Optimize filesystem usage

Optimize filesystem usage in Linux — with the four heights of help laid out: do it now, make it easier for the next person to accept, work out the right move when you are stuck, and learn the pattern so it stops coming back.

4prompt heights
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The four heights

The same task, four distances: today's deadline, the next reviewer, the stuck moment, the pattern.

Execute — do the immediate task

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Free up space on app-storage-01 by pruning old log files and clearing orphaned package caches:…
Free up space on app-storage-01 by pruning old log files and clearing orphaned package caches: remove rotated logs older than 30 days under /var/log/myapp, clear apt/yum cache older than 14 days, and report back the reclaimed space. Before deletion, list the files to be removed and get my confirmation.

Improve — make it easier to accept

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Make the filesystem cleanup easy for the operations manager to approve: show the largest files and…
Make the filesystem cleanup easy for the operations manager to approve: show the largest files and directories under /var, surface top contributors by percentage, propose safe deletions (old logs, tmp files, package caches) and list any files matching core or dump patterns that need review. Highlight anything under /etc or unexpected large files in user homes.

Decide — diagnose the stuck moment

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The root partition on api-host hit 95% usage overnight. I ran du -sh /* but several directories…

Root partition on api-host is at 95% and I can't tell what's growing.

The root partition on api-host hit 95% usage overnight. I ran du -sh /* but several directories look large and I don't know which are safe to trim. I'm worried deleting the wrong files will break services. Which targeted checks should I run now to identify safe candidates for immediate cleanup and which files to avoid?

Become — change the pattern

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We keep hitting urgent disk-full situations that force firefights and restarts. This pattern wastes…

Frequent disk emergencies from log growth and packages.

We keep hitting urgent disk-full situations that force firefights and restarts. This pattern wastes engineering time and risks outages. What operational habits and automated controls should we adopt to prevent recurrence, including retention policies, alerting thresholds, and who owns enforcement? Provide a prioritized plan for the next quarter.

Next to this one

Other operating system work people do in Linux.

Every task here came from the work, not from a feature list — which is why the prompts name what you want done and never the button that does it. The tool changes; the work does not.
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The rest of the map

Same library, five ways in.