Is it possible to resize root partition?

[Nyto]

[size=78%].[/size]
Hello.
My system is working properly, it is a LL 4.2 installation, and the partitioning is:



Device          Description
-------------    --------------------------
/dev/sda1    Boot, Ext4
/dev/sda2    Root, Ext4
/dev/sda3    Home, Ext4
/dev/sda4    Misc_storage, NTFS


I need to resize my root partition, but I guess it can't be done on a running system.
I know it could be resized by booting from a Live USB drive, but won't this mess up my installation, preventing it from boot?


I don't want to change the partitioning, I just need to allocate more space for said partition. Additional space is available on the same drive.


Can you guys recommend what to do?


Thanks!

[torreydale]

[member=7562]Nyto[/member] ,


I have not tried resizing the root (/) partition, but there appears to be a plethora of approaches online when you ask the worldwide web the same question.  I would think this extra space you have might need to be contiguous with the root partition, but that might not be true.

[m654321]

Resizing the root partition ( / ) is pretty straightforward using gparted in the live environment - I've done this myself for freeing up space for the installation of a second (or more) distro.

Just run LL in the live environment (using your LL installation DVD or USB stick), and use gparted (designated Partition Drives in the Menu). From the gparted window, highlight your root partition to be resized, click on the Partition tab in the toolbar at the top of the gparted window, and in its drop-down box click on Resize/Move option. Then enter the new size you want. Reboot, and everything should be fine. Shrinking the root partition will create unallocated space - you can leave this as it is, or add it to another partition, using gparted.

[size=1em]I've found that gparted can be used in the LL live environment to not only resize LL's root partition, but also to resize a Windows OS partition, though you may prefer to do this within the Windows OS itself, under the disk manager.[/size]

I haven't checked, but I think you may find further details on resizing partitions in LL's Help Manual - installed by default on your Desktop 

Hope this helps
Cheers
Mike

[Nyto]

Thank you, torreydale and m654321.
I am taking the dive right away (I'll do a backup first, just in case).

Then I'll come back to tell the story. Cheers!

[Nyto]

OK. Just to report everything went smooth.

I booted up from a live PartedMagic drive (the last FREE version ;-). Then, I used the handy-dandy app named FSArchiver to make individual backup images of my ext4 partitions (boot, root, home), and then used Gparted to move-resize-check as needed.

Reboot and ta-daa, everything is working normally (I was fearing this would alter the MBR sector or something, but noo!).

Again, thank you guys. In this web site the support is always there.


PS: Of course, backup images are needed for the newly-resized partitions, but I'll do that tomorrow, I feel lazy already XD