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What “disk full” actually describes
ENOSPC means the operating system could not allocate something required for the write. That “something” can be data blocks, an inode, quota allowance, or space available to the particular mount used by the application. It does not necessarily mean every disk on the server is full.
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Blocks and inodes are separate resources
Data blocks hold file contents. Inodes hold file metadata, including ownership, permissions, timestamps and pointers to the blocks. A filesystem can have plenty of unallocated bytes but no free inodes. This is common when a service creates millions of tiny files, mail queues, cache entries, temporary files or per-request artifacts. Creating one more file then fails even though the percentage in df -h looks comfortable.
Check both counters on the filesystem that serves the failing path:
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| Question | Command | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| How many data blocks remain? | df -hT /path |
Capacity, used and available space, plus filesystem type. |
| How many inodes remain? | df -i /path |
Inode totals, used inodes and available inodes. |
| Which mount serves the path? | findmnt -T /path |
The device, mount point, filesystem type and mount options. |
A high inode Use% with low block usage points to file-count pressure. A high block Use% with healthy inodes points to data volume. Both can be exhausted at once.
The path matters more than the machine-wide view
A deployment writing to /var/lib, /var/lib/docker, a separate data volume or a temporary filesystem can fail while the root filesystem appears healthy. Always pass the actual application path to the commands above. Checking only df -h / can inspect the wrong filesystem.
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A five-minute triage sequence
Capture evidence before removing anything. The following order separates a real capacity problem from accounting or mount surprises.
- Record the exact failure. Save the deployment log and path. Distinguish
ENOSPCfrom a quota message, a container-runtime error or a Kubernetes eviction notice. - Inspect both resource types. Run
df -hT /pathanddf -i /path. Record the filesystem type, mount point, available blocks and available inodes. - Confirm the mount. Run
findmnt -T /path. If the result is a dedicated volume, inspect that mount rather than/. - Compare directory usage without crossing mounts. On a GNU/Linux host, run
sudo du -xhd1 /mountpoint. The-xoption keeps the walk on one filesystem, making the result comparable withdf. - Investigate disagreement before cleanup. If
dfreports substantially more used space thandu, check deleted-but-open files, mount-point hiding, unreadable directories and runtime-managed storage.
Run the comparison against the mount point returned by findmnt, not an assumed directory. A deployment path nested under another mount must be analyzed on that nested filesystem.
Why df and du can disagree
df reads allocation counters maintained by the filesystem. du walks directory entries and totals files it can see. They answer different questions, so a mismatch is a diagnostic signal rather than proof that either command is broken.
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Deleted files still held open
When a process opens a file and the pathname is removed, the directory entry disappears but the file’s blocks remain allocated until every open descriptor is closed. A daemon that keeps writing to an unlinked log can therefore consume gigabytes that no directory scan finds.
List such files with:
sudo lsof +L1
Inspect the command, process ID, user, file descriptor and size or offset columns. Repeat the scan: processes can open, close or replace files while lsof is running, so one empty result does not prove that no deleted-open file exists. When necessary, repeat during the incident and focus on processes associated with the affected mount.
The safe remedy is operational, not cosmetic. Use the owning service’s supported log-reopen signal, graceful restart or controlled termination procedure. Removing the pathname again cannot free blocks from a file that is already unlinked; the process must close the descriptor. Kubernetes documents the same behavior for local ephemeral storage: an inode remains until the descriptor closes, while a directory scan may fail to categorize that space as in use.
Data hidden beneath a mount point
Files created in a directory before a filesystem is mounted there remain on the underlying filesystem, but the mounted filesystem hides them from normal path traversal. They still count toward the underlying filesystem’s df total while a du run through the mounted path sees only the upper filesystem. Confirm the mount with findmnt -T. Do not unmount a production filesystem merely to inspect hidden data: unmounting can interrupt services and expose a directory that applications are not expecting.
Unreadable directories and permissions
du cannot total directories it cannot read. Run it with appropriate privileges, note permission-denied messages, and treat an incomplete total as incomplete evidence. A privileged scan can still omit paths that change during the walk.
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Storage accounted for outside the directory tree
Container runtimes, image stores, snapshotters, databases and other managers may track data through metadata or layers that a casual directory walk does not explain. Use the manager’s own accounting command in addition to host-level tools.
Finding inode exhaustion
If df -i /path shows nearly all inodes used while block capacity remains, locate directories containing unusually large numbers of entries. Keep the scan on one filesystem and choose a scope that will not overwhelm a busy host. For example:
sudo find /mountpoint -xdev -type f -printf '%hn' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head
This produces directories with the highest counts of regular files. The command can itself be expensive on a tree with millions of entries, so run it during a maintenance window or narrow it to likely locations such as cache, spool, temporary or application-data directories. Check subdirectories separately when a top-level count hides the actual hotspot.
Once you identify a candidate, verify its retention policy, owner and file ages. Do not delete an entire directory because it has many files: queues, database files and deployment artifacts may be active or required for recovery. Remove only confirmed disposable data, or use the application’s purge and rotation mechanism so metadata and indexes stay consistent.
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After cleanup, rerun both df -i and df -hT. Deleting a small number of huge files may restore blocks but leave the inode percentage unchanged; deleting many tiny files may restore inodes while barely changing byte usage.
