# "SYSTEM\_AD\_SPOOL\_FILES\_EXCEEDED" occurred while running Event Broker. **URL:** \ **Category:** Solace Event Broker\ **Created:** [June 12, 2024, 7:04am UTC](https://community.solace.com/t/system-ad-spool-files-exceeded-occurred-while-running-event-broker/1945 "2024-06-12T07:04:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![epzmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ec9cab/32.png) [@epzmin](https://community.solace.com/u/epzmin)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2024, 7:04am UTC](https://community.solace.com/t/system-ad-spool-files-exceeded-occurred-while-running-event-broker/1945/1 "2024-06-12T07:04:18Z")
Hello, “SYSTEM\_AD\_SPOOL\_FILES\_EXCEEDED” occurred while running Event Broker. I have some questions regarding the issue. Q1. What is the definition of SPOOL\_FILES? Q2. Where is the SPOOL\_FILES stored? or is it in the ‘spool’ directory? Q3. How many SPOOL\_FILES are created and is there an option in the CLI to control them? Q4. Is it possible to check the number of SPOOL\_FILES currently created through CLI or SEMP? Q5. Is the ‘defragment-spool-files/threshold)# usage-percentage’ option based on a percentage of the spool’s max-spool-usage? Q6. Trying to use the ‘defragment-spool-files/threshold)# fragmentation-percentage’ option. How do I know the maximum of fragmentation? Q7. Is the “SYSTEM\_AD\_SPOOL\_FILES\_EXCEEDED” error caused by exceeding the number of files stored in the spool managed by the broker? or is the error caused by open files in the OS inside the Docker container in which the broker is running? I have a lot of questions, but I expect good answers. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![nowell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e68b1a/32.png) [@nowell](https://community.solace.com/u/nowell)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://community.solace.com/t/system-ad-spool-files-exceeded-occurred-while-running-event-broker/1945/2 "2024-07-10T19:32:03Z")
Hi @epzmin, Thanks for posting this question. You may refer to this link for more information about this event, and any other Syslog Events: > **[SolOS-TR Message Bus Management Syslog Events](https://docs.solace.com/Admin-Ref/Solace-PubSub-Event-Reference/event_ref_boiler.html#SYSTEM_AD_SPOOL_FILES_EXCEEDED)** To answer your questions: Q1. What is the definition of SPOOL\_FILES? Spool files are used to store messages spooled to disk as well as any other information used for guaranteed messaging. Q2. Where is the SPOOL\_FILES stored? or is it in the ‘spool’ directory? On a software broker, this is stored under the `/usr/sw/internalSpool` directory Q3. How many SPOOL\_FILES are created and is there an option in the CLI to control them? The number of spool files will depend on the number of messages spooled to disk. There is currently no option to control them via CLI. Q4. Is it possible to check the number of SPOOL\_FILES currently created through CLI or SEMP? You may check the Spool Files usage from the output of `show message-spool detail` . There is also a `Spool Files Utilization` field to determine the utilization percentage. Q5. Is the ‘defragment-spool-files/threshold)# usage-percentage’ option based on a percentage of the spool’s max-spool-usage? Yes, this is based on the max-spool-usage Q6. Trying to use the ‘defragment-spool-files/threshold)# fragmentation-percentage’ option. How do I know the maximum of fragmentation? From the output of `show message-spool detail` , you may refer to the `Estimated Fragmentation` to determine the estimated fragmentation of the message-spool. This threshold is based on this value. Q7. Is the “SYSTEM\_AD\_SPOOL\_FILES\_EXCEEDED” error caused by exceeding the number of files stored in the spool managed by the broker? or is the error caused by open files in the OS inside the Docker container in which the broker is running? This is caused by the exceeding the number of files stored in the spool managed by the broker.