GDM could not write a new authorization entry to disk. Possibly out of diskspace. Error: No space left on device

mc2017 · 08-20-2017, 08:03 AM

Hi There,

I had my linux server turned off for few months. When I turned it on, I received "GDM could not write a new authorization entry to disk. Possibly out of diskspace. Error: No space left on device". When I did df -h, I realized that my /var is 100%.

All other partitions have space. Will some one please help?

I'm little rusty with the steps and need some help.

Thank you,
MC

wpeckham · 08-20-2017, 10:22 AM

One step is to quickly see if you can tell where the space is going. I would start with

Code:

du -ks /var/* | sort -n| tail

and examine that.

Once you know where space is going, you know what to clean up first. The exact steps depend somewhat on what kind of distribution you use. On mine I would run

Code:

sudo apt-get clean all

to clean up the software cache space. I might also examine the printer and mail sections of the spool folder, as well as /var/log files no longer needed.

On MY systems I would do pretty much all of this while running from a live-cd image or rescue CD after mounting the filespaces and chrooting into your HD root, but that may be overkill for your case.

See if that gets you started, then come back and let us know how you are getting on.

mc2017 · 08-24-2017, 10:11 AM

Hi,
I get a reply saying OSError: [Errno 281] No space left on device.

Please help.
MC

Quote:

Originally Posted by wpeckham

One step is to quickly see if you can tell where the space is going. I would start with

Code:

du -ks /var/* | sort -n| tail

and examine that.

Once you know where space is going, you know what to clean up first. The exact steps depend somewhat on what kind of distribution you use. On mine I would run

Code:

sudo apt-get clean all

to clean up the software cache space. I might also examine the printer and mail sections of the spool folder, as well as /var/log files no longer needed.

On MY systems I would do pretty much all of this while running from a live-cd image or rescue CD after mounting the filespaces and chrooting into your HD root, but that may be overkill for your case.

See if that gets you started, then come back and let us know how you are getting on.

mc2017 · 08-24-2017, 12:12 PM

Thanks wpeckham!

I managed to clear the cache and freed up enough space to boot properly.

Best,
Mano

Quote:

Originally Posted by wpeckham

One step is to quickly see if you can tell where the space is going. I would start with

Code:

du -ks /var/* | sort -n| tail

and examine that.

Once you know where space is going, you know what to clean up first. The exact steps depend somewhat on what kind of distribution you use. On mine I would run

Code:

sudo apt-get clean all

to clean up the software cache space. I might also examine the printer and mail sections of the spool folder, as well as /var/log files no longer needed.

On MY systems I would do pretty much all of this while running from a live-cd image or rescue CD after mounting the filespaces and chrooting into your HD root, but that may be overkill for your case.

See if that gets you started, then come back and let us know how you are getting on.

wpeckham · 08-24-2017, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mc2017

Thanks wpeckham!

I managed to clear the cache and freed up enough space to boot properly.

Best,
Mano

Wonderful news! But that is only the start: Now you will want to figure out what ate up your space (and where) and see if it can be prevented from happening again.

mc2017 · 08-24-2017, 03:44 PM

Yes, absolutely as I do not want to run into this issue again.
Thanks,
MC

Quote:

Originally Posted by wpeckham

Wonderful news! But that is only the start: Now you will want to figure out what ate up your space (and where) and see if it can be prevented from happening again.