How do I increase the number of inodes or files for the volumes on my FSx for ONTAP file system?

Short description

If your volume is out of inodes (index nodes) or files, then you receive one of the following error messages:

"Error message no space left on the device"

"Error message: file system is out of inodes"

"wafl.vol.outOfInodes: file system on Volume vol_name is out of inodes because it's reached the maximum number of files"

"INODE: System/Cluster Notification from filer (OUT OF INODES) ALERT"

To resolve this issue, increase the maximum number of files that are in your FlexVol volumes and FlexGroup volumes.

Note: If you can't increase the maximum number of files, then you must delete files to free inodes or increase the volume size. If the new file count is larger than the volume can manage, then the volume reports the maximum possible value.

Resolution

Note: The commands in the following resolution use the NetApp ONTAP command line interface (CLI). You might receive the "Error: Volume name: The first character must be a letter or underscore" error message when you run the modify command. To resolve this issue, use the command completion feature. For example, manually start to enter the command, and then press the Tab key to autocomplete the code. This feature helps you avoid syntax errors.

Increase the number of files or inodes in your volume

Note: The set command in the following steps is an advanced command that returns a warning. For more information, see Description on the NetApp website.

Complete the following steps:

1. To check the maximum possible files that your volume can manage, run the following commands:

   set advanced
   
   volume show -vserver fsx -volume vol1  -fields files-maximum-possible  
   

   Note: Replace vol1 with your volume. When prompted, press Y.

   Example output:

   vserver volume files-maximum-possible  
   ------- ------ ----------------------  
   fsx     vol1   255013682

   In the preceding example, you can add a maximum 255,013,682 files for the vol1 volume.

2. To check the maximum number of files in the volume, run the following command:

   volume show -vserver svm_name -volume vol_name -fields files

   Note: Replace svm_name with your server name and vol_name with your volume name.

3. To modify the maximum number of files that you allow on your volume, run the following command:

   volume modify -vserver svm_name -volume vol_name -files number_of_files

   Note: Replace svm_name with your server name, vol_name with your volume name, and number_of_files with the number of files that you allow on the volume.

   Example output:

   Volume modify successful on volume vol1 of Vserver svm1

4. To verify the modification, rerun the show command:

   volume show -vserver fsx -volume vol1 -fields files

   Note: Replace vol1 with your volume.

Note: After you increase the number of files in your volume, confirm that your inode and aggregate (aggr) space usage are below 80 percent.

Set the maximum number of files for a volume

You can use the files-set-maximum option to set the number of files to the maximum value that the volume can manage. After you set files-set-maximum to true, NetApp ONTAP automatically adjusts maxfiles to the largest possible value.

Important: You can't undo changes to the files-set-maximum setting after you set it to true.

To set the maximum value for the number of inodes or files for this volume, run the following commands:

set -privilege advanced

vol modify -vserver fsx -volume vol1 -files-set-maximum true

Note: Replace vol1 with your volume. When prompted, press Y.

To verify the change, run the following command:

volume show -vserver svm1 -volume vol1 -fields files

Note: Replace svm1 with your server and vol1 with your volume.

Related information

Your volume has insufficient storage capacity

Increasing a volume's storage capacity