delete /var

[patrick]

Since /var has mostly variable data can I delete /var/*
without any operational or system problems ? Several
directories had max sizes of 4gb which I changed to
1gb. Whatever is in there it says it should regenerate
so I should be able to delete the whole directory and
let it refill at better max sizes.

Any ideas ?

THX

[Pascal Hambourg]

Hello,

patrick a ï¿œcrit :

> Since /var has mostly variable data can I delete /var/*
> without any operational or system problems ?

No. "Variable" does not mean "temporary" or "disposable".

[patrick]

On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:21:51 +0100, Pascal Hambourg wrote:

> Hello,
>
> patrick a écrit :

>> Since /var has mostly variable data can I delete /var/* without any
>> operational or system problems ?
>
> No. "Variable" does not mean "temporary" or "disposable".

Thanks for the response. How about just *.debug related
files, which make up the most of the oversize I see ?

[unruh]

On 2012-01-04, patrick <0001p...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Since /var has mostly variable data can I delete /var/*
> without any operational or system problems ? Several

Nope. Programs assume that stuff they stick into /var stays there. Eg on
redhat /var/lib/rpm contains all of the package information for the
installed packages. /var/spool contains all of the mail stuff etc. Just
because it is variable does not mean it is not used.
/tmp is used for stuff which is expected to be saved across invocations of
the progexpected.

> directories had max sizes of 4gb which I changed to
> 1gb. Whatever is in there it says it should regenerate
> so I should be able to delete the whole directory and
> let it refill at better max sizes.

Nope, you will find all kinds of stuff dead if you try that.
My /var is 2.5GB in size. .5GB in /var/lib, .5GB in /var/log (which is
error logs etc,) and 1.3 GB in /var/spool (mainly mail spool)

So I would say 1GB is too small.
Why are you worried? Disk space is cheap.

>
> Any ideas ?


>
> THX

[unruh]

On 2012-01-04, patrick <0001p...@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:21:51 +0100, Pascal Hambourg wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>

>> patrick a ??crit :

>>> Since /var has mostly variable data can I delete /var/* without any
>>> operational or system problems ?
>>
>> No. "Variable" does not mean "temporary" or "disposable".
>
> Thanks for the response. How about just *.debug related
> files, which make up the most of the oversize I see ?

No idea. If you told us what was in front of that .debug we might have
more information for you.

[patrick]

On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:18:13 +0000, unruh wrote:

>> Thanks for the response. How about just *.debug related files, which
>> make up the most of the oversize I see ?
>
> No idea. If you told us what was in front of that .debug we might have
> more information for you.

2.2gb of files in /var/cache/abrt-di/usr/lib/debug

[patrick]

On Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:17:02 +0000, unruh wrote:

> So I would say 1GB is too small.
> Why are you worried? Disk space is cheap.

Seems like something Bleachbit should reduce,
but doesn't appear to work on these debug files
in Fedora 14.

[Eef Hartman]

unruh <un...@invalid.ca> wrote:
> /tmp is used for stuff which is expected to be saved across invocations of

There's a "not" missing in that sentence <grin>
--
******************************************************************
** Eef Hartman, Delft University of Technology, dept. SSC/ICT **
** e-mail: E.J.M....@tudelft.nl - phone: +31-15-27 82525 **
******************************************************************

[Eef Hartman]

patrick <0001p...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Since /var has mostly variable data can I delete /var/*
> without any operational or system problems ? Several

No, the directory structure AND attributes (owner, access bits) and
so of /var is expected to BE there. Furthermore quite a few files
are needed during normal operation.
And quite a few files DO vary but have to be retained over reboots
(like i.e. the current sequence number for print jobs) or
configuration files in /var/lib etc.

[Jasen Betts]

On 2012-01-04, patrick <0001p...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Since /var has mostly variable data can I delete /var/*
> without any operational or system problems ?

other than things like print spools and email spools and possibly
usenet which are often considered unimportant var can also hold
imortant stuff.

databases (eg mysql, postgresql)
disk images (eg for dosemu)
chroot points (eg for openvz)

distro-specific configuration data

however most (if not all) of the stuff in /var/cache is not important
and the files in /var/log can be truncated without much effect on
anything. (unless you have an application that is looking at those
files...)

> Several
> directories had max sizes of 4gb which I changed to
> 1gb. Whatever is in there it says it should regenerate
> so I should be able to delete the whole directory and
> let it refill at better max sizes.
>
> Any ideas ?

look fistr to delete files from /var/cache and possibly /var/log

the other /var/ subdirectories need more care.

--
⚂⚃ 100% natural

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ne...@netfront.net ---

[patrick]

These files (2.2 gb) are from "Auto Bug Reporting Tool - Debug Info" for Fedora 14

Interesting, I have one Fedora 14 where the debug files are deleted when the bug
is reported, and another Fedora 14 on a separate partition where the debug files
are not deleted when the bug(s) are reported.

Must have missed an upgrade somewhere where that would occur.

Deleted 2.2gb of files in /var/cache/abrt-di/usr/lib/debug without problem.

Comments ?