{"id":2278,"date":"2018-01-12T01:26:29","date_gmt":"2018-01-12T07:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/?p=2278"},"modified":"2026-03-26T04:25:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:25:34","slug":"high-disk-usage-with-virtfs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/high-disk-usage-with-virtfs\/","title":{"rendered":"Fix VirtFS Disk Usage Issues in cPanel\/WHM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>VirtFS disk usage warnings are commonly seen while checking disk utilization on a cPanel server. VirtFS in cPanel\/WHM provides a <strong>jailed shell environment<\/strong>, allowing users SSH access while restricting them from viewing or accessing other cPanel accounts on the server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This jailed environment acts as a secure container where users can safely run commands such as <strong>crontab<\/strong> and <strong>passwd<\/strong>, which are normally restricted in standard shell access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is VirtFS?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>VirtFS creates a virtual filesystem located at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>\/home\/virtfs\/username<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>You can enable jailed shell access from WHM under <strong>Manage Shell Access<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The directory structure is automatically generated whenever a user logs into SSH using jailed shell access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why VirtFS Causes High Disk Usage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>High disk usage usually occurs when:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A user with jailed shell access logs into SSH.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The session is not properly terminated.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bind (virtual) mounts remain active even after logout.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These unused mount points accumulate and appear as excessive disk consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Never manually delete files inside <code>\/home\/virtfs\/username<\/code> because they are hard-linked to system directories. Removing them directly can damage the server.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Fix VirtFS Disk Usage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To safely resolve the issue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Identify the affected cPanel user.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kill all active jailed shell processes for that user.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Release existing VirtFS mount points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unmount all bind mounts associated with the user.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Verify that no mounts remain active.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clean up the VirtFS directory only after confirming mounts are released.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Proper handling prevents system instability and avoids accidental data loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Important Precaution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Deleting VirtFS contents without unmounting can impact core operating system files. Always ensure mounts are released before cleanup or seek expert assistance if unsure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Professional server administrators can safely handle VirtFS cleanup without risking server stability or data integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you require help, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/requestquote.php\">contact SupportPRO Server Admin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><span id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-9d590242-d641-4383-94b4-8cfd62f0af6b\" class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\"><span id=\"hs-cta-9d590242-d641-4383-94b4-8cfd62f0af6b\" class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-9d590242-d641-4383-94b4-8cfd62f0af6b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/freecheckup.php\"><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-center has-white-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">Facing issues? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">Our technical support<br>engineers can solve it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-3350a795-db50-482f-9911-301930d1b1be\"><span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-3350a795-db50-482f-9911-301930d1b1be\" id=\"hs-cta-3350a795-db50-482f-9911-301930d1b1be\"><!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]--><a href=\"https:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/2725694\/3350a795-db50-482f-9911-301930d1b1be\" ><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-3350a795-db50-482f-9911-301930d1b1be\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/2725694\/3350a795-db50-482f-9911-301930d1b1be.png\"  alt=\"Contact Us today!\"\/><\/a><\/span><script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> hbspt.cta.load(2725694, '3350a795-db50-482f-9911-301930d1b1be', {\"useNewLoader\":\"true\",\"region\":\"na1\"}); <\/script><\/span><!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"904\" height=\"931\" src=\"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Free-server-checkup.png\" alt=\"guy server checkup\" class=\"wp-image-12943 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Free-server-checkup.png 904w, https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Free-server-checkup-291x300.png 291w, https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Free-server-checkup-768x791.png 768w, https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Free-server-checkup-585x602.png 585w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 904px) 100vw, 904px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VirtFS disk usage warnings are commonly seen while checking disk utilization on a cPanel server. VirtFS in cPanel\/WHM provides a jailed shell environment, allowing users SSH access while restricting them&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2278"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16657,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2278\/revisions\/16657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supportpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}