How to fix failed to register layer: Error processing tar file(exit status 1): no space left on device in Docker

First, analyze how Docker is consuming disk space:

docker system df

This displays space used by images, containers, volumes, and build cache. For detailed breakdown:

docker system df -v

Also verify your host system's available disk space:

df -h

Look for the partition containing /var/lib/docker (or Docker Desktop's virtual disk).

Remove all stopped containers, unused networks, dangling images, and build cache with a single command:

docker system prune

For a more aggressive cleanup that also removes ALL unused images (not just dangling ones):

docker system prune -a

Add -f to skip the confirmation prompt:

docker system prune -a -f

Warning: The -a flag removes ALL images not currently used by running containers. You will need to re-pull or rebuild them later.

By default, docker system prune does NOT remove volumes to prevent accidental data loss. To remove unused volumes:

docker volume prune

Or include volumes in the system prune:

docker system prune --volumes

Warning: This permanently deletes data stored in unused volumes. Ensure you have backups of any important data before running this command.

Docker's BuildKit cache can grow substantially with frequent builds. To clear it:

docker builder prune

To remove ALL build cache entries (not just dangling ones):

docker builder prune -a

This is especially effective if you've been doing many iterative builds during development.

For more targeted cleanup when you want finer control:

Remove only stopped containers:

docker container prune

Remove only dangling images:

docker image prune

Remove ALL unused images:

docker image prune -a

List and selectively remove images:

docker images
docker rmi <image_id_or_name>

Remove unused networks:

docker network prune

Container logs can consume significant space. To truncate logs for a specific container:

# Find the container ID
docker ps -a

# Truncate its log file (requires root/sudo)
sudo truncate -s 0 /var/lib/docker/containers/<container_id>/<container_id>-json.log

To prevent future log growth, configure log rotation in your Docker daemon config (/etc/docker/daemon.json):

{
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-opts": {
    "max-size": "10m",
    "max-file": "3"
  }
}

Then restart Docker: sudo systemctl restart docker

Confirm that disk space has been recovered:

docker system df
df -h

Then retry your original Docker command:

docker pull <image_name>
# or
docker build -t <tag> .

The operation should now complete successfully.