Linux/Bash

Disk Commands

Manage disk space and filesystems. Learn to check usage, mount drives, and find large files consuming your storage.

11 commands

Pro Tips

Use 'df -h' for human-readable disk space and 'du -sh *' to find what's using space in a directory.

Use 'ncdu' for an interactive disk usage explorer - much easier than manual 'du' commands.

'lsblk' shows block devices in a tree format - great for understanding disk layout.

Common Mistakes

Formatting or partitioning the wrong disk destroys data. Always verify device names with 'lsblk'.

Commands

Disk usage by directory

$ du -sh */ | sort -hr | head -10

Show top 10 largest directories.

Check disk space

$ df -h

Show disk usage in human-readable format.

Find disk hogs

$ ncdu /

Interactive disk usage analyzer.

List block devices

$ lsblk -f

Show all block devices with filesystem type, label, and UUID.

Show block device IDs

$ blkid

Display UUID, type, and label of all partitions.

Mount a filesystem

$ sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/data

Mount a partition to a directory mount point.

Unmount a filesystem

$ sudo umount /mnt/data

Unmount a mounted filesystem safely.

Check filesystem integrity

$ sudo fsck /dev/sdb1

Run filesystem check and repair. Partition must be unmounted.

Format partition as ext4

$ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1

Create an ext4 filesystem on a partition. Destroys existing data.

Show inode usage

$ df -i

Display inode usage per filesystem. Running out of inodes prevents file creation.

Estimate file space usage

$ du -sh /var/log

Show the total size of a specific directory.

Linux/Bash

Disk Commands

Manage disk space and filesystems. Learn to check usage, mount drives, and find large files consuming your storage.

11 commands

Pro Tips

Use 'df -h' for human-readable disk space and 'du -sh *' to find what's using space in a directory.

Use 'ncdu' for an interactive disk usage explorer - much easier than manual 'du' commands.

'lsblk' shows block devices in a tree format - great for understanding disk layout.

Common Mistakes

Formatting or partitioning the wrong disk destroys data. Always verify device names with 'lsblk'.

Commands

Disk usage by directory

$ du -sh */ | sort -hr | head -10

Show top 10 largest directories.

Check disk space

$ df -h

Show disk usage in human-readable format.

Find disk hogs

$ ncdu /

Interactive disk usage analyzer.

List block devices

$ lsblk -f

Show all block devices with filesystem type, label, and UUID.

Show block device IDs

$ blkid

Display UUID, type, and label of all partitions.

Mount a filesystem

$ sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/data

Mount a partition to a directory mount point.

Unmount a filesystem

$ sudo umount /mnt/data

Unmount a mounted filesystem safely.

Check filesystem integrity

$ sudo fsck /dev/sdb1

Run filesystem check and repair. Partition must be unmounted.

Format partition as ext4

$ sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1

Create an ext4 filesystem on a partition. Destroys existing data.

Show inode usage

$ df -i

Display inode usage per filesystem. Running out of inodes prevents file creation.

Estimate file space usage

$ du -sh /var/log

Show the total size of a specific directory.