NSEvent / expand_virtualbox_storage

A guide to expand storage in a VirtualBox VM with a Windows host and a Linux client

Expand usable VirtualBox storage (for ext4 filesystems)

This guide details how to expand your VirtualBox VM's storage with a Windows host and a Linux client

Written by Kevin Tang

IN WINDOWS (HOST)

1. Locate the VM's vdi file

Mine was in "C:\Users\kvntng\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS\Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS.vdi"

2. Make a copy of the vdi before proceeding

3. Go to VirtualBox directory in Windows Command Prompt

cd “C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox”

4. Resize the virtual disk to a desired size

The following command will resize to 80 GB

VBoxManage modifyhd "C:\Users\kvntng\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS\Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS.vdi" --resize 81920

5. Open VirtualBox. VirtualBox should now detect the change in disk size

IN LINUX (CLIENT)

1. Use gparted to expand the disk space (physical volume)

gparted

Use the slider to adjust the space expanded

2. Find the name of the filesystem

df -h

Here the name is "/dev/ubuntu-vg/root" mounted on "/"

Resize logical volume

This will expand the logical volume to 100% of the physical volume

sudo lvresize -r -l 100%VG /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root

Resize filesystem

This will resize the filesystem to the full size of the logical volume

sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root