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A deployment can fail with “disk full” even when df -h shows free gigabytes. The failing path may be on a different mount, the filesystem may have exhausted inodes rather than data blocks, or deleted files may still consume space because a process has them open. Diagnose the exact path with df -hT, df -i, and findmnt, then reconcile the result with a same-filesystem du scan before deleting anything.
What “disk full” actually means
Linux has more than one way to run out of filesystem resources. A write can fail with ENOSPC when data blocks are unavailable, but creating a new file can also fail when the filesystem has no free inodes. Inodes are the records that hold file metadata; every regular file, directory, link, and many special objects consumes one. A tree containing millions of tiny files can therefore exhaust inodes while plenty of byte capacity remains.
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First response: identify the failing filesystem
- Capture the evidence. Save the complete error and path. Distinguish
ENOSPCfrom a quota message, a permission error, or a Kubernetes eviction notice. - Check blocks and filesystem type. Run
df -hT /path/from/the/error. The output shows the mounted filesystem, total size, used and available space, percentage used, and type. - Check inodes separately. Run
df -i /path/from/the/error. Compare theIUse%value and the available inode count with the block report. - Verify the mount boundary. Run
findmnt -T /path/from/the/error. This identifies the mount that actually resolves that path, including bind mounts and nested volumes.
Use the same path in all three commands. Running df only on / can hide a full child mount, and checking a parent directory can produce a different answer from checking the deployment’s target.
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Read the results: blocks versus inodes
| Observation | Likely meaning | Next check |
|---|---|---|
Avail is near zero and IUse% is moderate |
Data blocks are exhausted or reserved capacity is unavailable to this user | Find the largest consumers with a same-filesystem du scan; check quotas and reserved-space policy |
Avail remains high but IUse% is 100% |
Inode exhaustion from a high file or directory count | Locate directories containing unusually many entries and remove or rotate confirmed disposable files |
| Both reports look healthy, but creation still fails | Wrong mount, quota, permissions, transient allocation change, or a runtime-specific limit | Recheck findmnt, quotas, service logs, and the container orchestrator’s accounting |
df reports much more use than du |
Deleted-open files, data hidden below a mount point, unreadable directories, or storage managed outside the directory walk | Inspect open deleted files, mount boundaries, permissions, and runtime reports |
A low percentage in df -h does not disprove a full condition: inode exhaustion and per-user or project quotas can block a write before byte capacity reaches 100 percent.
Why df and du 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 clue rather than a command error.
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Compare the mount directly:
df -hT /mountpoint
du -xhd1 /mountpointThe -x option keeps du on one filesystem, preventing a separate mounted volume from being counted as part of the parent. The depth-one summary identifies large top-level directories; drill into a suspicious directory with another du -xhd1 invocation. If a directory cannot be read, note the permission error instead of treating its apparent size as zero. Use elevated access only when policy permits, for example sudo du -xhd1 /mountpoint.
Deleted files that are still open
Unlinking a pathname removes its directory entry, but the filesystem cannot release the file’s blocks while any process still has an open descriptor. This is the classic case where du falls while df remains high. A log process may continue writing to a file that an administrator has deleted, making the space invisible in the directory tree.
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List deleted-open files with:
sudo lsof +L1Inspect the process ID, user, command, file descriptor, filesystem, and size or offset columns. Sort the displayed records by the size column in your shell or pager so the largest holders are easy to prioritize. The process table changes while lsof runs; an empty result is not proof that no matching file exists. Repeat the scan, and narrow it to the affected filesystem when the host has many mounts.
Identify the owning service and use its documented log-reopen action, graceful restart, or controlled termination procedure. Do not delete the pathname again: it is already unlinked, and another removal cannot reclaim blocks. Confirm recovery by rerunning both df and du after the descriptor closes.
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Other causes of an apparent gap
- Mount-point cover-up: files written in a directory before a volume was mounted there remain underneath the mount and are invisible until it is unmounted. Do not unmount production storage casually; schedule a controlled inspection.
- Unreadable directories: a non-root
durun may skip content it cannot traverse. Compare with an authorized elevated scan and account for access controls. - Runtime-managed storage: container layers, build caches, and local volumes may be represented in daemon metadata rather than in the application directory you first inspected.
- Quotas: a user, project, service, or container quota can be full while the underlying filesystem still has free blocks and inodes.
Find inode-heavy directories safely
When df -i shows exhaustion, look for file-count concentration rather than byte size. Start at the affected mount and keep every scan on that filesystem. A practical approach is to obtain a directory summary, then count entries only in candidates:
du -xhd1 /mountpoint
find /mountpoint/suspect -xdev -type f -printf '%hn' 2>/dev/null | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | headThe second command groups regular files by parent directory. Adjust the path, depth, and permissions to fit the incident; avoid an unbounded scan of a busy production tree. Also inspect temporary-file, mail-queue, cache, session, and per-request directories, where many small objects commonly accumulate. Confirm ownership, age, retention requirements, and whether another process is still using the files before removing anything.
