Investigating operating system disk space

Products

• VMware
• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article guides through the steps in 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 the operating system.

 

Note: Once it is determined that there is insufficient disk space, the hard disk either needs to be freed up or increased. If the operating system has been installed on a virtual machine, increase the size of its virtual disk. For more information, see Increasing the disk size on a virtual machine.

 

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 the version of Windows.

 

To determine disk usage from the user interface:

1. Double-click the My Computer icon.
2. Right-click the entry for the 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.
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, consult the manual for the distribution of Linux.

 

To determine disk usage from the user interface:

1. Open a terminal window (Ctrl + Alt + T).
2. Type gnome-disks (for GNOME desktop) and press Enter.
3. Select the disk from the list, and disk usage will be displayed graphically.

To determine disk usage from a command line:

1. Open a terminal window.
2. Type df -h and press Enter.
   This will display disk usage for all mounted file systems in a human-readable format (e.g., in GB/MB).

 

 

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.