Tracking down hard disk space consumption with Go
Programming Snapshot – Disk Space Analyzer
© Lead Image © alphaspirit, 123RF.com
This month, Mike Schilli writes a quick terminal UI in Go to help track down space hogs on his hard disk.
When installing a new hard disk, users think they are in seventh heaven – it seems almost impossible to ever fill up the drive. Given today's huge capacities, though, virtually everyone becomes a thoughtless space waster sooner or later. As the disk fills up, space needs to be freed up to keep things going. Most of the time, the culprit is huge files no longer in use that are still hanging around in forgotten directories and causing overcrowding. The most effective strategy is often a simple one of tracking down the biggest space wasters and then deleting the unneeded files.
The spacetree Go program helps with this housecleaning by pointing to the most storage-intensive paths starting from a root directory and provides their disk space usage in bytes. As Figure 1 shows, the Go binary, which you call with the directory to be analyzed, switches the terminal to graphics mode and displays the storage paths as an interactive tree. You can expand the green elements in the tree with a mouse click or by pressing the Enter key to determine which folders contain the fattest files.
Figure 1: The Go terminal user interface (UI) with storage-intensive Git directories.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.
-
What Open Source Pros Look for in a Job Role
Learn what professionals in technical and non-technical roles say is most important when seeking a new position.
-
Asahi Linux Runs into Issues with M4 Support
Due to Apple Silicon changes, the Asahi Linux project is at odds with adding support for the M4 chips.
-
Plasma 6.3.4 Now Available
Although not a major release, Plasma 6.3.4 does fix some bugs and offer a subtle change for the Plasma sidebar.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 First Release Candidate Now Available
Linux Torvalds has announced that the release candidate for the final release of the Linux 6.15 series is now available.
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.
-
Linux Kernel 6.14 Released
The latest Linux kernel has arrived with extra Rust support and more.