How to Find Big Files Size on Linux RHEL/CentOS

Find Big Files Size

For Linux administrators, there are times when we need to identify the files that are consuming the most space on our Linux server, leading to low free space. This is crucial as low disk space can impact server performance and may cause critical processes, such as backup jobs, to fail. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore how you can identify large file sizes on Linux CentOS and RHEL.

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Finding Large File Sizes on Linux

Displaying the Largest Directories in /var/log

To display the largest directories in /var/log in a human-readable format, you can use the following commands:

# cd /var/log
# du -sh * | sort -rh | head -10

This will display the top 10 directories in terms of size.

# cd /var/log
# du -sh * | sort -rh | head -10
78M     nginx
14M     audit
1012K   dmesg.old
980K    messages-20170109
700K    messages-20160907
556K    anaconda
288K    messages-20161212
128K    wtmp
120K    httpd
96K     messages-20160929

Displaying the Largest Folders Including Sub-directories

To display the largest folders including their sub-directories for /var/log, use the following commands:

# du -Sh /var/log | sort -rh | head -10

This will display the top 10 folders, including sub-directories, sorted by size.

# du -Sh /var/log | sort -rh | head -10
78M     /var/log/nginx
14M     /var/log/audit
3.6M    /var/log
556K    /var/log/anaconda
120K    /var/log/httpd
68K     /var/log/tuned
56K     /var/log/mariadb
28K     /var/log/php-fpm
4.0K    /var/log/varnish
4.0K    /var/log/ppp

or

# du -Sh /var/log | sort -n -r | head -n 10
556K    /var/log/anaconda
120K    /var/log/httpd
78M     /var/log/nginx
68K     /var/log/tuned
56K     /var/log/mariadb
28K     /var/log/php-fpm
14M     /var/log/audit
4.0K    /var/log/varnish
4.0K    /var/log/ppp
4.0K    /var/log/dirsrv

Displaying the Largest Files Including Sub-directories

To display the largest files including their sub-directories for /var/log, use the following commands:

# du -ah /var/log | sort -rh | head -10

This will display the top 10 files, including those within sub-directories, sorted by size.

# du -ah /var/log | sort -rh | head -10
96M     /var/log
78M     /var/log/nginx/ehowstuff.local.error.log-20160907
78M     /var/log/nginx
14M     /var/log/audit
6.1M    /var/log/audit/audit.log.2
6.1M    /var/log/audit/audit.log.1
1.8M    /var/log/audit/audit.log
1012K   /var/log/dmesg.old
980K    /var/log/messages-20170109
700K    /var/log/messages-20160907

Finding the Largest Files in a Specific Location

To find the largest files in a specific location or directory, for example /var/log, use the following commands:

# find /var/log -type f -exec du -Sh {} + | sort -rh | head -n 10

This will find and display the top 10 largest files in the specified location.

# find /var/log -type f -exec du -Sh {} + | sort -rh | head -n 10
78M     /var/log/nginx/ehowstuff.local.error.log-20160907
6.1M    /var/log/audit/audit.log.2
6.1M    /var/log/audit/audit.log.1
1.8M    /var/log/audit/audit.log
1012K   /var/log/dmesg.old
980K    /var/log/messages-20170109
700K    /var/log/messages-20160907
288K    /var/log/messages-20161212
184K    /var/log/anaconda/anaconda.storage.log
152K    /var/log/nginx/ehowstuff.local.access.log-20160907.gz

Finding the Largest Files (Top 10) in a Specific Location

To find the largest files (top 10) in a specific location or directory, for example /var/log, use the following commands:

# find /var/log -printf '%s %p\\n'|sort -nr|head

This will find and display the top 10 largest files in the specified location.

# find /var/log -printf '%s %p\n'|sort -nr|head
81440064 /var/log/nginx/ehowstuff.local.error.log-20160907
6291477 /var/log/audit/audit.log.2
6291467 /var/log/audit/audit.log.1
1823505 /var/log/audit/audit.log
1052691 /var/log/dmesg
1001793 /var/log/messages-20170109
709481 /var/log/messages-20160907
293738 /var/log/messages-20161212
292000 /var/log/lastlog
187757 /var/log/anaconda/anaconda.storage.log

Displaying the Largest Files (Top 20) Using ls Command

To display thelargest files (top 20) in a specific location or directory, for example /var/log, using the ls command, use the following commands:

# ls -lSh | head -n20

This will display the top 20 largest files in the specified location.

# ls -lSh | head -n20
total 3.7M
-rw-r--r--  1 root       root    1.1M Jan  9 21:52 dmesg
-rw-------  1 root       root    979K Jan  9 15:12 messages-20170109
-rw-------  1 root       root    693K Sep  7 03:21 messages-20160907
-rw-------  1 root       root    287K Dec 12 10:01 messages-20161212
-rw-r--r--. 1 root       root    286K Jan  9 22:03 lastlog
-rw-rw-r--. 1 root       utmp    125K Jan  9 22:03 wtmp
-rw-------  1 root       root     95K Sep 29 21:01 messages-20160929
-rw-r--r--  1 root       root     94K Jan  9 14:57 dmesg.old
-rw-------  1 root       root     81K Jan  9 22:07 messages
-rw-------  1 root       root     55K Sep  6 23:16 secure-20160907
-rw-r--r--  1 root       root     36K Sep  7 03:21 cron-20160907
-rw-------. 1 root       root     26K Jan  4 22:12 yum.log-20170109
-rw-r--r--  1 root       root     23K Jan  9 21:53 vmware-vmsvc.log
-rw-------. 1 root       root     17K Dec 30  2015 yum.log-20160101
-rw-------  1 root       root    9.3K Jan  9 14:59 secure-20170109
-rw-r--r--  1 root       root    9.2K Jan  9 21:52 boot.log
-rw-------. 1 root       root    8.0K Dec 20 22:39 grubby
-rw-------  1 root       root    7.3K Dec 12 10:17 maillog-20161212
-rw-r--r--  1 root       root    5.4K Jan  9 15:19 cron-20170109

Commands Mentioned

  • cd /var/log – Changes the current directory to /var/log
  • du -sh * – Estimates file and directory space usage
  • sort -rh – Sorts the results in reverse order
  • head -10 – Outputs the first 10 lines
  • du -Sh /var/log – Estimates space usage including subdirectories
  • du -ah /var/log – Estimates space usage for all files
  • find /var/log -type f -exec du -Sh {} + – Finds files in a specific location
  • find /var/log -printf ‘%s %p\\n’ – Finds files and prints their size and name
  • ls -lSh – Lists files with their size in human-readable format
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Conclusion

Understanding how to manage disk space is a vital skill for any Linux administrator. By learning how to identify large files and directories, you can ensure that your server maintains optimal performance and prevent critical processes from failing due to low disk space. This guide has provided you with several commands and techniques to find large files on Linux CentOS and RHEL.

Remember, it’s not just about finding large files; it’s about understanding your server’s file system and how it’s being used. By regularly checking and managing your disk usage, you can prevent potential issues and ensure your server runs smoothly. For more insights and guides on managing servers, check out our other articles on best web servers, Apache, Nginx, and LiteSpeed.

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FAQ

  1. What does the ‘du’ command do in Linux?

    The ‘du’ command, short for ‘disk usage’, is used in Linux to estimate file and directory space usage. It can be used with various options to display the sizes of files and directories in different formats and orders.

  2. What is the purpose of the ‘sort’ command in Linux?

    The ‘sort’ command in Linux is used to sort the lines of text in a file. It can be used with various options to sort in reverse order (-r), sort numerically (-n), or sort by human-readable sizes (-h), among others.

  3. What does the ‘head’ command do in Linux?

    The ‘head’ command in Linux is used to output the first part of files. By default, it outputs the first 10 lines of each file to standard output. With more than one file, it precedes each set of output with a header identifying the file name.

  4. What is the purpose of the ‘find’ command in Linux?

    The ‘find’ command in Linux is a powerful tool that allows you to search for files and directories in a directory hierarchy based on a user-given expression and performs action on each matched file. It can search for files by name, owner, group, type, permissions, date, and other criteria.

  5. What does the ‘ls’ command do in Linux?

    The ‘ls’ command in Linux is used to list the contents of a directory. It can be used with various options to display the list in different formats and orders. For instance, ‘ls -lSh’ lists files with their size in a human-readable format, sorted by size.

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