How to Fix Unlimited cPanel Quota

When working with cPanel, sometimes problems may occur. One of those problems may be the user quota files causing all user accounts to have unlimited disk space available or 0% disk space in use. That can be quite confusing because users don’t get an accurate representation of the disk space currently in use. In this post, we will help you fix quota issues with cPanel, both manually and automated.

Table of Contents:

• What is cPanel Quota?
• When do cPanel Quota Problems Occur?
• Quick cPanel Quota Fix
• Advanced cPanel Quota Fix

What is cPanel Quota?

The cPanel Quota refers to the disk quota allocated to various accounts. It’s the limit of the amount of data that can be contained in a specific directory of one’s account. You can set and modify the quota for the cPanel account by using the cPanel interface. The cPanel quota is usually displayed in Megabytes (MB).

When do cPanel Quota Problems Occur?

The most common reasons for cPanel quota problems are:

• Files owned by the same user somewhere else on the server;
• The backup directory counted as part of the user’s cPanel quota;
• Extra log files are counted as part of the user’s cPanel quota;
• A current cPanel update makes the quotas unlimited.

Quick cPanel Quota Fix

Keep in mind that this method is a little advanced, and you need to proceed with caution. If you are not sure that you will do everything properly, better ask a tech-savvy person to do it or contact the FastComet technical support team via a support ticket.

In order for this fix to be possible, you will need to have root access and use SSH Command-line (cPanel Terminal). Here are the steps:

• Use Command-line software, such as PuTTY, PowerShell, CMDER, or the cPanel Terminal:
• To check if /dev/root exists in your container, use the following command:

ll /dev/root

• If it does not exist, try linking it to xvda:

ln -s /dev/xvda /dev/root

• Run the following command:

/scripts/fixquotas

After this command is applied, your quotas should be fixed.

Advanced cPanel Quota Fix

• Find the user account where the quotas are incorrect and log in to your server in SSH as root.
• Go to the user’s folder and check the disk space being used:

cd /home/username
du -h or try du -hs

• Check /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow to make sure there is no weirdness where the username shows up multiple times.
• Try finding other files owned by the user.

find -user username | more

• This will list all files owned by this user that could be affecting the quota reported by cPanel.
• Uncompressed backups can cause quota problems; ensure your backups are compressed in the WHM backup options.
• After you determine the source of the files and remove them, then run:

/scripts/fixquotas

We’ve covered the common ways accounts report invalid disk quotas with cPanel. If the Quick Fix doesn’t work, then you’ll need to do some digging through our Advanced Fix. Once again, if you need help, feel free to contact our technical support experts.

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