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Introduction

ncdu (NCurses Disk Usage) is a disk usage analyzer for Unix-like systems. It provides a fast and easy-to-use interface to view disk usage in a tree-like format, ideal for quickly finding large files or directories. Unlike traditional du commands, ncdu offers an interactive, visual interface.

Prerequisites

• Root or sudo access: You’ll need administrative privileges to install packages.
• Access to the terminal: This guide assumes you have SSH or terminal access to your Linux system.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Install ncdu

Below are the installation commands for common Linux distributions:

For Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt update 
sudo apt install ncdu

For RHEL/CentOS/AlmaLinux:

If you’re using CentOS 7 or older, you may need the EPEL repository:

sudo yum install epel-release 
sudo yum install ncdu

For Fedora:

sudo dnf install ncdu

For Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S ncdu

Verify the installation with the following command:

ncdu --version

Step 2: Using ncdu to Analyze Disk Usage

To start analyzing disk usage in the current directory:

ncdu

To scan a specific directory:

ncdu /path/to/directory

Step 3: Navigating the ncdu Interface

Example Output of ncdu:

ncdu 1.14 ~ Use the arrow keys to navigate, press ? for help                    
--- /home/user ----------------------------------------------------------------
   30.0 GiB [##########] /Documents                                           
    5.0 GiB [##        ] /Pictures                                             
    1.5 GiB [#         ] /Downloads                                            
  600.0 MiB [          ] /Videos                                               
  300.0 MiB [          ] /Music                                                
   90.0 MiB [          ] /Projects                                             
   45.0 MiB [          ] /Desktop                                              
e  30.0 MiB [          ] /Email_Archives                                       
    2.0 MiB [          ] /Public                                               
  500.0 KiB [          ] /scripts                                              
  160.0 KiB [          ] /config

This interface makes it easy to identify large files or directories and clean up disk space interactively.

• • Arrow Keys: Use the up and down arrow keys to navigate through files and directories.
  • Size of directories: Each directory or file is displayed with its size, and a visual bar (e.g., ###########) shows relative sizes.
  • Enter: Press Enter to explore a directory.
  • d: Press “d” to delete the selected file or directory.
  • q: Press “q” to quit.

Step 4: Additional ncdu Options

• -x: Limit the scan to the current filesystem:

ncdu -x /

• –exclude: Exclude specific directories or files:

ncdu --exclude /proc

• -r: Generate a disk usage report:

ncdu -r /

Conclusion

By following these steps, you have successfully installed and used ncdu to analyze disk usage on your Linux server. This tool helps you efficiently manage disk space by providing a fast and interactive way to identify large files and directories.

For further assistance or issues, please contact our support team at support@ipserverone.com.