WYNTK: UNIX System Admininistrator

When you get a message that a disk is full, first find out which filesystem is affected.

When a filesystem is full, you find out the hard way. For me, it always happens when I’m editing a file in vi. I try writing the file and I get the message:

Write failed, filesystem is full!

Or I’m just typing away, and suddenly I get placed in the colon prompt with the message:

No space left on device

These two messages may sound like the same thing, but they signify space problems in different parts of the filesystem.

Unlike PC or Mac users, UNIX users can’t do their own backups

	When I started using UNIX, I was most nervous about what I might do wrong. On a PC, I could make a backup on a disk and hold it in my hand and know I had a copy of my files. On UNIX, I didn’t know what was going on. Were files being backed up somewhere? How often? When I first started with UNIX, I would worry if I had the power to create a catastrophe with systemwide consequences. UNIX is intimidating. I never know the impact of what I’m doing.
	--Joan Callahan

When you get an error message (Write failed, filesystem is full!) trying to write a file, it means that the filesystem in which the file resides is out of space. For example, if you’re trying to write the file to /work/sysbook/ch01, it means that the filesystem /work or /work/sysbook is full.

When this happens, how can you save your work? Well, one way is to try to clear ...