Want to resize a Linux partition via CLI

[Jeff7181]

I have Ubuntu Server 12.04 running in a VM. /dev/sda1 is mounted on / and is running out of free space. I've already resized the disk in VMware to a much larger size, but I'm having some trouble figuring out how to resize the partition. In Windows, I'd just go to disk management and extend the partition into the free space on the disk. I'm just not sure how to do that via command line in Linux. Can anyone help?

 

[lxskllr]

I can't help with the cli resize, but perhaps you can delete your apt cache to free up some space on /. All your downloaded packages get kept, and it can take a tremendous amount of room. sudo apt-get clean will delete those packages. apt-get autoclean is a bit more conservative, as it only removes packages that aren't available anymore. Your choice, but I always use clean.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Does it have to be CLI? There is a GUI boot CD tool you can use (gparted) that is like Partition Magic and works great. I think in the back end it does use CLI so there may be a way you can see the command it issued. You can probably open a console and do ps aux while it's running.

 

[Jeff7181]

I guess it doesn't have to be. But I figured there should be a way to do it at the command line rather than use a boot CD. If not, then I guess I'll use a boot CD... but even Windows is capable of the same task via command line. I'd be shocked if there wasn't a way to do it in Linux without a boot CD.

 

[Jeff7181]

I booted to the Ubuntu Live CD and was able to extend the partitions. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Nothinman]

Either parted or a combination of fdisk and a filesystem resize tool should work from a live system as long as the filesystem supports online resizing.

 

[LumbergTech]

This method is better than the original one I posted:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=35087

Just make sure you follow ALL of the instructions..works like a charm