Vein

Recovering from a full inode table

2026-10-23

A disk can be full even when plenty of space is free, because every file needs an entry in a fixed-size table. Millions of tiny files, often from a runaway cache or mail queue, can exhaust it.

The symptom is confusing: writes fail, yet the usage figure looks fine. Checking inode usage alongside space takes one extra command and saves a confusing afternoon.