root is getting smaller and smaller

[chunchengch]

I am using 10.04 LTS Lucid, and I notice the free space of root is getting smaller and smaller.

Five months ago, there was about 3.9GB free space of root, but now it is only 1.6GB. I always run sudo apt-get autoremove and sudo apt-get autoclean every time the update is finished, and also use Bleachbit to clean the system, but both are useless.

I never faced such problem with older versions of Ubuntu, is there any measure to fix it? thanks for reply.


PS:
1. There is not any .deb in the /var/cache/apt/archives.
2. The total content of /var/log is only 167.6 MB, that won't be a problem.

[TaZMAniac]

Go to your software menu and look under Accessories do you have a program called disk usage analyzer?
If you do, run it on your file system and look at the chart.
It will show which directories are taking up all the space.

If you don't have that program you can install it or use others such as gdmap or filelight.
Using any of these will help you quickly narrow down where all your free space is going to.

You also have to remember that updated libraries and file system patches add to the size of root. Also may want to check and see how many old kernels are still sitting on your hard drive. While these files aren't overly large, they can add up to some serious wasted space.

I have also noticed something in my home folder while cleaning up my drive.
If I do any video conversions or editing I have sometimes found a hidden temp file of the project I was just working on. Doesn't happen all the time but it is something I now check for.
I click on "show hidden files" and start scouring all the . folders in my home partition.
Not sure I would want to try this in my root file system other then cleaning out the trash bin in root.
Maybe that could be you culprit? The root trash bin.

[sgosnell]

When you add packages, they go into your root partition. They will take up space even if you remove the .deb packages, which are really just archives, compressed versions of the packages. Any time you add a package, it takes more space on the hard drive, and some of them are pretty big.

[TaZMAniac]

@sgosnell
That is what the OP did when he ran autoclean
He said his /var/cache/apt/archives folder was empty.
That is where the .deb packages are stored when downloaded.

[sgosnell]

I know. But when you install a package, the .deb is extracted, and the contents go to somewhere in /, most of the time. When you remove the remaining .deb, you remove less than half of what was added, because you only remove the archive, not the actual package that was installed, and which is usually larger than the compressed .deb. So adding packages always decreases the available space, even if you do remove the leftover .deb files.

[TaZMAniac]

I get what you're saying.
In other words you download a package or update and it adds to his root file size.
This is true but if he hasn't installed any extra software in that time and only installed updates then he has a problem because most updates are a few k with a few in the 20 - 30 Mb range.
An increase of 2.3 Gb in 5 months is quite much for just updates.


That is why I want him to check the graphical output of his file system.
It will show where most of his drive space is used.