# Ubuntu 9 - Not enough disk space '/' error



## gdatuk (Mar 29, 2010)

I installed ubuntu 9 now. When I run the system update program, i get the error message which says that there is not enough disk space in in the / drive. 

I have 500gb HD and can some1 help me fix this issue?


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## FilledVoid (Mar 29, 2010)

How big is your / partition. Regardless of the size of the disk if you have a small / partition you will run into problems. I guess the things you can do is un-install some huge programs or making the partition bigger but I'm not sure how that will go.


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## gdatuk (Mar 30, 2010)

this is a fresh installation and i didnt install any big application. i also didnt choose the partition. how to change partition?

---------- Post added at 07:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:26 AM ----------

This is my partition details

Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda7             2.3G  2.2G   48M  98% /
tmpfs                 1.4G     0  1.4G   0% /lib/init/rw
varrun                1.4G   92K  1.4G   1% /var/run
varlock               1.4G     0  1.4G   0% /var/lock
udev                  1.4G  160K  1.4G   1% /dev
tmpfs                 1.4G  448K  1.4G   1% /dev/shm
lrm                   1.4G  2.4M  1.4G   1% /lib/modules/2.6.28-11-generic/volatile


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## FilledVoid (Mar 30, 2010)

> /dev/sda7 2.3G 2.2G 48M 98% /


I believe this is your problem. Your / partition has 2.3 gb of space out of which 2.2 gb is used. Is there anything else on this hard drive like Windows or any other operating system? 
if not Id personally just reinstall it again instead of playing with partition sizes.


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## khmadhu (Mar 30, 2010)

@gdatuk,u got 500GB.. & u have allocated very little for all partitions(1.4GB)!!,

better u reinstall, while installing choose manual partition and allocate  for /boot 100 MB,for /  6-7 GB,for /home  some 10 GB(for u  r private files), and swap if needed. and if u want to run any web applications, allocate some GB's <8 to /var


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## FilledVoid (Mar 30, 2010)

All you really want to have is the following partitions.

/ - I have allocated 25 GB for my installation and I don't see it getting full anytime soon. 

/home - I have alot of space allocated here. You could do without this partition but the advantage is it allows you to save your settings if you reinstall or migrate to another OS. Also I save all my data here hence the bigger partition. 

Swap - I've assigned 2GB of space here for giggles. After all its not like I don't have alot of disk space. 

/Boot - From my experience I've only needed to use the boot partition on systems where I have more than one hard disk. Otherwise I'm pretty sure you can skip that as well.


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## gdatuk (Mar 30, 2010)

oh ok.. so i ll try re-installing it nd partitioning manally once again..


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## celldweller1591 (Mar 30, 2010)

You must repartition your drive to allocate more space to '/' directory as  you have allocated very less space to root as all your os files are  located in '/' .So it should have atleast 5-6 gb of space or more. Moreover, updates and new applications take considerable amount of space. so '/' should be bigger enough .

BTW, you can try 'sudo apt-get clean' or 'sudo aptitude clean' to clean all your downloaded package files from '/' to free up some considerable amount of space.


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## gdatuk (Apr 1, 2010)

sudo clean gave me no considerable change. so i guess i have to re-install it with more partition space.


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## gopi_vbboy (Apr 1, 2010)

format and make partitions


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## indianathann (Jul 24, 2010)

Hey Guy, 
Try to increase the space of your '/' folder ( linux always treat partition as folder) with Gparted. But it is not 100% surity. Just back up your all important Datas. 

If you are going to re-install, then give an size of '/' is 25GB minum for normal use, I advise 50GB and seperate '/home' partition having size as you wish.

Basic partitons need for normal use is
/boot ==> 2 GB ( Min 100 MB)
/         ==>  50 GB( Min 10 GB)
/home ==> 100 GB ( Min 10 GB)
/swap  ==> 1.5 to 2 times of RAM is thumb rule. 2 GB normally used. more than it is waste of space.

IF you have an dual OS, then create an one more partition as you wish

/nathan  ==> 40 GB( Min 4GB) VFAT file system is recommended if you having Windows.


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