{"id":6425,"date":"2026-03-10T16:08:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T10:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/owrbit.com\/hub\/?p=6425"},"modified":"2026-03-10T16:31:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:01:52","slug":"fix-no-space-left-on-device-but-df-h-shows-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/owrbit.com\/hub\/fix-no-space-left-on-device-but-df-h-shows-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Fix: “No Space Left on Device” But df -h Shows Free Space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You\u2019re deploying something simple\u2014pulling a Docker image, uploading a backup, or running a database job\u2014when your terminal suddenly stops with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No space left on device<\/code><\/strong><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Your app fails, your task crashes, and everything grinds to a halt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you check the obvious thing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
df -h<\/code><\/strong><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
But the output shows plenty of free disk space<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now the confusion begins. You\u2019re stuck in the frustrating situation many admins search for: no space left on device but df -h shows space. The server clearly has free gigabytes, yet Linux refuses to write anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next you check directory usage:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
du -sh *<\/code><\/strong><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Still nothing unusual. This leads to another common mystery: linux disk full but du shows space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When this happens, you\u2019re usually facing a \u201cghost disk full\u201d problem<\/strong>. The disk looks fine, but something deeper in the filesystem is blocking writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In most cases the cause is inode exhaustion<\/strong> or deleted files still held open by running processes<\/strong>. In this guide, we\u2019ll quickly diagnose the issue and show the exact commands<\/strong> to fix it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Table of Contents<\/p>\nToggle<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n