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Bash script to clean up disk space for Linux

Interactive Bash script to inspect and clean up disk space used by dev tools, APT cache, Docker, and system logs on Linux.

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Linux disk cleanup script
Linux disk cleanup script
By Lam Ngoc Khuong
views 1 min read
Bash script to clean up disk space for Linux

A handy interactive Bash script to inspect and optionally clean up disk space used by common development tools and system caches on Ubuntu (or any Linux system).

What it does

  • Scans common dev tool folders (e.g. .npm, .yarn, .m2, .gradle, .nvm, snap, etc.) and shows their sizes.
  • Prompts for deletion of each folder individually.

  • Reports disk usage of:

    • APT package cache
    • journalctl system logs
    • Docker system (images, volumes, containers)

  • Prompts separately before cleaning:

    • APT cache (sudo apt autoremove && apt clean)
    • Systemd journal logs (journalctl --vacuum-time=7d)
    • Docker unused data (docker system prune -a)

Features

  • Simple interactive prompts for safe manual control
  • Works well on local dev machines or CI runners with disk pressure
  • Requires no dependencies besides standard Linux tools

Usage

Download and run:

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chmod +x check-disk-usage.sh
./check-disk-usage.sh

Or run directly from Gist in one line:

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bash <(curl -L https://go.khuong.dev/check-disk-usage)

References

System & OS, Linux
linux unix commands ubuntu debian alpine clean disk
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.