I have been trying to use (#debian) #linux with separate partitions for /home and couple of others. However, I have been facing the problem of /var becoming full and thus blocking further updates and installations. Most of the time deleting /var/log/auth.log would help but now I have messed up and can’t startup lightdm and using it from another tty. Can you guys share some tips and tricks as to avoiding this problem? I know keeping everything in one partition is one such trick. Anything else? #linux #foss #gnu #free_software #libre_software #disk #operatingsystems
+1 to the other replies here recommending starting over with a single partition.
However, if you want to apply some duct tape to fix your immediate problem without reinstalling, to point a filesystem location (path) from a full partition at a location on another partition which has available space, two options you have are symbolic links or bind mounts. The former is conceptually a little bit simpler, but it won’t satisfy some applications. The latter is a bit more complicated, but the unix stack exchange answer i just linked to has a good explanation of the ins and outs (but on Linux you should ignore the parts of that answer about
bindfsandnullfsand just follow the instructions underLinux bind mount). And if you want a bind mount to persist after a reboot, be sure to follow the instructions there about adding it to your/etc/fstabfile.Resizing system partitions without having to reinstall is a good way to learn more about Linux and how it handles it’sfilesystems