Swap file ?

[MS]

To make swap file, this is the drill that works for me - I copied these instructions from a popular website, most probably the AskUbuntu, do not remember the exact location though:

From Ubuntu 18.04 onwards, a swapfile rather than a dedicated swap partition is used. The swap file is named "swapfile". To change the size of this swap file:

1. Disable the swap file and delete it (not really needed as you will overwrite it)
sudo swapoff /swapfile
sudo rm /swapfile

2. Create a new swap file of the desired size.
Determine the size of your swap file. If you want to make a 4 GB swap file, you will need to write 4 * 1024 blocks of 10242 bytes (= 1 MiB). That will make your count equal to 4 * 1024 = 4096. Create the file of this size with the command:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=4096

3. Assign it read/write permissions for root only (not strictly needed, but it tightens security)
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile

4. Format the file as swap:
sudo mkswap /swapfile

5. The file will be activated on the next reboot. If you want to activate it for the current session:
sudo swapon /swapfile

EDIT:

Generally it is better to have at least some swap space than none, albeit with tight hard drive, I know it could be painful, myself I have a 256GB SSD, with swap matching 75% of the RAM, only due to playing with V-Box every now and then in high RAM consumption. Otherwise than that, also in your case, maybe 25% of the RAM could suffice. Basic recommendation is 150~200% of RAM to be assigned, but as you see, it depends.