Use standard Linux commands to find where disk space is being consumed and document a cleanup plan.
Practice a realistic troubleshooting workflow for low disk space incidents.
See which mounted filesystem is filling up.
Run df -h
Identify the highest usage mount
Document available space
Drill into directories to find the biggest consumers.
Run du -sh * in key directories
Compare folder sizes
Identify suspicious large paths
Write a short incident-style summary and next actions.
List top disk consumers
Describe safe cleanup candidates
Document investigation steps
Run df -h.
Inspect large directories with du -sh *.
Narrow down high-usage paths.
Identify safe cleanup candidates.
Document findings.
df -h shows current disk pressure clearly
du -sh helps identify the biggest directories
A clear summary of space usage is produced
Cleanup suggestions are reasonable and safe
Investigation notes
Terminal output proof
README with incident summary
Useful for interview questions about what you would do first if a Linux server suddenly ran out of disk space.
Checking only root directory without drilling deeper
Deleting files before understanding what they are
Ignoring mounted filesystem boundaries
Not documenting where the space went
Add Docker disk usage investigation
Correlate space usage with application logs
Automate disk checks with a script
Build an alerting example around disk pressure