VxRail: vCenter Error "The ramdisk 'root' is full. As a result, the file could not be written."

Summary: vCenter is showing errors for a host: "The ramdisk 'root' is full. As a result, the file * could not be written."

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

Symptom 1: The root for the Ramdisk is at 100%.

  • Use putty to ssh to the ESXi host.
  • vdf -h
  • Verify root shows 100%.
Example of output:
Table showing filesystem details with vmfs and nvfat volumes. 
Root shows Use% 100%.

Symptom 2: The root for the ramdisk is full, and the following error shows when running: 
esxcli software vib list

You see an error ending with 
"socket.error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory"
or
Log files are missing or not being updated in /var/log/.
or
You cannot install HA agent on the affected ESXi host.
 

Cause

Two possible causes:

1. Files were manually copied to a host and the incorrect path (that is, one outside /vmfs/volumes) was used.
2. If a persistent scratch space is not available, ESXi stores this temporary data on a ramdisk. This is constrained in space. This may be problematic in low-memory situations but is not critical to the operation of ESXi. Information that is stored on a ramdisk does not persist across reboots, so troubleshooting information such as logs and core files could be lost. If the host's persistent scratch location is configured improperly, intermittent issues may occur due to insufficient space for temporary files and log files not updating.

Resolution

For file issues, review Broadcom KB: ESXi host RAM disk is fullThis hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies. and follow the steps below.

  • If an administrative action caused the error, delete the files that use the incorrect path or move them to a datastore.

OR

  • Use putty to ssh to the ESXi host.
  • find / -size +1024k -exec du -h {} \; | less
  • Move or delete any old or stale left over ESXi host log bundles.



To resolve this issue, review Broadcom KB: Creating a persistent scratch location for ESXi 8.x/7.xThis hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies. and follow the steps below.

  1. Use Putty to SSH to the ESXi host.
  2. df -h
 Table showing filesystem details with vmfs and nvfat volumes.
  3. Annotate the file path for the 'Filesystem' "VMFS-L", which shows under 'Mounted on'. NOTE:  This is a symbolic link that goes to the directory which is the volume WITHOUT 'OSDATA-' at the beginning. As an example, using the information from the screenshot above, the file path VMFS-L is 'Mounted on' shows as '/vmfs/volumes/OSDATA-604f7166-b35be91f-0d4c-005056281a17'.Screenshot of system settings interface for vcluster admin panel. 
  4. Log in to vCenter.
  5. Click the host in question.
  6. Go to Configure > System > Advanced System Settings.
  7. Filter the Key for 'scratchconfig'.
  8. Look for  
    'ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation'.
  9. Insert the file path from step 3 without "OSDATA-." As an example: 
    '/vmfs/volumes/OSDATA-604f7166-b35be91f-0d4c-005056281a17' should be entered as '/vmfs/volumes/604f7166-b35be91f-0d4c-005056281a17'.
  10. Put the host into Maintenance Mode, and restart the host.
  11. When the host restarts, log in to vCenter to verify 
    'ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation' AND 'ScratchConfig.CurrentScratchLocation'
    are showing the correct directory path added in step 9.

Affected Products

VxRail, VxRail Appliance Series, VxRail G Series Nodes, VxRail D Series Nodes, VxRail D560, VxRail D560F, VxRail E Series Nodes, VxRail E560, VxRail E560F, VxRail E560N, VxRail E660, VxRail E660F, VxRail E660N, VxRail E665, VxRail E665F, VxRail E665N , VxRail G560, VxRail G560F, VxRail P Series Nodes, VxRail P570, VxRail P570F, VxRail P580N, VxRail P670F, VxRail P670N, VxRail P675F, VxRail P675N, VxRail S Series Nodes, VxRail S570, VxRail S670, VxRail V Series Nodes, VxRail V570, VxRail V570F, VXRAIL V670F, VxRail VD-4510C, VxRail VD-4520C, VxRail VD Series Nodes, VxRail VE-660, VxRail VE-6615, VxRail VE-670, VxRail VP-760, VxRail VP-7625, VxRail VP-770, VxRail VS-760 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000193942
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 24 Jun 2026
Version:  5
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