Solaris 10 /proc making filesystem full

run_time_error · #1 (**permalink**) 01-08-2008

Hi all,

I have a solaris 10 box on which /proc is a part of /
The problem is that my / partition is getting full mainly
due to /proc getting a lot of files.

My question is : Can I delete files/directories in /proc directory.
If not what could be the other way round to clean up /proc so that I can
free some of the resources.

Thanks,
rte

Perderabo · #2 (**permalink**) 01-08-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by run_time_error

I have a solaris 10 box on which /proc is a part of /

/proc is not part of /. /proc does not contain real files on disk anywhere. Post a df -k of your filesystems.

run_time_error · #3 (**permalink**) 01-08-2008

Here is the output of my df -k command

Code:

bash-3.00# df -k
Filesystem            kbytes    used   avail capacity  Mounted on
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0    24203976 21756436 2205501    91%    /
/devices                   0       0       0     0%    /devices
ctfs                       0       0       0     0%    /system/contract
proc                       0       0       0     0%    /proc
mnttab                     0       0       0     0%    /etc/mnttab
swap                 16648996     732 16648264     1%    /etc/svc/volatile
objfs                      0       0       0     0%    /system/object
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1    16137782 4103655 11872750    26%    /usr
/usr/lib/libc/libc_hwcap2.so.1
                     16137782 4103655 11872750    26%    /lib/libc.so.1
fd                         0       0       0     0%    /dev/fd
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s4    10085921   83584 9901478     1%    /var
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s5    3891708    7020 3845771     1%    /tmp
swap                 16648312      48 16648264     1%    /var/run
/dev/dsk/c0t2d0s0    51642279 5544335 45581522    11%    /zone_1
/dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0    51642279 4492545 46633312     9%    /zone_2
/dev/dsk/c0t1d0s0    51642279 12978094 38147763    26%    /zone_3

Thanks
rte

run_time_error · #4 (**permalink**) 01-08-2008

Upon closer inspection of /proc it contains directories in the name of running PIDs. In my case Apache which has about 35 processes running (shown in ps -ef). These directories are large (some of them are about 700MB or less).

I wonder if these instances of Apache are making my / filesystem full.

Any clues?

Thanks,
rte

RTM · #5 (**permalink**) 01-08-2008

Stop looking at /proc as your issue - as Perderabo stated,

Quote:

/proc does not contain real files on disk anywhere

Take a look at filesystem full what to look for. Don't try anything that you are not SURE of. Removing files from a system is not something you want to do unless you know what you are doing/deleting.

Look for core or tar files that may have been put on by another person. Since /var and /usr are separate filesystems, don't bother checking them. Check /etc (be CAREFUL!!!) and /opt.

Perderabo · #6 (**permalink**) 01-08-2008

Look at the final field on your df listing. Those are your separate filesystems. Stuff in /proc, /usr, /var, /zone_1, and so on is not in /. And stuff in /proc is nowhere except in memory. As you say, it is your pids. You can delete stuff in /proc by killing processes, but this will not help you. /proc is not a real filesystem, it is a way to access your processes as if they were files.

/ should not grow very much. Has it grown in, say, the past 10 days? Then get a list of files in / modified in the past 10 days...
find / -mount -type f -mtime -10
This will probably be a short list and it should tell you where the problem is.

Sara-sh · #7 (**permalink**) 06-05-2009

Just wondered, if there is no real files in /proc, why does it show up as the highest space occupier on my server (this is an old Solaris 2.6):

#du -sk * |sort -rn |head
723555 proc
302662 usr
282955 opt
249259 export
209532 var
8568 tmp
5997 kernel
5019 sbin
3965 platform
2536 etc

-----Post Update-----

I would appreciate a quick response, Thanks.

More UNIX and Linux Forum Topics You Might Find Helpful
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
filesystem is full	karthikosu	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	3	04-29-2009 09:22 AM
Making filesystem on presented lun	seanban	SUN Solaris	2	06-03-2008 04:03 AM
Changing fname in /proc filesystem	wilbur	High Level Programming	3	11-17-2006 06:07 PM
/tmp filesystem full	szodiac	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	11	07-18-2005 10:38 AM
Filesystem Full	ilak1008	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	16	07-18-2005 06:35 AM

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread: