The Problem

Exceeding your account's disk quota limit

The Solutions

How to check your account's overall disk space use

How to identify files & folders that use the most disk space

How to reduce disk space use if you work with web pages

How to Manage Your Disk Quota

• How to check your account's overall disk space use
• How to identify files & folders that use the most disk space
• How to reduce disk space use if you work with web pages

How to check your account's overall disk space use

1. To check how much disk space your account is using overall, log in to your UDelNet account through the Secure Shell (SSH) application.

   (If you do not have a copy of this application on your computer, you can download a free copy for a Windows computer or you can download a free copy for a Macintosh computer.)

2. At the copland.udel.edu (%) prompt, type

   quota -v

3. Press ENTER.
4. Find the values listed under usage and quota. Compare the size of these values.

   The usage value must be less than the quota value. If the usage value is larger than (or almost equal to) the quota value, then you are exceeding your disk quota limit (or will soon be doing so).

5. If your account is above or close to its disk quota limit, you will need to remove (delete) files until your account is below its disk quota limit.

1. To identify the files & folders that use the most disk space, log in to your UDelNet account through the Secure Shell (SSH) application.

(If you do not have a copy of this application on your computer, you can download a free copy for a Windows computer or you can download a free copy for a Macintosh computer.)

2. At the copland.udel.edu (%) prompt, type

   du -ak | sort -n

   NOTE
   The | character is usually located on the key above the ENTER key. You will also need to press the SHIFT key to use the | character.

3. Press ENTER.

   You will see a list that looks similar to the following:

   copland[3]% du -ak | sort -n

   16 ./public_html/dwclass3/Templates
   24 ./public_html/dwclass3/stopwatch2.jpg
   244 ./public_html/dwclass2
   6520 ./public_html
   49400 .

• The number in the left-most column indicates the size (amount of disk space used in Kilobytes [KB], which is roughly 1/1,000 of a Megabyte [MB]) of the file or folder. The files or folders are listed from smallest to largest: Those at the bottom of the list are the largest.
• The name of the file or folder appears on the right. Write down the names of the last 4 or 5 folders so you know which folders to focus on when you want to remove (delete) files.
• The last number in the list (in front of the ".") is the total amount of disk space being used. This value should be close to the value you receive if you use the quota -v command.

4. After you identify folders that use a significant amount of disk space, you will need to remove (delete) files until your account is below its disk quota limit (e.g., the ./pictures folder in the list above).
5. After you remove (delete) files, recheck your overall disk space.
6. Continue to remove (delete) files until your account is below its disk quota limit.
7. Exit the SSH program when you are done.

How to reduce disk space use if you work with web pages

Where to save web pages on the central system
If you create and maintain web pages, you can save them in the following two places on the central system:

1. within your public_html directory
2. within the /www directory

The public_html directory is within your personal directory. Therefore, all files saved in this directory are counted toward your account's disk quota limit. The public_html directory should be used only for personal web pages.

The /www directory is a shared directory that is not within your personal directory. Therefore, all files saved in this directory are not counted toward your account's disk quota limit. Web pages that you create for a UD organization, department, unit, etc. should be saved in the /www directory.

How to check disk space used by the public_html directory

1. To check how much disk space is being used by the public_html directory in your account, log in to your UDelNet account through the Secure Shell (SSH) application.

(If you do not have a copy of this application on your computer, you can download a free copy for a Windows computer or you can download a free copy for a Macintosh computer.)

2. At the copland.udel.edu (%) prompt, type

   du -ak | sort -n

   NOTE
   The | character is usually located on the key above the ENTER key. You will also need to press the SHIFT key to use the | character.

3. Press ENTER.

   You will see a list that looks similar to the following:

   copland[3]% du -ak | sort -n

   16 ./public_html/dwclass3/Templates
   24 ./public_html/dwclass3/stopwatch2.jpg
   244 ./public_html/dwclass2
   6520 ./public_html
   49400 .

• The number in the left-most column indicates the size (amount of disk space used) of the file or folder. The files or folders are listed from smallest to largest: Those at the bottom of the list are the largest.
• The name of the file or folder appears on the right.
• The last number in the list (in front of the ".") is the total amount of disk space being used. This value should be close to the value you see if you use the quota -v command.

4. If you discover that the public_html folder is near the bottom of the list (therefore one of the biggest folders), you will need to remove (delete) files you no longer need in this directory.
5. After you remove (delete) files, recheck your overall disk space.
6. Continue to remove (delete) files until your account is below its disk quota limit.
7. Exit the SSH program when you are done..