NCDU

ncdu is a great text-based user interface to manage your stored data.

Prerequisite

• Login to your service via SSH. See this guide.

GB v/s GiB

• The Disk Usage on the User Control Panel is represented in terms of GB. On the other hand, most applications display data size in terms of GiB.
• 1 GiB = 1.07374 GB
• For example, if you are using 50 GiB of storage space as seen from rTorrent, it will be shown as 54 GB in your UCP, but it is the same amount of data, represented in different units.

Usage Guide

List all Directories and Files

• Execute the following SSH command:

ncdu -x ~/

• Optionally, if you wish to see the space usage in terms of GB instead of GiB you can use the following command instead:

ncdu -x --si ~/

• Output Example:

ncdu 1.13 ~ Use the arrow keys to navigate, press ? for help
--- /home/ultradocs ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    5.8 GiB [##########] /Stuff
   49.1 MiB [          ] /.apps
   41.5 MiB [          ] /bin
    7.8 MiB [          ] /.local
    4.3 MiB [          ] /downloads
  420.0 KiB [          ] /.config
  164.0 KiB [          ] /.cache
   16.0 KiB [          ] /media
   12.0 KiB [          ] /watch
   12.0 KiB [          ] /www
    8.0 KiB [          ] /.gnupg
    8.0 KiB [          ] /scripts
    8.0 KiB [          ] /.ssh
    4.0 KiB [          ]  .bashrc
    4.0 KiB [          ]  .bash_history
    4.0 KiB [          ]  .profile
    4.0 KiB [          ]  .bash_logout
    4.0 KiB [          ]  .wget-hsts
    4.0 KiB [          ]  .selected_editor
>   0.0   B [          ] /MergerFS

• You can now use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate the directory structure of your service.
• Highlight a file or folder using the arrow keys and press the d key to delete it.
• Press the q key to quit ncdu.

Exclude Certain Directories from the Scan

• Some directories contain a large number of small files which exponentially increase the amount of time taken for ncdu to complete it's initial scan.
• The most common directories that cause this are those of large Media Server Application metadata stores.
• To exclude them, run the following SSH command:

ncdu -x ~/ --exclude=.config/plex --exclude=.apps/emby --exclude=.apps/jellyfin

• ncdu will now skip scanning the ~/.config/plex, ~/.apps/emby, and ~/.apps/jellyfin directories.
• These directories if they exist, will appear empty.

Use ncdu to Confirm whether a File is a Hardlink or Not

• ncdu also detects files which are hardlinks.
• Hardlinks will have a capital H symbol.
• Example:

• This indicates that the file ubuntu-21.10-desktop-amd64.iso in ~/downloads/transmission is a hardlink.
• Note that only files can be hardlinks. Directories cannot be hardlinks.

If you require further assistance, you can open a support ticket here!

Feedback and suggestions regarding this article are welcome on our Discord server

• NCDU
• Prerequisite
• GB v/s GiB
• Usage Guide
• List all Directories and Files
• Exclude Certain Directories from the Scan
• Use ncdu to Confirm whether a File is a Hardlink or Not