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XK0-004 · Question #381

A Linux administrator is getting an error message indicating a device does not have any space left on it. However, the administrator runs the following commands and receives the output below: Which…

The correct answer is D. The block size needs to be adjusted to >4KIB blocks. The filesystem reports no space left despite available disk capacity because the block size is set below 4KiB, causing excessive metadata overhead that exhausts allocatable blocks prematurely.

Troubleshooting and Diagnostics

Question

A Linux administrator is getting an error message indicating a device does not have any space left on it. However, the administrator runs the following commands and receives the output below:

Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?

Options

  • AThe resized command needs to be run on the filessystem.
  • BFiles need to be removed in order to free up file handles.
  • CThe skfs,ext3 command needs to be run to change the inode size.
  • DThe block size needs to be adjusted to >4KIB blocks

How the community answered

(43 responses)
  • A
    5% (2)
  • B
    19% (8)
  • C
    9% (4)
  • D
    67% (29)

Why each option

The filesystem reports no space left despite available disk capacity because the block size is set below 4KiB, causing excessive metadata overhead that exhausts allocatable blocks prematurely.

AThe resized command needs to be run on the filessystem.

The resize2fs command expands an existing filesystem to fill available partition space, but does not address a block size misconfiguration that is causing premature block exhaustion.

BFiles need to be removed in order to free up file handles.

Removing files frees occupied blocks but does not resolve the underlying block size configuration that is preventing efficient use of the available disk space.

CThe skfs,ext3 command needs to be run to change the inode size.

There is no valid Linux command called 'skfs,ext3' for changing inode size on a live filesystem, and adjusting inode size would not resolve a block size allocation problem.

DThe block size needs to be adjusted to >4KIB blocksCorrect

When an ext-family filesystem is created with a block size smaller than 4KiB, the ratio of metadata overhead to usable data space increases substantially, and the block allocator can exhaust all available blocks before raw disk capacity is consumed. This produces a 'no space left on device' error even when df reports free space, because df reflects disk capacity while the kernel is tracking individual block availability. Recreating the filesystem with a block size of 4KiB or larger resolves the mismatch between reported capacity and usable blocks.

Concept tested: Linux ext filesystem block size and space exhaustion

Source: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man8/mkfs.ext4.8.html

Topics

#inode exhaustion#disk space#filesystem#df vs du

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