Starting SFlint as root

Are you sure it has the capitals? Linux is very case sensitive. Usually commands are all lower case. The command isn't found so arbitrarily adding sudo won't make it suddenly appear

Maybe just purging obsolete versions of the kernel package with the package management tools brings back enough space.

What is the output of the commands

uname -a
lsb_release -crid
dpkg -l | egrep ' linux-[hi]'

I tried lower case, nothing showed.
also here are the answers:

ea@azura:~$ gksudo sflint
ea@azura:~$ uname -a
Linux azura 4.4.0-38-generic #57-Ubuntu SMP Tue Sep 6 15:41:41 UTC 2016 i686 i686 i686 GNU/Linux
ea@azura:~$ lsb_release -crid
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial
ea@azura:~$ dpkg -l |egrep 'linux-[hi]'
ii linux-headers-4.4.0-38 4.4.0-38.57 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 4.4.0
ii linux-headers-4.4.0-38-generic 4.4.0-38.57 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 4.4.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-generic 4.4.0.38.40 i386 Generic Linux kernel headers
ii linux-image-4.4.0-38-generic 4.4.0-38.57 i386 Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-extra-4.4.0-38-generic 4.4.0-38.57 i386 Linux kernel extra modules for version 4.4.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-generic 4.4.0.38.40 i386 Generic Linux kernel image
ea@azura:~$

Just what are the package management tools?

That may indeed be all I need..

What do you want to do with the packages and we can advise.

The package management tools are the Ubuntu-provided programs for installing and removing program packages (e.g. apt, apt-get, dpkg, update-manager, ubuntu-software, synaptic, ...)

How did you install SFlint?

What is the output of the commands

df -h
df -i
sudo du -sch /*

Primarily I need to make some space in "/"

From Ubuntu Software, I did nothing special, except press the "install" button.

ea@azura:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev 986M 0 986M 0% /dev
tmpfs 201M 6.3M 195M 4% /run
/dev/sda1 17G 14G 2.4G 85% /
tmpfs 1003M 256K 1003M 1% /dev/shm
tmpfs 5.0M 4.0K 5.0M 1% /run/lock
tmpfs 1003M 0 1003M 0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda3 19G 2.6G 15G 15% /home
cgmfs 100K 0 100K 0% /run/cgmanager/fs
192.168.0.103:/ 23G 16G 6.6G 70% /mnt
192.168.0.103:/export/mass 551G 277G 246G 53% /media/mass
192.168.0.103:/export/mass2 688G 413G 240G 64% /media/mass2
tmpfs 201M 88K 201M 1% /run/user/1000
ea@azura:~$ df -i
Filesystem Inodes IUsed IFree IUse% Mounted on
udev 210736 496 210240 1% /dev
tmpfs 219620 687 218933 1% /run
/dev/sda1 1099440 216076 883364 20% /
tmpfs 219620 10 219610 1% /dev/shm
tmpfs 219620 6 219614 1% /run/lock
tmpfs 219620 18 219602 1% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda3 1221600 26184 1195416 3% /home
cgmfs 219620 14 219606 1% /run/cgmanager/fs
192.168.0.103:/ 1525920 251880 1274040 17% /mnt
192.168.0.103:/export/mass 36634624 125648 36508976 1% /media/mass
192.168.0.103:/export/mass2 45793280 14667 45778613 1% /media/mass2
tmpfs 219620 38 219582 1% /run/user/1000
ea@azura:~$ sudo du -sch/*
[sudo] password for ea:
du: invalid option -- '/'
du: invalid option -- '*'
Try 'du --help' for more information.
ea@azura:~$ sudo du -sch /*
13M /bin
53M /boot
4.0K /cdrom
256K /dev
89M /etc
2.6G /home
0 /initrd.img

Please provide the complete output of

sudo du -schx /*

What you posted in the last reply is only half of the lines.

Sorry about that, here is the rest:

