FAQ: I received a warning that my e-mail (UNIX account) is over disk quota--How can I use UNIX commands on the central e-mail server ("copland.udel.edu") to reduce my disk quota.

1. Log in to your "copland.udel.edu" account. If you do not know how to log in, link to these login instructions.

2. Check your disk quota usage. To check your quota usage, at the "copland.udel.edu" prompt (%), type

   quota -v

   Look at the usage figure and the quota figures.

   In most cases, the quota figure is 4,096. The usage figure must be less than 4,096.

3. To check where the disk space is being used, at the "copland.udel.edu" prompt (%), type

   du -ak | more

   • The | key is usually the key above the ENTER key. (You will also need to use the SHIFT key.)
   • Using 'more' at the end of a UNIX command line will display one screen of data to print at a time. To see the next screen of data, press the SPACE BAR key.

   Down the left side of the screen, you will see usage numbers. Look for large disk usage numbers (above 100) and note the directory in which disk usage is high.

   For example, if disk usage is high in the "sent-mail" folder of the "mail" directory, you will see "..../mail/sent-mail" and you will know that you need to remove some mail from the "sent-mail" folder.

4. Keep the "copland.udel.edu" window open and start Netscape Messenger. Delete the messages that are using a great deal of disk space (or file the ones you want to keep in the "Local Mail" folder).
5. Click back in the "copland.udel.edu" window and recheck your disk quota by typing

   quota -v

6. Another area you can check is your "copland.udel.edu" home directory.

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

   ls -l | more

   The filename is at the end of the line, the date is to the left of the filename, and the size of the file is to the left of the date. If you have files sizes that are over 1,000K, and you don't need them, delete (remove) them.

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

rm filename

Note: The filename in the command above must match the name given in the ls (list file) command exactly because the UNIX system is case sensitive--it differentiates between upper- and lower-case letters.

7. To recheck your disk quota after removing files, at the "copland.udel.edu" prompt (%), type

   quota -v

If your account still exceeds disk quota, call the Help Center at (302) 831-6000.

X terminal users only: Clear Netscape's disk cache

If the disk usage command (du -ak | more) returned many files with "netsacpe" or "cache" as part of the name, use the following command to clear unnecessary files from your directory.

\rm -r .netscape/cache/*

If your account still exceeds disk quota, call the Help Center at (302) 831-6000.

If you are a Netscape Communicator Messenger user, also see FAQ: Using Netscape Messenger Features to Manage Disk Quota.

For more detailed information on UNIX commands, see Managing UNIX Disk Quota, Files and Directories