /  (root ) use:  "find / -type f -size +1G" (as root user)  to identify files 1G or larger.  Delete them if possible.  If not sure...back them up somewhere else first.  Continue with cleanup by modifying  the last parameter to identify smaller files that can be removed.  i.e.:  "find / -type f -size +500M"

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

  • Document ID:7002723
  • Creation Date: 21-Feb-2009
  • Modified Date:27-Aug-2021
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

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