Linux: when mv fails, is the original file still intact? [closed]

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I used the mv command on a file then this message appeared:

mv 'file.tar': Disk quota exceeded

but now there is a file.tar in both the new location and the old location. They're different sizes and I have no idea what the size of the original file was. (There are a lotttt of files in this tarball)

Can I just delete the file that failed to get moved or will I lose part of my original data if I do that?

Answer 1

When Unix/Linux mv(1)-es a file, if source and destination are on the same filesystem, it is just a rename. This can't give an "out of space" message (at least not AFAICS). When moving a file between filesystems (different partitions or disks), what is done is to copy the source to the destination, and when the operation suceeds, the source is deleted. During the copying the destination filesystem can run out of space, and the source won't be deleted. It is strange that the (partial) destination stays in your case, in my experience mv cleans that up (but it's been a while...). In this case the user to which the target file belongs is running out of allowed disk space.