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Deleting thousands of files can itself create load and may not be the right remediation. Prefer the application’s retention setting, a supported queue purge, or log rotation. After cleanup, rerun df -i and verify that the deployment can create a test file in the same target directory.
Mounts, quotas, and reserved capacity
Inspect the mount that matters
Use findmnt -T /path to reveal the source device, mount point, filesystem type, and options. Then run df -hT and df -i against that mount. A deployment writing to /var/lib, /var/lib/docker, a separate data volume, or a memory-backed temporary filesystem can fail while / looks normal.
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Where enabled, inspect filesystem, project, user, service, and container quotas with the platform’s approved tools. Quota errors may appear in application or kernel logs even when df reports free capacity. Record which identity performs the deployment; checking a root shell’s quota does not establish that the deployment account has the same allowance.
Account for reserved blocks
Some filesystems reserve capacity for privileged recovery and metadata operations. A non-root process can therefore fail before the final physical blocks are available. Changing reserved settings is filesystem-specific administrative work: follow the filesystem and vendor guidance, measure the operational impact, and never treat a reservation change as a substitute for capacity planning.
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Docker: inspect the daemon, not only application directories
Docker stores image layers, writable container layers, local volumes, and build cache on the host filesystem selected for the daemon. Use the daemon’s own accounting first:
docker system df
docker system df -vThe verbose form separates images, containers, local volumes, and build cache so you can identify reclaimable categories before pruning. Match the daemon’s data root to the mount shown by findmnt -T; a full host volume can prevent pulls, builds, or container writes even when another mount has room.
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Overlay filesystems add a common surprise. When a process deletes a file inside a container, the overlay upper layer records a whiteout on the host. Layer accounting and open descriptors can therefore differ from a simple walk of the container’s visible directory. Never remove internal files under /var/lib/docker/overlay2 by hand. Use documented image, container, volume, and builder lifecycle commands, and verify retention requirements before pruning.
If cleanup appears blocked, use lsof against the Docker data filesystem to find processes holding paths open. Restart or stop the responsible workload through its normal control plane, then repeat Docker and filesystem checks.
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Kubernetes: ephemeral storage can evict pods
Kubernetes local ephemeral storage includes writable container layers, node-level logs, and emptyDir volumes. A node short on this storage can receive a disk-pressure condition, be tainted, and evict pods. The relevant capacity is the node filesystem used by the runtime and kubelet, not necessarily the host’s root volume as viewed through a different mount.
Correlate four views during an incident:
- Node conditions and events for disk pressure or eviction messages.
- Pod ephemeral-storage requests and limits, plus actual usage reported by the runtime.
df -hTanddf -ion the node paths used for logs, container layers, andemptyDir.lsof +L1evidence of deleted files still held open by node agents or containers.
Kubelet directory-scan accounting does not track open descriptors for deleted files. If a process opens a file in an emptyDir, the file is deleted, and the descriptor remains open, the inode persists while the kubelet may not categorize the space as in use. This explains why node-level filesystem counters can disagree with reported pod usage. Close the descriptor through a supported application restart or log-reopen path rather than deleting more names.
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- Preserve context: record the exact path, timestamp, workload, and error text.
- Measure the target mount: run
df -hT /path,df -i /path, andfindmnt -T /path. - Compare visible usage: run
du -xhd1on that mount and note unreadable or separate-mounted directories. - Investigate a mismatch: repeat
sudo lsof +L1, identify deleted-open owners, and inspect mount cover-up and quota possibilities. - Apply runtime checks: for Docker, run
docker system df -v; for Kubernetes, correlate node pressure, pod limits, runtime usage, and host counters. - Reclaim deliberately: rotate logs, purge confirmed disposable cache or queue data, close descriptors, or perform a graceful runtime operation. Do not hand-delete filesystem internals.
- Verify recovery: rerun block and inode checks, confirm the mount is unchanged, and test the original deployment action.
- Document the cause: record the owner, reclaimed resource, command or control-plane action, and any workload that must be reconfigured.
Prevent the next false “disk full” alert
- Monitor both block availability and inode availability on every filesystem used by deployments.
- Alert on the actual mount paths for application data, runtime storage, logs, and temporary volumes.
- Configure log rotation that uses the service’s supported reopen mechanism, and verify rotation closes or reopens descriptors.
- Set retention policies for container images, stopped containers, build cache, local volumes, and node logs.
- Track file counts in directories prone to small-file growth, not only their byte totals.
- Define Kubernetes ephemeral-storage requests and limits that reflect workload behavior, and review node eviction thresholds.
- Include quota headroom and filesystem reserved capacity in capacity reviews.
- Test the incident procedure in a non-production environment so operators know which cleanup and restart actions are safe.
Bottom line
When deployment reports a full disk despite apparently free space, check the exact filesystem and check both resource types: data blocks with df -hT and inodes with df -i. Reconcile those counters with a same-filesystem du walk, then investigate deleted-open files, mount boundaries, permissions, quotas, and runtime accounting. Reclaim space only through an identified owner or supported Docker/Kubernetes operation, and verify the original path after every change.
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