ESXi /tmp is Full

I’ll keep this post short and to the point. Gott errors in the alerts.

I was like huh, interesting… go to validate it on the host by logging in via SSH then typing the command:

vdf -h

At the bottom you can see /tmp space usage:

I then found out about this cool command from this thread:

find /tmp/ -exec ls -larth '{}' \;

This will list all the files and their sizes to gander at, when I noticed a really large file:

I decided to look up this file and found this lovely VMware KB:

The Workaround:

echo > /tmp/ams-bbUsg.txt

The solution:

To fix the issue, upgrade to VMware AMS to version 11.4.5 (included in the HPE Offline Bundle for ESXi version 3.4.5), available at the following URLs:

HPE Offline Bundle for ESXi 6.7 Version 3.4.5

https://www.hpe.com/global/swpublishing/MTX-a38161c3e8674777a8c664e05a

HPE Offline Bundle for ESXi 6.5 Version 3.4.5

https://www.hpe.com/global/swpublishing/MTX-7d214544a7e5457e9bb48e49af

HPE Offline Bundle for ESXi 6.0 Version 3.4.5

https://www.hpe.com/global/swpublishing/MTX-98c6268c29b3435e8d285bcfcc

Procedure

1. Power off any virtual machines that are running on the host and place the host into maintenance mode.
2. Transfer the offline bundle onto the ESXi host local path, or extract it onto an online depot.
3. Install the bundle on the ESXi host.
   1. Install remotely from client, with offline bundle contents on a online depot:

      esxcli -s <server> -u root -p mypassword software vib install -d <depotURL/bundle-index.xml>

   2. Install remotely from client, with offline bundle on ESXi host:

      esxcli -s <server> -u root -p mypassword software vib install -d <ESXi local path><bundle.zip>

   3. Install from ESXi host, with offline bundle on ESXi host:

      esxcli software vib install -d <ESXi local path><bundle.zip>

4. After the bundle is installed, reboot the ESXi host for the updates to take effect.
5. (Optional) Verify that the vibs on the bundle are installed on your ESXi host.

   esxcli software vib list

6. (Optional) Remove individual vibs. <vib name> can be identified by listing the vibs as shown in #5.

   esxcli software vib remove -n <vib name>

   Summary

   Use the commands shown to trace the source of the usage, your case may not be as easy. Once found hopefully find a solution. In my case I got super lucky and other people already found the problem and solution.