Ubuntu 14.04 LTS root filesystem full from runaway logs

📖 ~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

Applications fail writes and system services crash from no disk space.

Environment & Reproduction

Frequently tied to debug logging left enabled in production.

Root Cause Analysis

Unbounded log growth consumes root partition and inode capacity.

Quick Triage

Run df and du to identify largest paths and immediate pressure points.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Trace top log producers and validate logrotate execution status.

Solution – Primary Fix

Archive or truncate safely, fix rotation policy, and restart affected services.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Move heavy logs to dedicated volume with retention policy.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

Free space returns above threshold and services recover.

Rollback Plan

Restore archived logs if forensic needs require full original files.

Prevention & Hardening

Set disk alerts and enforce sane logging levels by default.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

No space left on device and failed to write journal.

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 log management and Ubuntu logrotate documentation.