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Linux 101: extending volumes using `growpart` and `xfs_growfs`

Feb 24, 2023 · 1 min read · Post a comment

Long time ago, I was in a situation where I miscalculated the volume size of an AWS EC2 instance, so I had to increase the data disk size. I’m sure this could happen to everyone once in a while. Although updating the disk size is a one-minute task, additionally, you need to do some configuration on the Linux OS side as well. So, here are the steps.

Prerequisites

  • Linux bash environment

Solution

Step 1. Verify the disk size has changed.

lsblk

Step 2. Extend the partition. For example, expand the size of the device called nvme0n1, partition number 1:

sudo growpart nvme0n1 1

Step 3. Now, verify the partition size using the same command from Step 1: lsblk.

Step 4. Extend the filesystem mounted in the root directory /.

  • XFS file system: sudo xfs_growfs -d /.
  • Ext4 file system: sudo resize2fs /dev/nvme0n1p1.

Step 5. Verify file system extension:

df -h

Conclusion

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