Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Learn how to clean systemd journal logs & free disk space on Linux
Systemd journal logs are useful for troubleshooting. But over time, they can quietly consume gigabytes of disk space especially on servers.
In this video, I show you how to:
• Check journal log disk usage
• Delete old logs safely
• Limit logs by size
• Restrict the number of log files
• Make log limits permanent
• Prevent your server from running out of space
This works on Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch, and most modern Linux distributions using systemd.
📌 1️⃣ Check Current Journal Disk Usage
journalctl --disk-usage
This shows how much space systemd journal logs are currently using.
📌 2️⃣ Delete Logs Older Than X Days
To remove logs older than 14 days:
sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=14d
You can change 14d to:
7d (7 days)
30d (30 days)
2m (2 months)
This removes archived logs older than the specified time.
📌 3️⃣ Limit Journal Logs by Total Size
Limit total size to 500MB (example):
sudo journalctl --vacuum-size=500M
This deletes older logs until total journal usage is below 500MB.
📌 4️⃣ Make Log Limits Permanent (Recommended for Servers)
Temporary cleanup is not enough. Logs will grow again.
Edit the journald configuration file:
sudo nano /etc/systemd/journald.conf
If it's not here, check /usr/lib/systemd directory.
Before editing, create a backup:
sudo cp /etc/systemd/journald.conf /etc/systemd/journald.conf.bak
Now find and modify (or uncomment) these parameters:
SystemMaxUse=500M
SystemMaxFileSize=72M
SystemMaxFiles=10
What these do:
SystemMaxUse → Maximum total disk space journal logs can use
SystemMaxFileSize → Maximum size per log file
SystemMaxFiles → Maximum number of log files retained
Adjust these values based on your server storage.
📌 5️⃣ Restart journald
After saving the file:
sudo systemctl restart systemd-journald
Now your system automatically enforces log limits.
No more manual cleanup.
Enjoy more disk space on your Linux system :)
Learn how to clean systemd journal logs & free disk space on Linux
Systemd journal logs are useful for troubleshooting. But over time, they can quietly consume gigabytes of disk space especially on servers.
In this video, I show you how to:
• Check journal log disk usage
• Delete old logs safely
• Limit logs by size
• Restrict the number of log files
• Make log limits permanent
• Prevent your server from running out of space
This works on Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch, and most modern Linux distributions using systemd.
📌 1️⃣ Check Current Journal Disk Usage
journalctl --disk-usage
This shows how much space systemd journal logs are currently using.
📌 2️⃣ Delete Logs Older Than X Days
To remove logs older than 14 days:
sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=14d
You can change 14d to:
7d (7 days)
30d (30 days)
2m (2 months)
This removes archived logs older than the specified time.
📌 3️⃣ Limit Journal Logs by Total Size
Limit total size to 500MB (example):
sudo journalctl --vacuum-size=500M
This deletes older logs until total journal usage is below 500MB.
📌 4️⃣ Make Log Limits Permanent (Recommended for Servers)
Temporary cleanup is not enough. Logs will grow again.
Edit the journald configuration file:
sudo nano /etc/systemd/journald.conf
If it's not here, check /usr/lib/systemd directory.
Before editing, create a backup:
sudo cp /etc/systemd/journald.conf /etc/systemd/journald.conf.bak
Now find and modify (or uncomment) these parameters:
SystemMaxUse=500M
SystemMaxFileSize=72M
SystemMaxFiles=10
What these do:
SystemMaxUse → Maximum total disk space journal logs can use
SystemMaxFileSize → Maximum size per log file
SystemMaxFiles → Maximum number of log files retained
Adjust these values based on your server storage.
📌 5️⃣ Restart journald
After saving the file:
sudo systemctl restart systemd-journald
Now your system automatically enforces log limits.
No more manual cleanup.
Enjoy more disk space on your Linux system :)
