storage space being filled automatically on Azure virtual machine

Question

the storage space on the Azure VM is being filled automatically. What is the solution? How to check which file is being generated automatically and filling up tha space?

Answer 1

Hello avtar.kamboj01@gmail.com
Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Platform, thanks for posting your query here.

-First identify the large files that is consuming more disk space. You can use commands like du (on Linux) or Get-ChildItem (on Windows PowerShell) to identify large files or directories.
-Check if there are any scheduled tasks or cron jobs running on the VM that might be generating data. Sometimes, automated processes can inadvertently consume excessive disk space.

-Determine if these files or directories are necessary for your application or if they can be deleted.

-Monitor the disk, tools like Resource Monitor (on Windows) or iotop (on Linux) to monitor disk activity in real-time. This can help you identify any processes or applications that are writing data to disk excessively.

-Azure Monitor provides monitoring and analytics capabilities for your Azure resources, including VMs. You can use Azure Monitor to track disk usage and set up alerts for when disk space reaches certain thresholds.
Ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-metrics
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1332871/how-to-setup-azure-alert-when-disk-space-is-90-for
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1195141/how-to-use-azure-monitor-to-set-up-low-disk-space

You can also consider implementing a disk cleanup strategy to regularly remove unnecessary files and directories from your VM to prevent the disk from filling up. Like use alerting and then automate the cleanup on your side.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Hello Avtar,

Adding to the above - if you feel more comfortable by using the GUI, you may also try TreeSize Free (https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free).

Cheers,

Tom