VMware Backup Failure: Insufficient Backup Proxy Disk Space

Problem description

VMware backup jobs fail prematurely because the Druva Backup Proxy appliance cannot write temporary files, logs, or transient metadata during the active backup workflow. When this occurs, the backup task is abruptly terminated.

Cause

The issue is caused by insufficient available disk space on the Druva Backup Proxy appliance's local partitions (typically / or /tmp). When these filesystems reach 100% utilization, the core backup engine cannot compress logs or store transient metadata, throwing a filesystem capacity exception.

Traceback

The following error signatures are captured in the Backup Proxy logs (Druva/EnterpriseWorkloads/logs) or within the Druva Management Console Job Details:

Plaintext

level=error message="Write block failed" Error="Error { kind: database or disk is full, abort_hint: false }" message="Aborting backup operation" error="Failed to upload files" Error encountered in compressing vixDiskLib log files: no space left on device

Resolution

Follow these steps to locate and clear space on the Backup Proxy appliance:

Access the Proxy: Log in to the affected Druva Backup Proxy appliance via SSH using your administrator credentials.
Isolate the Directory: Run the following command to pinpoint which top-level directory is consuming the most capacity:
Bash
```
du -h --max-depth=1 /
```
Note: Space constraints are most commonly found within the /tmp or /var/log paths.
Execute Cleanup:
- For /tmp: Clear out residual VMware temporary tracking data by running:
  Bash
```
rm -rf /tmp/vmware-root/*
```
- For /var/log: Inspect the directory (du -sh /var/log/*) and safely remove large, rotated .gz log files or legacy historical logs that are no longer needed.
Alternative Approach (Reboot): If you prefer an automated cleanup, rebooting the Proxy virtual machine will clear out the /tmp directory structure and flush transient system caches automatically.
Rerun Backups: Return to the Druva Management Console and manually restart the failed VMware backup job.

Include and exclude filters

Include: This article applies to all versions of the Druva Linux-based Backup Proxy appliance protecting VMware vSphere environments.
Exclude: This article does not apply to Cloud File Server (NAS) proxies or MS SQL/Windows backup agents experiencing host-level disk space issues.

Verification

To confirm that the resolution was successful prior to starting a new backup:

Run df -h on the Proxy CLI to verify that the Use% metric on the root (/) and /tmp filesystems has dropped significantly below 100%.
Run du -sh /tmp/* to confirm that the transient directories have been emptied.