Very Computer

          Hi,

            Please bear with me on this because I am not very familiar with
          the way the UNIX operating system works.

            We are having a problem with disk space on our system. We are
         running SCO UNIX System V/386 3.2 on a DECstation 425c. We have
         three partitions -

        Mount Dir     Filesystem     blocks    used   free   %used
        /             /dev/root      174522  167598   6924    96 %
        /data1        /dev/data1     322558  273502  49056    84 %
        /data2        /dev/data2     322558   50702 271856    15 %

        My first question is when something is being spooled to the printer
      I can see that the /dev/root Filesystem loses space until the job is
      finished printing. Where are these files stored while they are being
      spooled that it is taking up space from the /dev/root filesystem ?

        I have cleaned out any core files, files in /tmp etc.. but it doesn't
      seem to be reducing any space and I fear that we will go over the 100%
      mark. I guess what I really need to know is what exactly does the
      /dev/root Filesystem encompass and why it keeps diminishing day by day
      slowly but surely. Are there certain files that I should be looking for ?

        It doesn't seem to make any sense that the operating system itself
      would take up that much space. To summarize :

      1.) Where are files stored when they are being printed and why does
          the root Filesystem lose space even though these files that are
          being printed reside in the data1 partition.

      2.) Are there any specific files besides the basic files in
          lost+found  /tmp that I should be looking for that may linger
          around the system ?

                         Thanks,

                           Melinda D'Arrigo

-Jeff.

All spooling, eg. print, mail, news etc. use space on /usr/spool to hold its
files. In case of news this can become really HUGE!
In addition accounting uses space on /usr/adm to record accounting events.

Purging these file systems regularly is a solution but somewhat clumsy.
You head for trouble if you do it in a naive way and you might forget to
do it in the right time.

Best way is to find sufficient space on a partition that you mount on
/usr/spool (or /var/spool for the BSD-followers). The amount depends on your
demand (.5 GB for news is typical if you hold it long enough).

Second you must administer news and accounting the right way to keep your
demand for filespace low; or better switch it off (see manual). - the
accounting, not the news of course -

Peter Nitezki   currently with PPG Hellige, Freiburg, GERMANY

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