tar: write error: unexpected EOF

I got this error trying to tar up a file on Solaris 10: tar: write error: unexpected EOF. So what does it mean?

Well, the most likely cause is the Unix file system you are trying to write too is full. Since the operating system can not add any more files to the tar, you get this error.

On Solaris, to see how much space you have on a file system, just type: df -k. This gives you a list of filesystems and shows by percentage how full they are.

To fix the problem, either free up space on the file system you are trying to write to, or write to a filesystem that has the free space you require.

Decided to write this post because the explanations on Google for this were mostly really lame. Back in the day, doing tech support, the most important lesson I learned was, check the most obvious cause first. About 90% of the time, the most obvious cause for the problem, is the cause of the problem.