Linux — No space left on device (ENOSPC)
Category: Linux | Priority: High
What does this error mean?
Linux cannot allocate storage for a write operation. The filesystem may be out of data blocks, inodes or an applicable storage quota.
Likely causes
- Filesystem data blocks completely used
- Inodes exhausted even though disk space appears available
- User or project storage quota reached
- Growing logs or deleted files that remain open by running processes
Diagnosis and resolution
- Run df -h to check which mounted filesystem is full.
- Run df -i to check available inodes.
- Use du -xhd1 /path to identify large directories within the relevant filesystem.
- Review quotas, application logs and deleted-but-open files with lsof +L1.
- Delete or rotate only known unnecessary files, or extend storage after checking backups and application dependencies.
Caution: Do not delete database files, virtual disks or logs required for incident investigation without reviewing their dependencies.
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