Investigating operating system disk space
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Investigating operating system disk space

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Article ID: 328843

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Updated On:

Products

VMware VMware Desktop Hypervisor VMware vCenter Server VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article guides you through determining disk usage. Disk usage information is useful in addressing problems encountered with an operating system as a result of a lack of disk space. Problems related to disk usage can include slow operating system performance, slow application performance, and the inability of an application to load or continue to run. In some cases, these problems can include an operating system unexpectedly stopping or failing to respond.


Resolution

The methods of determining disk usage differ between operating systems. Refer to the section below that matches your operating system.
Note: If you determine that you have insufficient disk space you must free up some space or increase the size of your hard disk. If your operating system has been installed on a virtual machine, you can increase the size of its virtual disk. For more information, see Increasing the size of a virtual disk (1004047).

Windows

Note: The exact procedure differs between versions of Windows. If one procedure does not work try the other. If neither method works, consult the manual for your version of Windows.
To determine disk usage from the user interface:
  1. Double-click the My Computer icon.
  2. Right-click the entry for your local disk.
  3. Click Properties. Disk usage is displayed graphically.
To determine disk usage from a command line:
  1. Open a command prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
  2. Type dir c:\ and press Enter. Free disk space is displayed on the last line of output.

    Note: If the local disk being investigated is not c: , replace c: with its drive letter.

Linux

Note: The exact procedure may differ between distributions of Linux. If the following commands do not work for you, consult the manual for your distribution of Linux.
To determine disk usage from a shell prompt:
  1. Open a shell prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892) .
  2. Type df -vh and press Enter. Disk usage is displayed for each file system.

Mac OS

To determine disk usage from the user interface:
  1. Press Shift + Command + U.
  2. Double-click Disk Utility.
  3. Click the Disk (Macintosh HD) on the left hand side. Disk usage is displayed graphically.
To determine disk usage from a shell prompt:
  1. Open a shell prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
  2. Type df -H and press Enter. Disk usage is displayed for each file system.


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