From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG  Sat Oct  9 19:15:26 2010
Return-Path: <owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34])
	by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BA391106566B
	for <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>;
	Sat,  9 Oct 2010 19:15:26 +0000 (UTC)
	(envelope-from roberthuff@rcn.com)
Received: from smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net (smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net
	[207.172.157.102])
	by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 76C978FC18
	for <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>;
	Sat,  9 Oct 2010 19:15:26 +0000 (UTC)
Received: from mr17.lnh.mail.rcn.net ([207.172.157.37])
	by smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net with ESMTP; 09 Oct 2010 15:15:25 -0400
Received: from mx04.lnh.mail.rcn.net (mx04.lnh.mail.rcn.net [207.172.157.54])
	by mr17.lnh.mail.rcn.net (MOS 4.1.9-GA) with ESMTP id AMO36806;
	Sat, 9 Oct 2010 15:14:44 -0400
Received: from 209-6-91-204.c3-0.smr-ubr1.sbo-smr.ma.cable.rcn.com (HELO
	jerusalem.litteratus.org.litteratus.org) ([209.6.91.204])
	by smtp04.lnh.mail.rcn.net with ESMTP; 09 Oct 2010 15:14:44 -0400
From: Robert Huff <roberthuff@rcn.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-ID: <19632.48931.515387.234675@jerusalem.litteratus.org>
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 15:14:43 -0400
To: Caleb Stein <caleb.stein@me.com>
In-Reply-To: <op.vkbisimcesa1c5@win7x64.mshome.net>
References: <op.vkakpz1j0i70i3@win7x64.mshome.net>
	<19632.463.52069.211565@jerusalem.litteratus.org>
	<op.vkbisimcesa1c5@win7x64.mshome.net>
X-Mailer: VM 7.17 under 21.5  (beta28) "fuki" XEmacs Lucid
X-Junkmail-Whitelist: YES (by domain whitelist at mr17.lnh.mail.rcn.net)
Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: Clean up / filesystem
X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5
Precedence: list
List-Id: User questions <freebsd-questions.freebsd.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions>, 
	<mailto:freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-questions>
List-Post: <mailto:freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>
List-Help: <mailto:freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions>, 
	<mailto:freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 09 Oct 2010 19:15:26 -0000


Caleb Stein writes:

>  >>  I'm constantly getting the message, ":/ write failed, filesystem
>  >>  is full", so I did df, and it said that my / filesystem was at
>  >>  108%.  What files can I delete to free some space?
>  >
>  > 	Start by checking the contents of /tmp.
>  > 	Any *.core in /root you don't recognize is suspect.
>  > 	After that?  Try:
>  >
>  > 	du -x / | sort -n -r | head -n 40
>  >
>  > 	Look in those directories.
>  
>  So is it safe to do "rm -rf /tmp/*"?

	No.  Blanket deletes are almost never a good idea.
	_Look in the directories_.
	Understand what's there, and why.
	Do so regularly, and you'll get a feel for when something
changes.  The output of:

	du /usr | sort -n -r | head -n 30

	is waiting for me every morning when I check e-mail.  After
about a month, I knew what directories should be there (the exact
content fluctuates, depending on port builds etc.) and how big they
should be, and could a) pick out when something was wrong and b)
guess what might have caused it.


				Robert Huff