Failed to write (No space left on device)

Question

I am working on an Ubuntu virtualbox and trying to install curl using sudo apt-get install curl -y.

I got a response saying there were unmet dependencies and saying You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:

So, I execute apt-get -f install and encounter a new problem:

After this operation, 43.0 MB of additional disk space will be used.
(Reading database ... 273817 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../linux-image-3.13.0-91-generic_3.13.0-91.138_amd64.deb ...
Done.
Unpacking linux-image-3.13.0-91-generic (3.13.0-91.138) ...
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/linux-image-3.13.0-91-generic_3.13.0-91.138_amd64.deb (--unpack):
 cannot copy extracted data for './boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-91-generic' to '/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-91-generic.dpkg-new': failed to write (No space left on device)
No apport report written because the error message indicates a disk full error
                                                                              dpkg-deb: error: subprocess paste was killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d .
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.13.0-91-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-91-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.13.0-91-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-91-generic
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/linux-image-3.13.0-91-generic_3.13.0-91.138_amd64.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Basically, it's complaining there is no space left on device. df -h confirms:

Filesystem                Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/ITS--vg-root   38G   18G   18G  51% /
none                       4.0K     0  4.0K   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
udev                       988M   12K  988M   1% /dev
tmpfs                      201M  540K  200M   1% /run
none                       5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
none                       1001M  4.0K 1001M   1% /run/shm
none                       100M     0  100M   0% /run/user
/dev/sda1                  236M  226M     0 100% /boot

So if I'm reading this correctly, apt-get -f install is trying to write 43.0 MB worth of content into available space of 18G.

Why is it complaining there is inadequate space?

Solution

Your problem isn't the 18GB free on /

The problem is:

/dev/sda1                  236M  226M     0 100% /boot

The package installer is working on /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-91-generic and there is no space available.

You need to increase the size of this partition.

As Anwar stated in comment a minute ago see: askubuntu.how-do-i-increase-the-size-of-boot

Originally I said to see the Q&A: askubuntu.com ..how-to-increase-size-of-boot-partition-using-gparted which is also helpful.

Comments

[WinEunuuchs2Unix]

@Anwar if that was his question yes. I'm a little unclear because the cause of the problem needed to be explained, ie 18GB free wasn't the issue.