Check Quota Using Any Secure Shell Client

You can use any secure shell client, such as SSH Secure Shell, puTTY, MacSSH, or the Terminal program in Mac OS X to check the disk usage (quota) of your account on a UNIX based server.

  1. Once logged onto your account, at the server prompt (e.g. your_username_here@twilight:~> or fallon%) type quota -v and press Enter.
  2. You see the following type of output:

Disk quotas for 'your_username_here' (uid 22378):

Filesystem
usage quota limit timeleft files quota limit timeleft
/home 7723 20480 25600   90 0 0  
    • usage is your actual file usage times 1000 (7723 = 7,723,000 bytes or 7.7 MB).
    • quota is the "soft limit" (times 1000) for your account. If your usage remains over the quota for 7 days, you can no longer write files in the areas that are over quota. If you are over quota in /mail for more than 7 days, your incoming email will bounce
    • limit is the "hard limit" for your account. The system will not let you exceed that limit and you will be unable to write to that area until you reduce your disk usage. Incoming email will bounce.

Helpful Hints

  • The NUMBER of files isn't important. The SIZE of individual files is what matters.
  • IF you have ongoing problems with disk usage (quota) and you do not use Wolfmail for Twilight or Webmail for Fallon as your primary email client, you may need to adjust the settings controlling your email software. Call the Help Desk for a review of the proper settings.
  • To get detailed information on file size:
    • Log on to your account via a secure shell client
    • At a command line prompt, type du -a to obtained detailed file information:
    • If the list is long (and flies off the screen), type: du -a | less
    • To sort with your largest files first, type: du -a | sort -rn | head
      • The "|" symbol is usually above the "\" symbol and is called a "pipe". This UNIX function links the output of one program to the input of the following program.
      • When piping the output of 'du -a' through the 'less' program, the output pauses each time a screen is filled.
      • Press the space bar to continue the listing
  • Look for BIG files. The types of files that can be VERY large include email messages with attachments, photos (.jpg, .gif, .bmp), charts, word processing documents, data files, core dumps.
  • To minimize the amount of disk space needed to store old email files, you may compress large files (such as Pine folders) with the following command: compress myfile
    • The following command reverts the file to standard size: uncompress myfile.Z
    • Be sure to rename folder files BEFORE you compress them. You will not be able to save new messages to the file folders once you have compressed them

Use secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) clients to delete, copy, or move your saved files between your PC and your UNIX account. If you have ever saved files from Pine using 'V' - 'S' (View - Save), then you probably have files sitting in your '/home' directory.

IMPORTANT!!!!! Certain files should not be deleted.

Do not delete any of the following files:
  • Any file that begins with a dot (.) such as: .cshrc, .login, .signature, .pinerc, etc.
  • Files named trash. These are associated with Netscape trash and need to be emptied from within Netscape.