Expanding Ubuntu Server Disk Space

The Problem

After installing Ubuntu Server, you might notice:

• The root filesystem (/) shows limited space using df -h
• Available disk space appears much smaller than your actual disk capacity
• The system reports low disk space warnings despite having a large physical disk

This happens because the Ubuntu installer creates a logical volume that doesn't span the entire volume group, leaving unallocated space unused.

Solution

To expand the disk to use all available space, run these two commands:

# Step 1: Extend the logical volume to use all free space
sudo lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

# Step 2: Resize the filesystem to match the expanded logical volume
sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

Command Explanation

Command 1: sudo lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

• lvextend: LVM command to extend a logical volume
• -l +100%FREE: Extends the volume by 100% of the free space available in the volume group
• /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv: The default path to Ubuntu's root logical volume
  • ubuntu--vg: The volume group name (with hyphens replacing spaces)
  • ubuntu--lv: The logical volume name

Command 2: sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

• resize2fs: Utility to resize ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystems
• /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv: The logical volume containing the filesystem to resize
• This command expands the filesystem to fill the newly extended logical volume

Verification

After running both commands, verify the expansion worked:

# Check filesystem usage
df -h /

# Check logical volume information
sudo lvdisplay

# Check volume group information
sudo vgdisplay

You should now see that your root filesystem (/) utilizes the full available disk space.

When to Use This

• Fresh Ubuntu Server installations where disk usage seems unusually low
• After expanding a virtual machine's disk in hypervisors like VMware, VirtualBox, or cloud platforms
• When you see unallocated space in volume group displays but your root filesystem is small

Important Notes

• These commands are safe to run on a live system and won't cause data loss
• The resize operation happens online without requiring a reboot
• This procedure specifically applies to Ubuntu's default LVM setup with ext4 filesystem
• Always ensure you have backups before performing disk operations, though these commands are non-destructive

Alternative: Create Dedicated Volume for the View Software

Instead of expanding the root filesystem, you can create a separate logical volume mounted at /opt/View specifically for the View software. This approach allows you to:

• Allocate exactly the amount of space you want for View
• Keep the system and application data separate
• Easily manage View-specific storage requirements

Steps to Create a Dedicated View Volume

1. Check available space in the volume group:

   Bash

   sudo vgdisplay ubuntu-vg

2. Create a new logical volume for View (replace50G with your desired size):

   Bash

   sudo lvcreate -L 50G -n view-lv ubuntu-vg

3. Format the new logical volume with ext4:

   Bash

   sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-view--lv

4. Create the mount point:

   Bash

   sudo mkdir -p /opt/View

5. Mount the volume:

   Bash

   sudo mount /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-view--lv /opt/View

6. Make the mount permanent by adding to/etc/fstab:

   Bash

   echo '/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-view--lv /opt/View ext4 defaults 0 2' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

7. Verify the mount:

   Bash

   df -h /opt/View

Benefits of This Approach

• Flexible sizing: Allocate exactly the space you need for View software
• Isolation: Keep View data separate from system files
• Easy management: Can easily extend or manage the View volume independently
• Better organization: Clear separation between system and application storage

Example Size Allocations

• Small deployment: 50G-100GB
• Medium deployment: 100-200GB
• Large deployment: 500GB or more

Choose the size based on your expected View data storage requirements.