Mounts, quotas and reserved capacity
Verify every relevant mount
Use findmnt -T /path for the path that failed and repeat it for related paths such as a runtime directory, temporary directory or log location. A service may write logs to one mount, uploads to another and temporary files to a third. Each can fail independently.
Check quotas
User, group, project, service or container quotas can reject a write before the filesystem reaches its physical limit. Affected systems may report “disk full” or a quota-specific error. Check the applicable quota tools and administration console for the account and project that performed the deployment; on systems that provide them, commands such as quota -s or repquota show limits and consumption. A root-only filesystem check does not override a user or project quota.
Account for reserved capacity
Some filesystems reserve a portion of blocks for privileged operation and recovery. A non-root service can therefore fail while ordinary users still see a small amount of physical capacity. Changing reserved capacity is filesystem-specific administrative work. Follow the filesystem and distribution vendor’s guidance, and never alter it as an emergency substitute for finding runaway data.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When Docker storage is the culprit
Docker’s daemon maintains images, stopped containers, local volumes and build cache on host storage. The host filesystem, not the container’s apparent directory tree, is where that data consumes blocks and inodes.
Start with the daemon’s accounting:
docker system df
For object-level detail, use:
docker system df -v
Review images, containers, local volumes and build cache separately, then compare each item with retention requirements. Prune only categories you have approved, using the corresponding documented image, container, volume or builder lifecycle command. A broad prune can remove artifacts needed for rollback.
Docker’s overlay storage also explains confusing directory totals. Deleting a file inside a container creates an overlay whiteout in the upper layer; it does not necessarily reclaim the lower-layer data. Overlay data resides on the host filesystem. Never delete internal files under /var/lib/docker/overlay2 by hand. Use Docker’s commands and a controlled daemon procedure so layer metadata remains consistent.
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When Kubernetes reports ephemeral-storage pressure
Kubernetes local ephemeral storage includes writable container layers, node-level logs and emptyDir volumes. It is separate from persistent volumes. When a node approaches its local-storage limit, Kubernetes can mark the node under pressure, taint it and evict pods.
Correlate four views:
- Node conditions and eviction messages in
kubectl describe node <node>. - Each pod’s
ephemeral-storagerequests and limits in its manifest orkubectl get pod ... -o yamloutput. - Host-level
df -hTanddf -ifor the kubelet and runtime mounts. - Runtime accounting and
sudo lsof +L1evidence for deleted-open files.
Kubelet measurement can use directory scans. Those scans do not account correctly for an open descriptor to a deleted file, so a node may continue consuming space that the reported directory usage does not show. Kubernetes’ documentation describes the case directly: “If you (or a container) create a file inside an emptyDir volume, something then opens that file, and you delete the file while it is still open, then the inode for the deleted file stays until you close the file but the kubelet does not categorize the space as in use.” Close the descriptor through the owning process, then recheck node conditions and host counters.
Do not treat eviction as proof that the root filesystem is full. Identify the node filesystem used for local ephemeral storage and inspect that mount.
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| Finding | Safe next action | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Inodes exhausted by cache or temporary files | Use the application’s purge or rotation policy; remove verified disposable entries in batches. | Deleting active queues, sockets or database files by pattern alone. |
| Deleted-open log or data file | Ask the owning service to reopen logs, restart gracefully or close the descriptor; then verify with lsof. |
Unlinking the pathname repeatedly or killing an unrelated process. |
| Docker images, containers or build cache | Review docker system df -v and prune approved object classes. |
Manual deletion inside /var/lib/docker/overlay2. |
| Quota reached | Raise or correct the quota through administration, or move data within policy. | Assuming more physical disk will bypass the limit. |
| Hidden data beneath a mount | Schedule a controlled maintenance inspection of the underlying filesystem. | Unounting a live production mount during an outage. |
After any remediation, rerun df -hT, df -i, the relevant du -x summary and runtime checks. Confirm that the deployment path can create a test file under the same user and mount, then remove the test file.
Preventing the next “disk full” deployment
- Alert on both block percentage and inode percentage for every filesystem used by deployments, including runtime and temporary mounts.
- Monitor file counts in cache, spool, upload, log and temporary directories, not just total bytes.
- Configure log rotation and verify that applications actually reopen rotated files; rotation that renames a file without closing the old descriptor can still leave blocks allocated.
- Set container image, stopped-container, volume and build-cache retention policies, and review them against rollback requirements.
- Give Kubernetes pods realistic
ephemeral-storagerequests and limits, and monitor node conditions before eviction pressure becomes critical. - Document quota owners, mount dependencies and the approved graceful-restart procedure for services that hold large files open.
- Test alerts against the filesystem serving the deployment path, rather than relying on a single root-volume dashboard.
Bottom line
A “disk full” deployment error is a filesystem-allocation problem until proven otherwise, but allocation includes more than gigabytes. Check the path’s mount, then check blocks and inodes separately. Use a same-filesystem du comparison to find visible consumers, and treat a large gap as evidence to investigate deleted-open files, mount boundaries, permissions and runtime accounting. Reclaim space through the process or storage manager that owns it, verify every counter afterward, and monitor inode and ephemeral-storage pressure as deliberately as byte capacity.
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