Description

This KB explains the steps on how to delete a file named with a special character in a directory in Junos shell

Symptoms

Directory having a file named with a special character instead of regular alphanumeric names.

Solution

In the below example, /var is running low on space.

root@user:RE:0% df -h
Filesystem            Size    Used   Avail Capacity  Mounted on
/dev/da0s3e           170M    157M   -1.1M   101%    /var


Using the below KB we can determine which directory and file is the culprit.
https://supportportal.juniper.net/s/article/EX-QFX-How-to-troubleshoot-var-partition-usage-is-high

In below eg, /var/home/superuser directory has a file named "~" using up all the space.

root@lab:RE:0% cd /var/home/superuser/

root@lab:RE:0% ls -lrt
total 291480
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20       3761 Dec  4  2018 h
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20       4043 May 16  2019 how configuration policy-options prefix-list SNMP-RE-FILTER 10.144.104.55
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20       4043 May 16  2019 et snmp trap-options source-address lo0
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20  149127168 Mar 12 20:19 ~
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20          0 Mar 12 20:31 [email protected]
drwx------  2 superuser  20        512 Mar 15 20:10 .ssh
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20      30720 Mar 29 18:59 janus16-03-29-2024-config-backup.tgz


If we check that file with regular file command, it will show up as symbolic link to /root
 

root@lab:RE:0% file ~
/root: symbolic link to `/var/root'


However if we delete ~ directly assuming it to be a file, it will delete the /var/root directory and can cause several other including device failure as well.
This situation can arise, when customer accidentally gives special character as their file name. In this case ~

Hence to delete such files which have special characters as their name, use character "\" before the file name to identify it as a file and its type and NOT as a symlink.


For eg:

root@lab:RE:0% file \~
~: gzip compressed data, from Unix ===============> using \ before ~ gives the file type

root@lab:RE:0% rm \~
 

Now the file named "~" has been safely deleted hence freeing up the space.

root@uer103:RE:0% ls -lrt
total 88
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20   3761 Dec  4  2018 h
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20   4043 May 16  2019 how configuration policy-options prefix-list SNMP-RE-FILTER 10.144.104.55
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20   4043 May 16  2019 et snmp trap-options source-address lo0
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20      0 Mar 12 20:31 [email protected]
drwx------  2 superuser  20    512 Mar 15 20:10 .ssh
-rw-r--r--  1 superuser  20  30720 Mar 29 18:59 janus16-03-29-2024-config-backup.tgz


root@uer103:RE:0% df -ih /var/
Filesystem     Size    Used   Avail Capacity iused ifree %iused  Mounted on
/dev/da0s3e    170M     15M    141M    10%     765 21761    3%   /var




 

Modification History

2024-04-12 : Article Created