PowerEdge: BTRFS file system causing lagging in SUSE Linux
Summary: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server with BTRFS file system as root may experience performance issue and is lagging intermittently.
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Not all product versions are identified in this article.
Symptoms
Server is lagging or stopping responding for a few seconds, event minutes when run commands "ls," "mv."
Run command "top" to view real-time process status.
We can see processes btrfs-cleaner, or btrfs-transacti is running with 100% CPU.
Even thought boot from ISO and mount the root file system with BTRFS. It is also lagging intermittently.
Cause
There is a known performance issue that can occur where quotas are enabled and subvolume deletion occurs. For the problem to occur, the deletion has to include the removal and cleanup of a large shared subtree.
This means, if the subvolume being deleted is not a snapshot, it will not cause any problems. If the subvolume has undergone many changes but has almost no shared subtree with the original one, again there will be no problem. If the subvolume itself is small, then still no problem.
This problem is being discussed in an upstream thread with a view to creating a solution to the problem.
Resolution
An available workaround is to identify the btrfs file system in distress (sometimes it may be the root file system) and disable quotas on that file system using the following syntax:
# btrfs quota disable <filesystem>
For example, to disable quotas on the root file system:
# btrfs quota disable /
Affected Products
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, OEMR R240, OEMR R250, OEMR R260, OEMR R340, OEMR R350, OEMR R360, OEMR R440, OEMR R450, OEMR R540, OEMR R550, OEMR R640, OEMR R6415, OEMR R650, OEMR R650xs, OEMR R6515, OEMR R6525, OEMR R660, OEMR R660xs, OEMR R6615
, OEMR R6625, OEMR R740, OEMR R740xd, OEMR R740xd2, OEMR R7415, OEMR R7425, OEMR R750, OEMR R750xa, OEMR R750xs, OEMR R7515, OEMR R7525, OEMR R760, OEMR R760xa, OEMR R760XD2, OEMR R760xs, OEMR R7615, OEMR R7625, OEMR R840, OEMR R860, OEMR R940, OEMR R940xa, OEMR R960, OEMR XR4510c, OEMR XR4520c, OEMR XR5610, OEMR XR8610t, OEMR XR8620t, PowerEdge R240, PowerEdge R250, PowerEdge R260, PowerEdge R340, PowerEdge R350, PowerEdge R360, PowerEdge R440, PowerEdge R450, PowerEdge R540, PowerEdge R550, PowerEdge R640, PowerEdge R6415, PowerEdge R650, PowerEdge R650xs, PowerEdge R6515, PowerEdge R6525, PowerEdge R660, PowerEdge R660xs, PowerEdge R6615, PowerEdge R6625, PowerEdge R740, PowerEdge R740XD, PowerEdge R740XD2, PowerEdge R7415, PowerEdge R7425, PowerEdge R750, PowerEdge R750XA, PowerEdge R750xs, PowerEdge R7515, PowerEdge R7525, PowerEdge R760, PowerEdge R760XA, PowerEdge R760xd2, PowerEdge R760xs, PowerEdge R7615, PowerEdge R7625, PowerEdge R840, PowerEdge R860, PowerEdge R940, PowerEdge R960, PowerEdge XR4510c, PowerEdge XR4520c, PowerEdge XR5610, PowerEdge XR8610t, PowerEdge XR8620t, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15
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Article Properties
Article Number: 000201630
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 02 Sept 2025
Version: 2
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