How to Install and Use duf in Linux for Enhanced Disk Usage and Free Space Visualisation

Monitoring storage capacity and partition allocation is one of the most frequent administrative tasks in Linux. For decades, the standard command has been df -h. While functional, the traditional df utility outputs monochromatic, misaligned columns that blend physical SSDs, network mounts, virtual memory filesystems (tmpfs), and containerised snap loops together in an unstructured wall of text.

duf (Disk Usage/Free Utility) is an open-source, modern command-line alternative written in Go. It presents storage metrics in clean, colour-coded tables featuring visual progress bars, automatic terminal width scaling, and intelligent filesystem grouping. This guide explains how to install, configure, and use duf in Linux.

Key Advantages: duf vs Traditional df

• Visual Progress Bars: Clear graphical utilisation bars immediately highlight nearly full volumes.
• Intelligent Categorisation: Automatically segregates devices into Local Devices, Inode Usage, and Special Filesystems.
• Built-In Filtering: Exclude or isolate pseudo, duplicate, or inaccessible mounts with concise command flags.
• JSON Export: Outputs machine-readable JSON for integration into custom server monitoring scripts.

Installing duf on Linux

Method 1: Distribution Package Managers

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y duf

# Fedora / Rocky Linux / RHEL
sudo dnf install -y duf

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S duf

Method 2: Direct Binary Download (Latest Release)

curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/muesli/duf/releases/latest | grep "browser_download_url.*linux_amd64.deb" | cut -d : -f 2,3 | tr -d \" | wget -qi -
sudo dpkg -i duf_*_linux_amd64.deb

Everyday Usage and Essential Flags

1. Default Overview

Type duf without arguments to display your active mounted filesystems in clean terminal tables:

duf

2. Filtering by Filesystem Category

By default, duf hides pseudo filesystems like tmpfs. To customize visibility:

# Show only physical local storage devices
duf --only local

# Include internal virtual memory and pseudo filesystems
duf --all

3. Sorting Output by Specific Metrics

Identify partition pressure by sorting results by percentage used, total size, or mount path:

# Sort by highest usage percentage first
duf --sort usage

# Sort by largest storage capacity
duf --sort size

Command Options Reference Table

Flag Switch	Functionality	Example Use Case
--only <type>	Filters by device class (local, network, fuse, special)	duf --only local (hide cloud/RAM disks)
--hide <type>	Excludes specific categories from tables	duf --hide special
--inodes	Displays Inode allocation instead of byte block storage	duf --inodes (troubleshoot zero-space inode exhaustion)
--json	Outputs structured JSON array	duf --json | jq '.[0]'
--theme <style>	Customises colour palette (dark, light)	duf --theme light

Creating a Persistent Shell Alias

To replace the default df command with duf permanently, append an alias to your shell profile:

echo "alias df='duf'" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc