Score:0

Ubuntu

How to extend my root partition?

Christos Theofilou

12/24/22, 4:49 PM

Lately my root partition is running out of space which is causing me problems, and I constantly have to free some space in order to avoid it. After 2-3 days my root partition gets full again. The only solution that i find is to increase the size of my root partition, but as a newbie on Linux systems I am afraid of data loss. My laptop has dual boot of Windows 10 / Ubuntu 18.04. Is there any way that I can use the unallocated space that I created here in order to extend the root partition?

1 + 9

partitioning

dual-boot

Christos Theofilou

12/24/22, 5:49 PM

No, as i will have to move the unallocated space next to the root partition and i am not sure how to do that and where to move it

ubfan1

12/24/22, 6:18 PM

You don't "move" unallocated space. You 1) delete your probably too small swap), move your root left to start at the start of the unallocated space, then extend it right (leaving enough room for (a bigger?) swap.

Nmath

12/24/22, 6:24 PM

You did not make your root partition big enough. 25 GB has been the recommended **minimum** for Ubuntu Desktop since 2017. Because you let your file system completely run out of space several times, you will probably have to reinstall the system. You might be better off not creating a separate home partition as you've just discovered why overpartitioning creates rigid and arbitrary limitations on how your system can make use of your space. Due to the cumbersome way you've arranged these partitions, moving/resizing is going to be extremely difficult.

Nmath

12/24/22, 6:28 PM

FYI, you don't need a swap partition either. If you don't make a swap partition, your system will use a dynamically sized swap file. The partition size you chose for swap is also not really big enough to be useful. This partition scheme is unviable and is overly partitioned. I would recommend a single partition for the entirely of Ubuntu. Delete (erase) partitions 5, 6, and 7 and reinstall Ubuntu to the much larger unallocated space at the end of the drive after your NTFS partition. You will avoid all of the problems you created this time by overpartitioning / incorrect partitioning

heynnema

12/24/22, 7:14 PM

@Nmath *"If you don't make a swap partition, your system will use a dynamically sized swap file"*... who told you that? Not true.

Nmath

12/24/22, 7:26 PM

@hennema See: https://askubuntu.com/questions/904372/swap-partition-vs-swap-file - The size of a swapfile can be easily changed. The size of a swap partition cannot

heynnema

12/24/22, 7:35 PM

@Nmath I'm totally aware of the difference between a swap partition and a /swapfile. My issue was with your statement that 1) made it sound like this was an automatic switchover, and 2) that the /swapfile is dynamic... it's not... it's a fixed size... to whatever size it was created with.

Nmath

12/24/22, 7:53 PM

@heynnema if you are hung up on the word "dynamic" consider that I am specifically talking about swapfile creation during system installation which is in fact dynamically sized at that time based on system resources. I am not talking about it automatically changing sizes after it is already set up. A swapfile is overwhelmingly more flexible than a swap partition, which is my entire point

heynnema

12/24/22, 10:18 PM

@Nmath re: *"swapfile creation during system installation which is in fact dynamically sized at that time based on system resources"*... I'm not sure that this is correct either. My observation is that this is not dynamic either... it ALWAYS creates a 2G /swapfile (which is ALWAYS too small), no matter how much RAM there is. I know what you were trying to say... my only disagreement what was implied... or what the thinking behind your understanding was. Peace :-)

Score:1

Ubuntu

heynnema

12/24/22, 7:28 PM

We'll repartition your disk, as requested, but also convert you from a (too small) swap partition, to a /swapfile.

Note: Pay close attention to these instructions.

Make sure that you have a good backup of your important Ubuntu files, as this procedure can corrupt or lose data.

DISABLE CURRENT SWAP PARTITION

sudo swapoff -a

sudo -H gedit /etc/fstab

Comment out the swap line that looks similar to this...

UUID=xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx  none  swap  sw  0  0

Save the file and quit gedit.

REPARTITION

Keep these things in mind:

always start the entire procedure with issuing a swapoff on any mounted swap partitions, and end the entire procedure with issuing a swapon on that same swap partition
a move is done by pointing the mouse pointer at the center of a partition and dragging it left/right with the hand cursor
a resize is done by dragging the left/right side of a partition to the left/right with the directional arrow cursor
if any partition can't be moved/resized graphically, you may have to manually enter the specific required numeric data (don't do this unless I instruct you to)
you begin any move/resize by right-clicking on the partition in the lower pane of the main window, and selecting the desired action from the popup menu, then finishing that action in the new move/resize window

Do the following...

Note: if the procedure doesn't work exactly as I outline, STOP immediately and DO NOT continue.

boot to a Ubuntu Live DVD/USB, in “Try Ubuntu” mode
start gparted
set swapoff on /dev/nvme0n1p5
delete the /dev/nvme0n1p5 old swap partition
move /dev/nvme0n1p6 partition all the way left
resize /dev/nvme0n1p6 right side all the way right
click the Apply icon
quit gparted and reboot the computer

CREATE /swapfile

Now we'll create a fresh new /swapfile...

Note: Incorrect use of the rm and dd commands can cause data loss. Suggest copy/paste.

In the terminal...

sudo swapoff -a           # turn off swap
sudo rm -i /swapfile      # remove old /swapfile

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=4096

sudo chmod 600 /swapfile  # set proper file protections
sudo mkswap /swapfile     # init /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile     # turn on swap
free -h                   # confirm xxG RAM and 4G swap

Edit /etc/fstab, using sudo -H gedit /etc/fstab or sudo pico /etc/fstab.

Add the following /swapfile line in /etc/fstab... and confirm no other “swap” lines... use SPACES in this line... confirm NO TABS...

/swapfile  none  swap  sw  0  0

Then reboot and verify operation.

RECOMMENDATION

Reducing the size of the /dev/nvme0n1p7 partition, and creating a new NTFS partition, that can be used for sharing files between Windows and Ubuntu.

0 + 1

Christos Theofilou

12/25/22, 8:06 AM

Thank you very much. This was exactly the answer I was looking for, as a new user on Linux. Worked perfectly.