".ecryptfs" is eating up my HDD space, please help!

**ubuntu27** · February 4th, 2011

I don't know the solution nor what is causing the loss of free space.

But, I recommend you to take a look at your hidden trash directory. Many files might be accumulating in it. (I once discovered that I had 10GB or more files in the hidden trash!)

Take a look at these threads:

Purpose of home/.trash-0 ???

Purpose of /root/.local/share/Trash/expunged ?

Also, you might be interested in reading HOWTO: Cleaning up all those unnecessary junk files

Good luck!

**Th3Professor** · February 5th, 2011

Thank you for those links. I went ahead and went through the steps provided in those threads. It didn't really solve the issue here, only cleaned out a few megs at best, though I'm glad to know about that stuff.

Has anyone else (who is reading this) dealt with ecryptfs before or perhaps familiar with the workings of it?

How do I know which files are relevant (for backing up prior to deleting ecryptfs stuff) if they're all encrypted?

What do I do to get rid of the ecryptfs stuff considering I don't know if I have any important data encrypted in the ecryptfs folder(s)?

(And I don't know how to find out if I have any important encrypted data.)

Does the ".macromedia" folder hold anything critical? Or ".thumbnails"? Perhaps the xsession log file?

After that there's the cache for firefox, chrome, and seamonkey, which I thought I've cleared out (and I used autoclean also) but there's still a gradually-diminishing HDD issue going on, even when I just let the computer set and actively do "nothing".

**Stephen Morgan** · February 5th, 2011

ecryptfs encrypts the contents of your ~/ directory, then on login mounts it so that it can be decrypted on the fly to allow you access. The encrypted files are the same as the unencrypted files in ~/, or should be. Therefore if you have all the "unencrypted" files from ~/ backed up it should be safe to delete .Private and the rest and uninstall ecryptfs. I've not done that, so I suppose it might leave you unable to decrypt and access the files in ~/, in which case simply copy them back over from your back up. If you want to maintain the ability to encrypt directories you could just create a new user account in System>Administration>Users and Groups, making sure not to select 'ecnrypt home folder', or whatever the option is. That might also stop any other programme which might be starting on log in and filling your hdd with crap, if it's not ecryptfs. on edit: I've just done a `sudo ls` on the ~/ of another user on my system, with an ecryptfsed ~/, this is what comes up:

Code:

grim@07:08:31:~/$ sudo ls /home/sysadminbk/  [sudo] password for grim: Access-Your-Private-Data.desktop README.txt  grim@07:12:00:~/$ sudo cat /home/sysadminbk/README.txt  THIS DIRECTORY HAS BEEN UNMOUNTED TO PROTECT YOUR DATA. From the graphical desktop, click on:  Access Your Private Data or From the command line, run:  ecryptfs-mount-private

That's what your ~/ would look like without ecryptfs, all the files which to you seem to be unencrypted in ~/ are in fact encrypted in ~/.Private and being decrypted by ecryptfs as you use them, therefore your backup ought to be unencrypted.

**Stephen Morgan** · February 5th, 2011

I seem to have somehow broken the formatting on that last post, and I've had second thoughts, so here's how I would get rid of ecryptfs: first, create a new user account with administrative privileges in system>admin>users and groups, unticking the encrypted home folder option. 2) logout as olduser, in as newuser, assuming you've got everything other than the encrypted directory backed up 3) delete /home/olduser 4) uninstall ecryptfs 5) mkdir /home/olduser 6) copy the backedup files back into /home/olduser, 7) chown olduser --recursive /home/olduser 8) logout as newuser, back in as olduser to make sure everything works 9) feel free to remove ~/.Private That ought to do the job, but I doubt ecryptfs is what's taking up all your space, ecryptfs should only encrypt the files in your home folder, which is why df -h shows the same figures as the partition /home is on, ecryptfs is specifically designed to vary in size according to the amount of data stored on it. Therefore I would recommend that, after the above, continue running as newuser to see if you get the same problem, and then do the same as the reincarnated olduser, see if ti does the same thing.

**Th3Professor** · February 6th, 2011

I just came across this page:
http://virtually-a-machine.blogspot....-ecryptfs.html

Those steps you listed have similarities.

My only concern is what someone said in the 2nd comment on that page: that at least 50% free space is required. I have 0% free.

Edit -

I've heard other mention of ecryptfs basically just being a duplicate of the space I'm already using, only as encrypted files, mirroring the normal files, like in /home/user.

So I did a check on disk usage in /home/user and the following files or folders come up as taking up the most space:

.config = 750mb
.thumbails = 600mb
Documents = 460mb
Downloads = 125mb
.mozilla = 100mb

Everything else is under 100mb, and significantly so, and all of the remaining things (separate from the 5 listed above) total about 400mb.

Adding those numbers up and it's about 2.5gigs.

However, /home/user (in disk usage analyzer) says 8.9gigs are being used.

So the big question is: where are the 6.4gigs coming from?

Edit 2 -

Here's a more detailed look at some of those files/folders that are unrelated to the mysterious missing 6.4gigs:

.config = 750mb = ~/.config/google-chrome/Default (and ./History type folders and a Thumbnails folder) (safe to delete contents of directory?)
.thumbails = 600mb = ~/.thumbnails/normal = a bunch of ".png" files (safe to delete those files?)
Documents = 460mb (documents, I am not deleting those files)
Downloads = 125mb (just 125mb, no need to delete those files)
.mozilla = 100mb = ~/.mozilla/firefox (80mb) and ~/.seamonkey (20mb) (anything in those directories safe to delete?)

It'll help to know what I can delete from those folders but it unfortunately doesn't solve the 6.4gigs, other than the connection with the ecryptfs.

**cipherboy_loc** · February 6th, 2011

It is safe to delete ~/.thumbnails, its just a bunch of your photos resized to smaller format (128x128 or so). About the others, I don't know.

Cipherboy

**ubuntu27** · February 6th, 2011

I use encryptfs to encrypt my ~/ as well. But, i do not have these problems. Very weird. I am also losing space, but that is because I keep saving lots of GB worth of videos. ><;

I recommend you to use BleachBit, a application that free-up disk space and safeguard your privacy.
It is in the repository, so you can just install it with

Code:

sudo apt-get install bleachbit

Also, some other cleaning-up tools are mentioned in this site: Cleaning up a Ubuntu GNU/Linux system

**Th3Professor** · February 6th, 2011

Wow that bleachbit is great! Should be called bleachb!tch

lol ...good stuff. I managed to clear out 1gig. That leaves 5.4gigs of mysteriously-eaten-up HDD space. It's not a solid solution for those 5gigs but it's one step closer.

**sportykev** · November 21st, 2012

Hate to bring this up from the dead. I too am experiencing this ecryptfs bloat. It tends to grow extremely large 50gb+ when I leave any Flash objects open under Chrome overnight. How to stop this from happening?!

**wildmanne39** · November 21st, 2012

If a post is older than a year or so and hasn't had a new reply in that time, instead of replying to it, create a new thread. In the software world, a lot can change in a very short time, and doing things this way makes it more likely that you will find the best information. You may link to the original discussion in the new thread if you think it may be helpful.