Hosting Operations
Read-onlyCheck Inodes When Disk Space Looks Fine
The system says there is no space left, but byte usage looks fine, so you need to check whether the filesystem ran out of inodes.
Command
df -ihBefore you run this
System impact: Read-only. Low when scoped to the shown target.
When not to use it: Do not use it to locate the directory with too many files. Follow up with targeted file-count inspection inside the affected mount.
Expected output
A filesystem table with inode totals, used/free inodes, IUse%, and mount points. High IUse% means new files can fail even when df -h still shows free bytes.
System impact
Read-only. Nothing changes. The command reports inode availability by filesystem, which is separate from free bytes.
Recovery / rollback: no state is changed.
When to use it
Use when package installs, mail queues, caches, or session files fail despite apparently available disk space.
When not to use it
Do not use it to locate the directory with too many files. Follow up with targeted file-count inspection inside the affected mount.
Why df -h can look fine
Byte space and inode space are separate. A filesystem can have free GBs and still fail to create files when IUse% is near 100%.
df -h /vardf -ih /var
Next safe command
After confirming inode pressure, count file-heavy directories on the same filesystem before deleting anything.
find /var -xdev -type f -printf '%h\n' 2>/dev/null | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head
next steps
Related commands
Check Bytes and Inodes Before Cleanup
No space left can mean full bytes, full inodes, or both.
df -h /var && df -ih /var
Summarize Docker Disk Usage
See how Docker storage is split across images, containers, volumes, and cache.
docker system df -v
Create a SHA256 Checksum Manifest
A file list says what exists; checksums say whether bytes match.
sha256sum source/app/config.yml source/content/index.md source/content/about.md source/assets/logo.svg
Find Directories Burning Inodes
Inode cleanup starts by finding the directory with too many files.
find /var/cache -xdev -type f -printf '%h\n' 2>/dev/null | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head
Summarize Cache File Ages
Cache cleanup is safer when you know whether files are stale or still active.
find /var/cache -xdev -type f -printf '%TY-%Tm-%Td\n' 2>/dev/null | sort | uniq -c
next diagnostic step
Where to go from this command
- Linux disk full hub Use when inode pressure explains no-space errors.
Study mapping
Use this as independent command practice: read the notes, predict the output, then compare it with the example before using a real shell.
Independent study support only. No affiliation, endorsement, exam dumps, or real exam questions.