Increasing or Freeing inodes

Siju George

unread,

Mar 17, 2010, 6:40:03 AM3/17/10

to

Hi,

I got this warning from nagios about one of my debian systems

DISK WARNING - free space: /var 426 GB (54% inode=99%): / 6 GB (1%
inode=89%): /boot 173 GB (99% inode=99%):

I am runnig backuppc on this server and I guess it is those hardlinks
that are consuming the inodes.
Is there any way to increase the inode nos?

My partitions are

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda4 564G 529G 6.2G 99% /
tmpfs 7.9G 0 7.9G 0% /lib/init/rw
udev 10M 68K 10M 1% /dev
tmpfs 7.9G 0 7.9G 0% /dev/shm
/dev/sda1 184G 200M 174G 1% /boot
/dev/sdb2 92G 188M 87G 1% /home
/dev/sda3 141G 188M 134G 1% /tmp
/dev/sdb1 826G 357G 427G 46% /var

# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/sda4 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/sda1 /boot ext3 defaults 0 2
/dev/sdb2 /home ext3 defaults 0 2
/dev/sda3 /tmp ext3 defaults 0 2
/dev/sdb1 /var ext3 defaults 0 2
/dev/sda2 none swap sw 0 0

Otherwise I guess due to the lack of inodes I wont be able to use the
free space left :-(

Thanks

--Siju

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-us...@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listm...@lists.debian.org
Archive: http://lists.debian.org/b713df2c1003170338p781...@mail.gmail.com

Tom H

unread,

Mar 17, 2010, 8:30:01 AM3/17/10

to

> I got this warning from nagios about one of my debian systems
> DISK WARNING - free space: /var 426 GB (54% inode=99%): / 6 GB (1%
> inode=89%): /boot 173 GB (99% inode=99%):
> I am runnig backuppc on this server and I guess it is those hardlinks
> that are consuming the inodes.
> Is there any way to increase the inode nos?

If this is extX, AFAIK you have to back up you data, re-run mkfs with
"-N <inodecount>" to change the inode count, and restore your data.

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-us...@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listm...@lists.debian.org

Archive: http://lists.debian.org/6d4219cc1003170525o105...@mail.gmail.com

Siju George

unread,

Mar 17, 2010, 8:40:02 AM3/17/10

to

On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 5:55 PM, Tom H <tomh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I got this warning from nagios about one of my debian systems
> > DISK WARNING - free space: /var 426 GB (54% inode=99%): / 6 GB (1%
> > inode=89%): /boot 173 GB (99% inode=99%):
> > I am runnig backuppc on this server and I guess it is those hardlinks
> > that are consuming the inodes.
> > Is there any way to increase the inode nos?
>
> If this is extX, AFAIK you have to back up you data, re-run mkfs with
> "-N <inodecount>" to change the inode count, and restore your data.
>

Thanks

How do I find the No. of inodes left for me to use?

Thanks

--Siju

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-us...@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listm...@lists.debian.org

Archive: http://lists.debian.org/b713df2c1003170535i4e5...@mail.gmail.com

Javier Barroso

unread,

Mar 17, 2010, 9:00:04 AM3/17/10

to

On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 1:35 PM, Siju George <sgeor...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 5:55 PM, Tom H <tomh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > I got this warning from nagios about one of my debian systems
>> > DISK WARNING - free space: /var 426 GB (54% inode=99%): / 6 GB (1%
>> > inode=89%): /boot 173 GB (99% inode=99%):
>> > I am runnig backuppc on this server and I guess it is those hardlinks
>> > that are consuming the inodes.
>> > Is there any way to increase the inode nos?
>>
>> If this is extX, AFAIK you have to back up you data, re-run mkfs with
>> "-N <inodecount>" to change the inode count, and restore your data.
>>
>
> Thanks
>
> How do I find the No. of inodes left for me to use?

df -i

Which filesystem is better for partitions which are going to host too
many hard links ? I always use ext3, but I think it is slow in system
with many hard links, i don't known if other filesystems are better.
A fast google search didn't find any response to this question

Thank you very much !

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-us...@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listm...@lists.debian.org

Archive: http://lists.debian.org/81c921f31003170551o1d...@mail.gmail.com

Stan Hoeppner

unread,

Mar 17, 2010, 9:30:02 AM3/17/10

to

Tom H put forth on 3/17/2010 7:25 AM:

>> I got this warning from nagios about one of my debian systems
>> DISK WARNING - free space: /var 426 GB (54% inode=99%): / 6 GB (1%
>> inode=89%): /boot 173 GB (99% inode=99%):
>> I am runnig backuppc on this server and I guess it is those hardlinks
>> that are consuming the inodes.
>> Is there any way to increase the inode nos?
>
> If this is extX, AFAIK you have to back up you data, re-run mkfs with
> "-N <inodecount>" to change the inode count, and restore your data.

