How to Safely Delete .cagefs/tmp Files in CloudLinux CageFS

Table of Contents: Introduction Check Disk Usage Delete Temporary Files Reset Permissions Automate Cleanup Summary of Fixes

CloudLinux CageFS temporary files cleanup guide

The .cagefs/tmp directory stores temporary files for each user in CloudLinux CageFS. If it fills up, it can cause errors with PHP sessions, file uploads, and web applications.

What is CageFS? CageFS is a virtualized file system in CloudLinux that provides security isolation between users. Each user has their own virtual /tmp directory located at /home/username/.cagefs/tmp.

1. Check Disk Usage of .cagefs/tmp

Before deleting files, always check how much space is being used to identify problematic users or accounts.

Check Specific User

du -sh /home/username/.cagefs/tmp

Replace username with the actual cPanel or system username.

Check All Users (Sorted by Size)

# List all users' .cagefs/tmp sizes
for user in /home/*; do 
    user=$(basename $user);
    if [ -d "/home/$user/.cagefs/tmp" ]; then
        size=$(du -sh "/home/$user/.cagefs/tmp" 2>/dev/null | cut -f1);
        echo "$user: $size";
    fi;
done | sort -k2 -hr

If any directory shows excessive usage (hundreds of MB or GB), it likely needs cleaning.

2. Delete Temporary Files in .cagefs/tmp

WARNING: Be careful when deleting files from .cagefs/tmp. Only delete temporary files, not the directory itself. Avoid deleting files that are actively being used by running processes.

Delete Files for a Specific User

Safe Deletion Method

# Delete all files inside the directory but keep the directory
rm -rf /home/username/.cagefs/tmp/*

# Alternative: Delete only old files (older than 7 days)
find /home/username/.cagefs/tmp -type f -mtime +7 -delete

Delete Files for All Users

Delete All Temporary Files (System-wide)

find /home/*/.cagefs/tmp -type f -delete

Delete Old Files Only (System-wide, Safer)

# Delete files older than 3 days
find /home/*/.cagefs/tmp -type f -mtime +3 -delete

The -mtime +N option deletes files older than N days, which is safer as it preserves recent temporary files that might still be in use.

3. Reset Permissions for .cagefs/tmp

After deleting files, it's important to restore correct permissions so PHP and other services can continue to use the temporary directory.

Set Correct Ownership and Permissions

# Set correct ownership
chown -R username:username /home/username/.cagefs/tmp

# Set secure permissions (sticky bit allows only file owners to delete their files)
chmod -R 1777 /home/username/.cagefs/tmp

Permission Explanation: 1777 means: read/write/execute for everyone (777) with the sticky bit (1). The sticky bit ensures users can only delete their own files in the directory, not other users' files.

Restart Web Services

After cleaning and fixing permissions, restart web services to ensure PHP sessions work correctly:

# Restart Apache (or httpd on CentOS)
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# Restart PHP-FPM (adjust version as needed)
sudo systemctl restart php7.4-fpm
sudo systemctl restart php8.0-fpm

# For systems with both, restart all relevant services
sudo systemctl restart lvectl

4. Automate Cleanup with a Cron Job

To prevent .cagefs/tmp from filling up in the future, set up an automated cleanup schedule.

Open the Crontab File

Edit the system crontab (as root):

sudo crontab -e

Add Automated Cleanup Rules

Basic Cleanup (Daily at 3 AM)

# Delete files older than 7 days in all users' .cagefs/tmp
0 3 * * * find /home/*/.cagefs/tmp -type f -mtime +7 -delete

More Frequent Cleanup (Every 6 Hours)

# Delete files older than 24 hours, runs every 6 hours
0 */6 * * * find /home/*/.cagefs/tmp -type f -mtime +1 -delete

Comprehensive Cleanup with Logging

# Weekly cleanup with logging
0 2 * * 0 find /home/*/.cagefs/tmp -type f -mtime +7 -delete >> /var/log/cagefs_cleanup.log 2>&1

After adding your preferred schedule, save the crontab file (Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X in nano).

Monitoring: Check the /var/log/cagefs_cleanup.log periodically to ensure the cleanup is working and to monitor disk space trends.

5. Summary of Fixes

Issue	Fix
.cagefs/tmp using too much space	`rm -rf /home/username/.cagefs/tmp/` (single user) `find /home//.cagefs/tmp -type f -delete` (all users)
Web applications failing due to full /tmp	Clean .cagefs/tmp and optionally set `upload_tmp_dir` in php.ini
Wrong permissions after deletion	`chmod -R 1777 /home/username/.cagefs/tmp`
Need to prevent future disk fills	Add cron job: `0 3 * * * find /home/*/.cagefs/tmp -type f -mtime +7 -delete`
PHP session errors after cleanup	Restart Apache and PHP-FPM services

Following these steps will keep your CloudLinux CageFS temporary directories clean, secure, and optimized for performance!

How to Safely Delete .cagefs/tmp Files in CloudLinux CageFS

1. Check Disk Usage of .cagefs/tmp

2. Delete Temporary Files in .cagefs/tmp

Delete Files for a Specific User

Delete Files for All Users

3. Reset Permissions for .cagefs/tmp

Restart Web Services

4. Automate Cleanup with a Cron Job

Open the Crontab File

Add Automated Cleanup Rules

5. Summary of Fixes

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How to Safely Delete .cagefs/tmp Files in CloudLinux CageFS

1. Check Disk Usage of .cagefs/tmp

2. Delete Temporary Files in .cagefs/tmp

Delete Files for a Specific User

Delete Files for All Users

3. Reset Permissions for .cagefs/tmp

Restart Web Services

4. Automate Cleanup with a Cron Job

Open the Crontab File

Add Automated Cleanup Rules

5. Summary of Fixes

High-Availability Cloud VDS

Hosting

Cloud Solution

For You

VDS

Website Builders

Our services

Client Area

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