Free Up Pi-Hole Disk Space Usage

Cleaning Log Files

  1. Log into the Pi-Hole server
  2. Run the following commands in a terminal window
    # output current pihole db size
    sudo du /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.db -h
    # flush pihole logs
    pihole flush
    # stop pihole FTL service
    sudo systemctl stop pihole-FTL
    # delete the FTL database file
    sudo rm /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.db
    # stop pihole FTL service
    sudo systemctl start pihole-FTL
    # output reduced pihole db size
    sudo du /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.db -h

Reduce Long Term Log Lifespan

By default, Pi-hole keeps long term DNS logs for 365 days. This lifespan can be changed by altering the MAXDBDAYS variable in /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf

  1. To reduce the log lifespan, run the following commands in a terminal window
    # edit pihole-FTD.conf
    sudo nano /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf
  2. Add or edit MAXDBDAYS value in the configuration file as needed
  3. Press CTRL+O, Enter, CTRL+X to write the changes
  4. Continue with the following command
    # restart pihole-FTL server
    sudo systemctl restart pihole-FTL
  5. After restarting the service the new logs lifespan will be active

Pi-hole Documentation: https://docs.pi-hole.net/ftldns/configfile