324M /lib
16K /lost+found
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/.Trash-1000': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/VirtualBox VMs/Linux Lite/Logs': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/VirtualBox VMs/Linux Lite/Snapshots': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/.config/google-googletalkplugin': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/.config/libreoffice/4': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/.config/libreoffice/3': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/.config/menus': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/.config/brasero': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/.config/chromium': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/.config/ibus/bus': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/.config/pulse': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/20141128_Vostro_cpy/ea/.config/upstart': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/seanix_old.thunderbird': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass2/lost+found': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/OLd_VirtualBox VMs/Seanix_VirtualBox VMs/Old_Windows 7': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Quicken Backup/Quicken_backup 2008': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Quicken Backup/Quicken_backup 2009': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/.Trash-1000/expunged': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.gconf': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.local/share/nautilus': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.local/share/keyrings': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.local/share/unity-webapps': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.local/share/Trash': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.local/share/gvfs-metadata': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.local/share/telepathy': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.local/share/evolution': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.local/share/webkit': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.local/share/zeitgeist': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.compiz': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.gnome2_private': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.mission-control': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.gnome2/accels': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.cache': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.config': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.pulse': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.mozilla': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/mass1atalthuis/.dbus': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/.thunderbird': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/.config/evolution': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/.config/upstart': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/.config/pulse': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/.config/ibus': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/.config/compiz-1': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/.config/update-notifier': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/.config/gtk-3.0': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/.config/libreoffice/4': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/Backup_.thunderbird/20140813_.thunderbird/Crash Reports': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/Backup_.thunderbird/20140813_.thunderbird/#2_hmr2t2ic.default': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/Backup_.thunderbird/20140813_.thunderbird/hmr2t2ic.default/Mail/Local Folders': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/Backup_.thunderbird/20140813_.thunderbird/hmr2t2ic.default/Mail/mail.silk.net/Inbox.sbd': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/Backup_.thunderbird/20140813_.thunderbird/hmr2t2ic.default/Mail/mail.silk.net/Archives.sbd': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/Backup_.thunderbird/20140813_.thunderbird/hmr2t2ic.default/Mail/mail.escapees-1.com': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/Backup_.thunderbird/20140813_.thunderbird/hmr2t2ic.default/Mail/mail.escapees.com': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/Backup_.thunderbird/20140813_.thunderbird/hmr2t2ic.default/crashes': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Newazura_40GB/20150118_ea/.mozilla': Permission denied
du: cannot read directory '/media/mass/Old_Cruzer copy/Cruzer/Inc.Taxes/Inc.Taxes': Permission denied
664G /media
du: fts_read failed: /mnt/mass/2016_workfiles: No such file or directory
179M /opt
du: cannot access '/proc/3498/task/3498/fd/3': No such file or directory
du: cannot access '/proc/3498/task/3498/fdinfo/3': No such file or directory
du: cannot access '/proc/3498/fd/3': No such file or directory
du: cannot access '/proc/3498/fdinfo/3': No such file or directory
du: cannot access '/proc/3510': No such file or directory
0 /proc
1.3M /root
du: cannot access '/run/user/1000/gvfs': Permission denied
6.3M /run
14M /sbin
4.0K /snap
4.0K /srv
0 /sys
52K /tmp
3.6G /usr
9.0G /var
0 /vmlinuz
688G total
ea@azura: ~$

I believe this is what was requested:

ea@azura:~$ sudo du -schx /*
[sudo] password for ea:
13M /bin
53M /boot
4.0K /cdrom
0 /dev
89M /etc
2.6G /home
0 /initrd.img
324M /lib
16K /lost+found
12K /media
52K /mnt
179M /opt
du: cannot access '/proc/3803/task/3803/fd/3': No such file or directory
du: cannot access '/proc/3803/task/3803/fdinfo/3': No such file or directory
du: cannot access '/proc/3803/fd/3': No such file or directory
du: cannot access '/proc/3803/fdinfo/3': No such file or directory
0 /proc
1.3M /root
6.3M /run
14M /sbin
4.0K /snap
4.0K /srv
0 /sys
52K /tmp
3.6G /usr
9.0G /var
0 /vmlinuz
16G total
ea@azura:~$

9 GB for /var seems huge.

What is the output of

sudo du -schx /var/*

ea@azura:~$ sudo du -schx /var/*
[sudo] password for ea:
6.0M /var/backups
151M /var/cache
3.9M /var/crash
277M /var/lib
4.0K /var/local
0 /var/lock
9.0M /var/log
4.0K /var/mail
4.0K /var/metrics
4.0K /var/opt
0 /var/run
4.0K /var/snap
368K /var/spool
8.6G /var/tmp
9.0G total
ea@azura:~$

Thank you Manfred for sticking with me.

I have 4 computers using NFS (Network File Service), it works perfectly, however two of the computers use it most and their /var/tmp are both over 9GB, the others only around 2 GB. The files are sytemd-private-... and cnijpwgtmp..., the first because of systemd use the secong is created by use of a Canon MB5020 printer. All I need to do is clean these up now and then, because I do not believe there is an automatic cleaning process? All of these files are owned by root so I can not easily get rid of them.

It was for the root ownership that I created this question. SFlint needs root use to clean things up, however I don't think these files were found by SFlint.

You have correctly identified the /var/tmp directory to be the one that consumes most hard disk space.

A quick web search search shows that the sytemd-private-... usually are empty (and automatically deleted after 30 days), but that the cnijpwgtmp... files/directories can be huge (and apparently are on your systems).

The name indicates that they are related to Canon printers/scanner (as already written by you).
I assume that they can be deleted if there are no open tasks (pending print jobs etc.) for your canon device.

If these are plain files, then a command like
sudo rm /var/tmp/cnijpwgtmp*
should clean them up, if they are directories, then you probably have to add the option -rf
sudo rm -rf /var/tmp/cnijpwgtmp*

+++++++++++

Back to SFlint, how did you install that program?

What is the output of
sudo updatedb
locate -i sflint

I do not expect that SFlint would have identified the /var/tmp directory either.

The "sudo rm /var/tmpcnijpwgtmp*" worked, the 18GB partition is now 30% full from 89%.

I installed SFlint from Ubutu software, there was an install button and it appeared to work as I can use it to clean noon root folders.

ea@azura:~$ sudo updatedb
[sudo] password for ea:
ea@azura:~$ locate -i sflint
ea@azura:~$

that is "non root folders"

Maybe if this needs to be pursued another thread could be used?

Meanwhile I know the reason for not finding it.

The name of the janitor package is FSlint, not SFlint.

I assume starting it with root privileges is by calling

sudo fslint-gui

It started as you indicated and indeed allowed me to delete items not possible as just a user. Thanks, funny nobody noticed it. I cleared all of my /var/tmp folders and regained sufficient space in "/" I will keep an eye on all of them.

Thanks again fo sticking with me