Ubuntu 14.04 LTS no space left on device in /var

📖 ~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

Package installs, logs, and databases fail due to full filesystem.

Environment & Reproduction

Ubuntu 14.04 server with limited /var partition and verbose logging.

Root Cause Analysis

Unbounded log growth or stale caches consume remaining storage.

Quick Triage

Run df and du to identify largest directories and urgent pressure points.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Trace top consumers across logs, apt cache, and temporary data.

Solution – Primary Fix

Purge safe cache data, rotate logs, and reclaim inactive package artifacts.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Expand filesystem capacity or move heavy data paths to larger volumes.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

Write operations resume and free space remains above alert thresholds.

Rollback Plan

Restore archived logs and reverse moved paths if needed.

Prevention & Hardening

Set log rotation limits and proactive disk usage alerts.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

Map to inode exhaustion and journal corruption side effects.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

View all Ubuntu 14.04 LTS tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

Linux storage diagnostics and Ubuntu log management guides.