"No space left on device"

Support knowledgebase (ke_no-space)
Applies to

SuSE Linux: All versions

Symptom:

At runtime (e.g. during the execution of a program), you get a message like 
        No space left on device
This may also happen during the first installation, an update or short time after an update.

You might also receive a similar message from cron via mail.

Cause:

There is no space left on the harddrive or at least one partition of the harddrive. Therefore programs, that rely on the temporary or permanent storage of files in the filesystem, cannot be executed correctly anymore.

Solution:

Please make sure, that enough space is available on the harddrive. The comand df will show you, which partitions are affected. The output of df might look like the following (Change to the second console with Alt-F2, if necessary) : 
        Filesystem         1024-blocks  Used Available Capacity Mounted on
        /dev/sda1              49139   49139        0    100%   /
        /dev/sda3              97830   80123    12486     87%   /var
        /dev/sda7             497667  474361        0    100%   /usr
        /dev/sda8             497667  159179   312786     34%   /opt
        /dev/sda9             637491  503724   100836     83%   /usr/src
        192.168.102.1:/real-home
                             13877512 8305927  5427242     60%   /home/alex
In this example the partitions "/" and "/usr" have no space left. There is still some space for root on the partition "/usr". If you want to view a compressed man page with "man", it must be unpacked temporarily into the /tmp-directory. In this example this will result in the message 
        gzip: stdout: No space left on device
        zsoelim: /usr/bin/gzip -dc /usr/man/man1/man.1.gz > /tmp/zman00228aaa
        exited
        with status 256

The articles below explain, how you can ensure, that there is enough space on the device.

See also:
o No space left for optional software
Keywords: SPACE, HARDDRIVE, PARTITION
Categories: Frequently asked Questions
SDB-ke_no-space, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 18. Jun 1998
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 06. Mai 2002 by ke (sdb_gen 1.40.0)