Skip to main content

 **🚨 Common Linux Server Issues & Quick Fixes 🚨** 


As a sysadmin or DevOps engineer, managing Linux servers can be challenging. Here’s a list of common issues and commands to resolve them efficiently: 


---


### **1. Disk Space Running Out** 

**Fix**: 

- Check disk usage: `df -h` 

- Find large files: `du -sh /var/* | sort -rh` 

- Clean temp files: `sudo rm -rf /tmp/*` 


---


### **2. High CPU Usage** 

**Fix**: 

- Monitor CPU usage: `top` 

- Terminate problematic process: `kill <PID>` 

- Analyze processes: `ps aux --sort=-%cpu` 


---


### **3. Memory Issues** 

**Fix**: 

- Check memory usage: `free -h` 

- Identify memory-hogging processes: `ps aux --sort=-%mem` 

- Clear cache: `echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches` 


---


### **4. Service Unavailable** 

**Fix**: 

- Check service status: `sudo systemctl status <service>` 

- Restart service: `sudo systemctl restart <service>` 

- Check logs: `sudo journalctl -u <service>` 


---


### **5. Network Problems** 

**Fix**: 

- Test connectivity: `ping <ip>` 

- Check open connections: `netstat -tuln` 

- Verify firewall rules: `sudo ufw status` 


---


### **6. Permission Errors** 

**Fix**: 

- Check permissions: `ls -l <file>` 

- Modify permissions: `sudo chmod 755 <file>` 

- Change ownership: `sudo chown user:group <file>` 


---


### **7. Update Failures** 

**Fix**: 

- Clear package cache: `sudo apt clean` 

- Fix broken packages: `sudo apt --fix-broken install` 

- Update system: `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y` 


---


### **8. Logs Consuming Space** 

**Fix**: 

- Compress logs: `sudo tar -czvf logs_archive.tar.gz /var/log/` 

- Configure log rotation: `sudo nano /etc/logrotate.conf` 


---


### **9. SSH Access Issues** 

**Fix**: 

- Check SSH status: `sudo systemctl status sshd` 

- Restart SSH: `sudo systemctl restart sshd` 

- Check logs: `sudo tail -f /var/log/auth.log` 


---


### **10. DNS Resolution Failure** 

**Fix**: 

- Check DNS config: `cat /etc/resolv.conf` 

- Test DNS resolution: `nslookup google.com` 

- Restart network: `sudo systemctl restart networking` 


---


### **11. Time Synchronization Issues** 

**Fix**: 

- Check time sync status: `timedatectl status` 

- Manually sync time: `sudo ntpdate pool.ntp.org` 

- Restart NTP service: `sudo systemctl restart ntp` 


---


### **12. Corrupted Filesystem** 

**Fix**: 

- Check filesystem integrity: `sudo fsck /dev/sdX` 

- Reinstall critical packages: `sudo apt-get install --reinstall coreutils` 


---


### **13. User Quota Exceeded** 

**Fix**: 

- Check quotas: `repquota -a` 

- Modify user quotas: `edquota -u <username>` 


---


### **14. Zombie Processes** 

**Fix**: 

- Identify zombie processes: `ps aux | grep 'Z'` 

- Kill parent process: `kill -9 <PPID>` 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Step-by-Step Explanation of Ballooning, Compression & Swapping in VMware

 🔹 Step-by-Step Explanation of Ballooning, Compression & Swapping in VMware ⸻ 1️⃣ Memory Ballooning (vmmemctl) Ballooning is the first memory reclamation technique used when ESXi detects memory pressure. ➤ Step-by-Step: How Ballooning Works  1. VMware Tools installs the balloon driver (vmmemctl) inside the guest OS.  2. ESXi detects low free memory on the host.  3. ESXi inflates the balloon in selected VMs.  4. Balloon driver occupies guest memory, making the OS think RAM is full.  5. Guest OS frees idle / unused pages (because it believes memory is needed).  6. ESXi reclaims those freed pages and makes them available to other VMs. Why Ballooning Happens?  • Host free memory is very low.  • ESXi wants the VM to release unused pages before resorting to swapping. Example  • Host memory: 64 GB  • VMs used: 62 GB  • Free: 2 GB → ESXi triggers ballooning  • VM1 (8 GB RAM): Balloon inflates to 2 GB → OS frees 2 GB → ESXi re...

ESXi Host Troubleshooting Checklist

  🛠️ ESXi Host Troubleshooting Checklist (With Complete Log Locations) ✅ 1. Host Status & Connectivity Check host state in vCenter (Connected / Not Responding / Disconnected) Review CPU, RAM, and datastore usage Validate HA/DRS recommendations ✅ 2. Hardware Health Monitor hardware sensors (CPU, DIMMs, fans, PSU, RAID) Check RAID controller logs via vendor tools View hardware status in: vCenter → Monitor → Hardware Health DCUI → Hardware Status ✅ 3. Network Validation Verify vSwitches, Port Groups, NIC teaming, VLAN tagging Check vmkernel ports (mgmt, vMotion, iSCSI, vSAN) Test reachability using: Shell vmkping < IP > Show more lines Validate physical NIC status and link speed ✅ 4. Storage & Datastore Checks Confirm datastore accessibility Rescan storage adapters (iSCSI/FC/NFS) Validate multipathing (Round Robin / Fixed / MRU) Check datastore latency with esxtop ✅ **5. Critical Logs & Their Locations (Full List) Here are key ESXi log files that every VMware adm...
  vCenter Troubleshooting Tips, Common Issues & Log Locations 🚀 1. General Troubleshooting Approach A. Check service health first For vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA): Shell https : / / < vcenter - FQDN > : 5480 Show more lines Go to Services → Health to verify: vCenter Server ESXi hosts vSphere Client DNS, NTP, DB connections vpxd, vpxd-svcs, vsphere-ui B. DNS & NTP checks vCenter is highly dependent on correct DNS & time sync. Check: Shell nslookup < vcenter - fqdn > nslookup < esxi - host - fqdn > Show more lines Time drift > 5 minutes causes: Login failures vpxd crashes PSC authentication issues C. Check storage/database health Slow DB/storage = UI slow, tasks hung. For VCSA: Shell df - h du - sh / storage / log / * / var / log Show more lines Free up space if partitions hit >80%. D. Restart critical services safely On VCSA: Shell service - control - - status service - control - - stop - - all service - control - - start - - all ...