Extend OS Volume on a Windows 2003 Virtual Machine (VMware ESXi 4.0)

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@Striker007
I tried DISKPART, but that command does not work on OS partition. Please see below comment in my original posting:
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I increased the size of hard drive on this VM in Edit Settings, started VM, opened Command Prompt, ran DISKPART, selected Volume 0, and typed "extend", but it failed because, I discovered that, this command only works on "Data" partition.
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I read it, i forwarded a link for Diskpart just to make sure if you followed all steps in order....
Have you tried the other partition softwares i suggested?

ASKER

Have you tried the other partition softwares i suggested? ---> not yet. I was looking for something simple, so I tried DISKPART command.

I am going to try other methods later on either this evening or tomorrow evening.
The W2003 VM that is running out of space and SQL server failed to perform backup.
I need to free up some space from the C drive (of W2003 VM) or find the way to easily increase the HD size this evening (if I could).

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ambatihp

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@Striker007
My trial (in my posting) was based on a test VM on my Test VM Server where there was only one partition (OS + data) and extend command did not work.
However the real VM that is running out of space has two partitions (OS (C:) : 50GB & 35.9GB Free, DATA (D:): 100GB, 15GB Free). Please see the screenshot above.

Do you think I can apply the following steps to increase the DATA (D:) drive?

(1) Increased the size of hard drive on W2003 VM in Edit Settings
(2) Start VM
(3) Open Command Prompt, run DISKPART, list Volume, and identify Volume number for DATA (D:)
(4) , selected Volume 2 and typed "extend"

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I plan on using all available space for D drive.

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

Dispkpart has some limitations, have a look at this, this might be what you are after....

http://macrorit.com/partition-magic-manager/server-diskpart-fails-to-extend-system-partition.html

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@Striker007
I successfully extended Data partition on my test W2003 Server VM.
I just discovered that the VM had 25GB "unpartitioned" space when I ran DiskMgmt.msc. I increased HD to 200GB on VM using VSphere client, ran DISKPART and ran "Extend" on Volume 1 (which had 25GB), and now I see 75GB.

So I am confident that I can do the same with production VM this evening.
I will keep you posted.

@Andrew

I will try EXTPART on my test VMs tonight and post the result.

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

ASKER

I have decided to wait until Weekend to perform DISKPART.
This VM is running SQL server with SQL Data that is critical to business operation.
Should something happen during the operation, I like to have time to troublshoot.
When I spoke to SQL Server App. Tech Support, they said that just shut down SQL service , run DISKPART and should be ok. They do it all the time as they provide cloud service on their VMware boxes.

I will keep you posted this weekend.

or ExtPart......which is Hot Add!

Diskpart can be used in that fashion on later OS (e.g. 2008 and later!), otherwise you'll need a helper machine.