Filesystem Capacity Critical in Head Node - Troubleshooting guide

Filesystem Capacity Critical in Head Node - Troubleshooting guide

Purpose

Provide a standard troubleshooting and resolution procedure when filesystem capacity on a Head Node reaches critical levels.


When to Use

Use this KB when the monitoring system triggers the alert:

Filesystem Capacity Critical – Head Node

This alert indicates that one or more filesystems on the head node are reaching critical capacity and may cause service disruption if not addressed.


Alert Summary

The alert is generated when the filesystem usage on the head node exceeds the defined threshold.

High filesystem usage may lead to:

  • Application failures

  • Logging issues

  • Job scheduling failures

  • System instability


Severity

Critical

Immediate investigation is required to prevent system disruption.


L1 Engineer Actions

When the alert is received, perform the following checks:

Step 1 – Login to Head Node

SSH into the affected head node.


Step 2 – Wait and Monitor

  1. Wait 25–30 minutes

Step 3 – Escalation (If Required)

If the issue appears significant:

  • Create an internal ticket

  • Inform L2 Engineer


Step 4 – Documentation

After confirmation with L2:

  • Update the Issues Master Sheet


L2 Engineer Actions

Step 1 – Verify Filesystem and Storage Devices

Run:

df -h
lsblk
free -h

Check:

  • filesystem utilization

  • mounted storage

  • memory availability

Step 2 – Identify High Usage Filesystem

Locate the filesystem with critical usage.

Example:

du -sh /path/* | sort -hr | head

Step 3 – Cleanup Space

Perform cleanup activities such as:

  • Remove old logs

  • Remove unnecessary data

  • Delete old core dumps

  • Remove unused kernel packages

Example locations:

/var/log
/tmp
/var/tmp

Step 4 – Validate After Cleanup

Verify filesystem usage again:

df -h

Ensure utilization drops below the alert threshold.

Step 5 – OEM Escalation (If Required)

If usage is caused by:

  • system services

  • unknown files

  • filesystem issues

  • storage configuration problems

Escalate to OEM / platform support team.

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