May as well use "mkfs.xfs" instead, and never have to worry about inodes
again. XFS uses variable inodes and thus never runs out.

--
Stan

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-us...@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listm...@lists.debian.org

Archive: http://lists.debian.org/4BA0D8F6...@hardwarefreak.com

Stefan Monnier

unread,

Mar 17, 2010, 11:50:02 AM3/17/10

to

> I am runnig backuppc on this server and I guess it is those hardlinks
> that are consuming the inodes.

hardlinks do not use inodes (they only use up space in the directory in
which they appear). But every symlink and every directory does use an
inode.

Stefan

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-us...@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listm...@lists.debian.org

Archive: http://lists.debian.org/jwvvdcv7y4w.fsf-monnier...@gnu.org

Siju George

unread,

Mar 17, 2010, 1:00:03 PM3/17/10

to

On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 9:14 PM, Stefan Monnier
<mon...@iro.umontreal.ca> wrote:
>> I am runnig backuppc on this server and I guess it is those hardlinks
>> that are consuming the inodes.
>
> hardlinks do not use inodes (they only use up space in the directory in
> which they appear). But every symlink and every directory does use an
> inode.
>

Oh! Any idea how i can find why the inodes got used up while there is
around 50% of free space in the partition?

DISK WARNING - free space: /var 426 GB (54% inode=99%): / 6 GB (1%
inode=89%): /boot 173 GB (99% inode=99%):

thanks

--Siju

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-us...@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listm...@lists.debian.org

Archive: http://lists.debian.org/b713df2c1003170954x525...@mail.gmail.com

Paul E Condon

unread,

Mar 17, 2010, 7:10:01 PM3/17/10

to

On 20100317_222432, Siju George wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 9:14 PM, Stefan Monnier
> <mon...@iro.umontreal.ca> wrote:
> >> I am runnig backuppc on this server and I guess it is those hardlinks
> >> that are consuming the inodes.
> >
> > hardlinks do not use inodes (they only use up space in the directory in
> > which they appear). But every symlink and every directory does use an
> > inode.
> >
>
> Oh! Any idea how i can find why the inodes got used up while there is
> around 50% of free space in the partition?
>
> DISK WARNING - free space: /var 426 GB (54% inode=99%): / 6 GB (1%
> inode=89%): /boot 173 GB (99% inode=99%):
>

This is somewhat brute force, but might give you an idea of what is happening:

# find <mount-point-of-fs> -ls |less

You will get an unsorted list of all in-use inodes and what they are being
used for (I think). Scan it looking for clues to source of your problem.
Or, maybe, send output of find command to a file and sort the file by some
plausible criterion and then look at result with less. You might find a lot
of soft links and learn something from their names, which might give you
a clue to how to fix.

HTH
--
Paul E Condon
peco...@mesanetworks.net

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-us...@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listm...@lists.debian.org

Archive: http://lists.debian.org/2010031723...@big.lan.gnu

Mike Bird

unread,

Mar 17, 2010, 8:40:02 PM3/17/10

to

On Wed March 17 2010 03:38:27 Siju George wrote:
> I got this warning from nagios about one of my debian systems
>
> DISK WARNING - free space: /var 426 GB (54% inode=99%): / 6 GB (1%
> inode=89%): /boot 173 GB (99% inode=99%):
>
> I am runnig backuppc on this server and I guess it is those hardlinks
> that are consuming the inodes.

(1) You don't have an inode shortage. You have 99%/89%/99% inodes free.
(2) You can confirm this with "df -i".
(3) Hardlinks do not consume any inodes, only directory space.
(4) You're short of blocks (not inodes) on your 6GB root drive.
(5) "du -x --max-depth=1 /" may help to show what is using those 6GB.

--Mike Bird

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-us...@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listm...@lists.debian.org

Archive: http://lists.debian.org/201003171734.5...@yosemite.net

Mike Bird

unread,

Mar 17, 2010, 8:50:01 PM3/17/10

to

On Wed March 17 2010 17:34:50 Mike Bird wrote:
> (1) You don't have an inode shortage. You have 99%/89%/99% inodes free.
> (2) You can confirm this with "df -i".
> (3) Hardlinks do not consume any inodes, only directory space.
> (4) You're short of blocks (not inodes) on your 6GB root drive.
> (5) "du -x --max-depth=1 /" may help to show what is using those 6GB.

Correction: (4) and (5) should of course say 564GB, not 6GB. 6GB is
the (approx 1%) free space remaining.

--Mike Bird

--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-us...@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listm...@lists.debian.org

Archive: http://lists.debian.org/201003171742.4...@yosemite.net