How to Resolve ORA-01653: Unable to Extend Table in Tablespace

If you’ve worked with Oracle databases, you might have encountered the error:

ORA-01653: unable to extend table <TABLE_NAME> by <NUMBER> in tablespace <TABLESPACE_NAME>.

This error indicates that Oracle couldn’t allocate enough space in the tablespace to extend the specified table. In this blog post, we’ll cover practical steps to diagnose and resolve this issue.

What Causes ORA-01653?

Oracle tables grow as data is inserted. When the tablespace containing the table runs out of space, the database throws ORA-01653. Common causes include:

1. Tablespace reaching its maximum size limit.
2. Datafiles associated with the tablespace being too small or fixed in size.
3. Lack of autoextend settings on the tablespace datafiles.
4. Disk space limitations.

How to Diagnose the Issue

1. Check Free Space in Tablespace: Use the following SQL query to check available free space:

SELECT tablespace_name, file_name, bytes/1024/1024 AS size_mb, autoextensible 
FROM dba_data_files
WHERE tablespace_name = '<TABLESPACE_NAME>';

This shows datafile details, including size and whether autoextend is enabled.

2. Identify the Required Space: Use this query to estimate the required space:

SELECT segment_name, tablespace_name, bytes/1024/1024 AS current_size_mb, 
maxbytes/1024/1024 AS max_size_mb 
FROM dba_segments 
WHERE segment_name = '<TABLE_NAME>';

3. Inspect Free Extent: Check free extents in the tablespace:

SELECT tablespace_name, SUM(bytes)/1024/1024 AS free_space_mb
FROM dba_free_space
WHERE tablespace_name = '<TABLESPACE_NAME>'
GROUP BY tablespace_name;

Solutions

1. Enable Autoextend on Datafiles: If the datafile doesn’t have autoextend enabled, you can enable it:

ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE '<DATAFILE_PATH>' AUTOEXTEND ON MAXSIZE UNLIMITED;

This allows Oracle to automatically increase the datafile size as needed.

2. Add a New Datafile: If the tablespace is full and can’t be extended, add a new datafile:

ALTER TABLESPACE <TABLESPACE_NAME> 
ADD DATAFILE '/path/to/datafile.dbf' SIZE 500M AUTOEXTEND ON;

3. Resize an Existing Datafile: If the datafile has a fixed size, increase it:

ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE '<DATAFILE_PATH>' RESIZE 1G;

3. Clean Up Unused Space: Identify and drop unused or temporary tables to free up space:

DROP TABLE <TABLE_NAME> PURGE;

Alternatively, shrink tables or segments:

ALTER TABLE <TABLE_NAME> SHRINK SPACE;

4. Check Disk Space: If the disk hosting the datafile is full, you’ll need to:

• Free up disk space.
• Allocate more storage to the disk.

Prevention Tips

1. Regularly monitor tablespace usage using queries or monitoring tools.
2. Enable autoextend for datafiles during database setup.
3. Set alerts for low free space thresholds.
4. Implement partitioning for large tables to distribute data across multiple tablespaces

Conclusion

Resolving ORA-01653 involves analyzing tablespace usage and addressing space constraints either by extending datafiles, adding new ones, or cleaning up unused segments. Proactive monitoring and configuration can help avoid encountering this error in production environments.

Got stuck? Share your issue in the comments, and we’ll help troubleshoot!

Also read:

https://w3buddy.com/how-to-resolve-ora-01536-space-quota-exceeded-for-tablespace/