Ubuntu 18.04 Disk Full on Root Partition

📖 ~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 services fail and package updates stop because root filesystem is full.

Environment & Reproduction

Frequent on long-running servers with large logs and old kernel packages.

Root Cause Analysis

Unmanaged log growth, cache accumulation, or insufficient partition sizing.

Quick Triage

Free immediate space and stabilize critical services before deeper cleanup.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Use df -h and du scans to locate top consumers in /var, /tmp, and journal.

Solution – Primary Fix

Purge old kernels, rotate or vacuum logs, clear apt cache, and extend disk if needed.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Move high-growth paths to separate volumes and update mounts persistently.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

Sustained free space remains above operational threshold under normal workload.

Rollback Plan

Recover deleted data from backup if accidental removal impacts applications.

Prevention & Hardening

Implement disk usage alerts and automated retention policies for logs.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

No space left on device, cannot write to journal, apt failed due to ENOSPC.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

View all Ubuntu 18.04 LTS tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

Ubuntu storage management, logrotate, and LVM extension documentation.