kidwong
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Using LVM to expand existing Linux directory
Hi all,
It is my first time to ask question. I am using Redhat 8.0 for the servers in my office (one with IDE and one with SCSI HDD). Recently, the space for the for the /home directory is running out of space. Someone tell me that I can use LVM to resize and make use of the free space in other partitions (e.g.: /usr and /var) (sorry for using the word 'partition' as I can't think of another better word).
However, when I read the information about LVM, it said that creating the LVM logical volume will distory the information in that directory. As I have never created it before, is it the case if I create one in my server? It is not affordable for me to have another new hard disk.
On the other hand, if I choose to format the harddisk (this is the last step if nothing can do), what I need to do in order that I can resize the logical volume in the server?
The following are some information all the system:
- Redhat 8.0 (kernel 2.4.18-26.8.0)
- with /, /home, /usr, /var, /boot
- LVM module LVM version 1.0.3
- not create any logical group and volume before
Thank you for any suggestion.
William
It is my first time to ask question. I am using Redhat 8.0 for the servers in my office (one with IDE and one with SCSI HDD). Recently, the space for the for the /home directory is running out of space. Someone tell me that I can use LVM to resize and make use of the free space in other partitions (e.g.: /usr and /var) (sorry for using the word 'partition' as I can't think of another better word).
However, when I read the information about LVM, it said that creating the LVM logical volume will distory the information in that directory. As I have never created it before, is it the case if I create one in my server? It is not affordable for me to have another new hard disk.
On the other hand, if I choose to format the harddisk (this is the last step if nothing can do), what I need to do in order that I can resize the logical volume in the server?
The following are some information all the system:
- Redhat 8.0 (kernel 2.4.18-26.8.0)
- with /, /home, /usr, /var, /boot
- LVM module LVM version 1.0.3
- not create any logical group and volume before
Thank you for any suggestion.
William
ASKER
Thank you Jaem,
The following is the layout of the harddrive:
Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 1222 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 14 842 6658942+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda3 843 969 1020127+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda4 970 1222 2032222+ f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 970 1033 514048+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda6 1034 1071 305203+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda7 1072 1103 257008+ 82 Linux swap
By the way, for the second suggestion, I am not sure how to implement as I have never done that before. Could you explain a little bit detail? Thank you
William
The following is the layout of the harddrive:
Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 1222 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 14 842 6658942+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda3 843 969 1020127+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda4 970 1222 2032222+ f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 970 1033 514048+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda6 1034 1071 305203+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda7 1072 1103 257008+ 82 Linux swap
By the way, for the second suggestion, I am not sure how to implement as I have never done that before. Could you explain a little bit detail? Thank you
William
The plan might be:
1) Shrink a big partition (either with parted, or shrinking the fs (resize2fs), then the partition (fdisk)).
2) Use the freed space!
Now I realize I need much more information about your layout. Could you post the output of "df". That would tell me what is
/dev/hda2 (6.5Gig, /home ?)
/dev/hda3 (1Gig, /usr ?)
/dev/hda5 (500Meg, /var ?)
/dev/hda6 (300Meg, / ?)
And maybe look into etc/fstab to make sure that the filesystems are ext3.
Also could you give an estimate of how much space you want in your /home directory.
Apparently you got 1 Gig of free disk space left (you can create an hda8 partition). And if my layout is about right, it might be possible to temporarily move the hda5 hda6 hda7 partitions on a temporary location, and free them. Then you would get 1 more gig to play around with...
1) Shrink a big partition (either with parted, or shrinking the fs (resize2fs), then the partition (fdisk)).
2) Use the freed space!
Now I realize I need much more information about your layout. Could you post the output of "df". That would tell me what is
/dev/hda2 (6.5Gig, /home ?)
/dev/hda3 (1Gig, /usr ?)
/dev/hda5 (500Meg, /var ?)
/dev/hda6 (300Meg, / ?)
And maybe look into etc/fstab to make sure that the filesystems are ext3.
Also could you give an estimate of how much space you want in your /home directory.
Apparently you got 1 Gig of free disk space left (you can create an hda8 partition). And if my layout is about right, it might be possible to temporarily move the hda5 hda6 hda7 partitions on a temporary location, and free them. Then you would get 1 more gig to play around with...
ASKER
Hi Jaem,
The following is the result of df -h:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/hda6 289M 93M 180M 34% /
/dev/hda1 99M 9.0M 84M 10% /boot
/dev/hda5 486M 480M 5M 98% /home
none 57M 0 57M 0% /dev/shm
/dev/hda2 6.3G 3.8G 2.1G 64% /usr
/dev/hda3 980M 144M 786M 16% /var
All of the filesystem are ext3. And I would like to have 2 Gig free space for /home.
Thanks for your help and looking forward to having your reply.
William
The following is the result of df -h:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/hda6 289M 93M 180M 34% /
/dev/hda1 99M 9.0M 84M 10% /boot
/dev/hda5 486M 480M 5M 98% /home
none 57M 0 57M 0% /dev/shm
/dev/hda2 6.3G 3.8G 2.1G 64% /usr
/dev/hda3 980M 144M 786M 16% /var
All of the filesystem are ext3. And I would like to have 2 Gig free space for /home.
Thanks for your help and looking forward to having your reply.
William
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1) Real easy, but not very elegant. Create a home directory in /usr (I suppose it is where you got most of your free space) and create symbolic links in /home to corresponding directories in /usr/home as need arises.
2) Use resize2fs/fdisk or parted to rearrange your partitions. This might be tricky and dangerous, so you will need to do backups. resize2fs will shrink or expand e2/3fs. fdisk will modify your partition size. parted should be able to do both at once. You might even be able to create LVM. Could you tell us more about the size/layout of your harddrive? (fdisk -l /dev/hda)