Ubuntu 20.04 disk space full due to logs and cache

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents

1. Symptom & Impact
2. Environment & Reproduction
3. Root Cause Analysis
4. Quick Triage
5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
6. Solution – Primary Fix
7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
9. Rollback Plan
10. Prevention & Hardening
11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

System operations fail with no space left on device errors.

Environment & Reproduction

Updates, logins, or service startups fail when root or home partition usage reaches capacity.

Root Cause Analysis

Unbounded journal logs, package cache growth, large core dumps, and stale containers.

Quick Triage

Identify top disk consumers quickly and free emergency space on critical partitions.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Run df -h, du -xh /var, journalctl –disk-usage, and inspect apt cache footprint.

Solution – Primary Fix

Vacuum old journals, clean apt cache, remove obsolete kernels, and prune unused containers.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Expand storage volume or relocate high-growth directories to dedicated partitions.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

Sufficient free space remains and normal updates plus services execute successfully.

Rollback Plan

Restore mistakenly removed files from backup if cleanup removed needed artifacts.

Prevention & Hardening

Set log retention limits and schedule periodic cleanup for caches and temporary data.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

Can cause boot failure, package manager errors, and database write interruptions.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

View all Ubuntu 20.04 LTS tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

Use Ubuntu storage maintenance docs and journald retention configuration references.