Linux Audit Framework Log Directory (/var/log/audit)
The Linux auditd service records security events, file access traces, and user commands in /var/log/audit. Learn how to clean auditd log files safely.
Linux Files
Linux system directories and config files
Fail2ban Ban History Database (/var/lib/fail2ban/fail2ban.sqlite3)
Fail2ban intrusion prevention daemon logs banned IP addresses and SSH brute-force attempts in fail2ban.sqlite3. Clearing Fail2ban database is safe.
GNOME Desktop File Indexer Database (~/.local/share/tracker/data)
GNOME Tracker caches desktop search index databases. Resetting the tracker database is safe.
KDE Plasma Desktop Service Configuration Cache (~/.cache/ksycoca5)
ksycoca caches KDE Plasma application menu services and mime type databases. Rebuilding ksycoca is safe.
The Linux Server Disk Cleanup Playbook: Reclaim Root Partition Space
The ultimate sysadmin guide to cleaning root partition bloat on Ubuntu and Debian servers, including journalctl, apt cache, Docker, and systemd coredumps.
SELinux Audit Log Files (/var/log/audit/audit.log)
SELinux security daemon writes security access denial logs to /var/log/audit/audit.log. Learn how to safely rotate SELinux audit logs.
Suricata Network IDS/IPS Capture Logs (/var/log/suricata)
Suricata Intrusion Detection System writes packet capture logs (eve.json, pcap files) to /var/log/suricata. Learn how to clean Suricata logs.
Ripple XRP Node Ledger Database (/var/lib/rippled/db)
The rippled db directory stores historical XRP blockchain ledger transactions. Deleting ledger data requires re-syncing.
Apache HTTP Server Error & Access Logs (/var/log/apache2)
Apache error.log and access.log store web server visitor logs. Truncating old Apache logs is safe and reclaims lost server storage.
Arch Linux Pacman Package Cache (/var/cache/pacman/pkg)
/var/cache/pacman/pkg stores downloaded package archives on Arch Linux & Manjaro. Clearing pacman cache is safe and frees up drive space.
Linux Systemd Journalctl Logs Folder (/var/log/journal)
/var/log/journal stores binary system logs collected by systemd-journald. Vacuuming old journal logs is 100% safe via journalctl.
Linux Command Line History Files (.bash_history & .zsh_history)
.bash_history and .zsh_history store command terminal history. Deleting history logs is 100% safe, protects credentials, and cleans shell logs.
Linux /var/log Folder & Journalctl Logs
/var/log and systemd journal logs record Linux system events. Vacuuming old logs via journalctl --vacuum-size is safe and recovers lost space.
Nginx Proxy & FastCGI Cache (/var/cache/nginx)
/var/cache/nginx stores cached HTML pages, images, and proxy responses. Deleting Nginx cache is safe and purges stale website pages.
Linux Systemd Coredump Folder (/var/lib/systemd/coredump)
/var/lib/systemd/coredump stores crash memory dumps for Linux processes. Cleaning old coredumps via coredumpctl is safe and frees storage.
Linux Systemd Core Dump Storage (/var/lib/systemd/coredump)
/var/lib/systemd/coredump stores uncompressed binary process memory crash dumps. Purging core dumps via coredumpctl is 100% safe.
Linux /var/tmp Folder (vs /tmp)
/var/tmp stores temporary files that persist across system reboots. Deleting old unused files in /var/tmp is safe and reclaims drive space.