Strange: Disk space is not free after removing file
I have a strange problem and hope I can find a solution here.
I'm using a VPN to connect a linux server. When I downloaded ~2Gb binary file from the server to an extra data disk, I found the system disk space dropped dramatically. I tried many ways and found that the VPN software outputted the log for any data it transferred. In general, it will take ~30Gb space to transfer 2Gb file.
The strange thing is that I used a crontab task to auto remove the log file every 2 minutes. After that, I cannot find the log file anymore, but the problem still exists :(.
% sudo crontab -l
Password:
*/2 * * * * rm -rf /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log
% sudo fs_usage -w 1994 | grep log
18:26:58.430915 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010e578 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002608 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:58.540420 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010e678 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002613 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:58.650065 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010e778 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002611 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:58.759858 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010e878 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002617 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:58.859374 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010e978 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002619 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:58.952178 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010ea78 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002583 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.045127 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010eb78 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002579 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.138504 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010ec78 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002581 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.229411 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010ed78 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002577 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.323566 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010ee78 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002581 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.415255 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010ef78 B=0xef000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002479 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.415531 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f067 B=0x11000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.000201 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.529387 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f078 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002575 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.639340 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f178 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002078 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.750946 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f278 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002620 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.859998 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f378 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002575 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:26:59.969905 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f478 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002615 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:00.084635 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f578 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002574 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:00.209302 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f678 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002070 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:00.323418 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f778 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002064 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:00.435673 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f878 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002582 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:00.533213 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010f978 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002627 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:00.634702 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010fa78 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002581 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:00.733164 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010fb78 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002629 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:00.834127 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010fc78 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002621 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:00.929496 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010fd78 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002616 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:01.024020 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010fe78 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002619 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:01.123571 WrData[AT1] D=0x0010ff78 B=0xef000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002449 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:01.123699 WrData[AT1] D=0x00110276 B=0x11000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002500 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:01.238057 WrData[AT1] D=0x00110287 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002581 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:01.352766 WrData[AT1] D=0x00110387 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002614 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:01.464467 WrData[AT1] D=0x00110487 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002613 W com.leadsec.ipse.44482
18:27:01.577524 WrData[AT1] D=0x00110587 B=0x100000 /dev/disk3s1 /private/var/log/vsgvpn.log 0.002607 W com.lea
I cannot find the VPN outputs the log to another file or problem due to Time Machine (has been disabled).
Any help will be appreciated.
Best,
Shixiang
The contents of a file on the file system is not necessarily immediately removed when you issue the rm command. The name of the itself is removed from the file system - i.e. you wouldn't see it in a directory listing.
However, if a program (such as your VPN software) has the file opened when you delete it, the operating system will keep the file on disk until the program closes the file.
With long-running software such as a VPN program, this means the developer of the VPN service usually provides you with a way of signalling to the program that you have removed (or rotated) the log file. If this is not done, you might have to resort to closing the VPN program and starting it up again.