[ale] mint 13 vm running out of storage space

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for taking the time to post this.  I'm afraid a good bit of it is 
over my head.  But, I am keeping it on hand in case I can use it later.

Mike will probably understand more of what you're talking about.

That kpartx tool sounds cool.

Also, my host is Windows, which I didn't mention before.  So, some of 
what you listed here wouldn't apply.

Sincerely,

Ron

> Hi Ron, Mike,
>
> I make heavy use of VirtualBox and have some techniques that solve these
> kinds of problems...
>
> On 10/13/2013 07:25 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
>    
>> Hi Mike T,
>>
>> Thanks for the tips and info.  It seems there is a never ending chain
>> of things to learn about hdd's and storage.  I haven't had a chance
>> to play with LVM's.  It's one of many things on my ttd list.  I might
>> be able to use the procedure you mentioned in the future.
>>      
> I use LVM for my virtual machines, but the biggest bang for the buck
> comes from the *host* LVM.  Specifically, I create logical volumes on my
> host, one per virtual disk.  The "VBoxManage" tool can create a mapping
> in a tiny .vmdk file that provides 1:1 sector mapping for that virtual
> hard drive into the logical volume.  This make a certain tasks absurdly
> easy:
>
> 1) Resizing.  Disconnect the mapping from its VM, delete it, extend the
> LV with your preferred LVM tool, recreate and reconnect the mapping.
> Presto!  VM now sees larger drive just as if you had performed a
> disk-to-larger-disk copy.
>
> 2) Host access.  The "kpartx" tool can see the embedded partition table
> and set up device mappings to its partitions *from the host*.  (With the
> VM shut down, of course.)  This makes it possible to scan my untrusted
> VM disks for viruses (w/ clamav) *without running the VM*.  Or do
> anything else I need with those files.
>
>    
>> In case I end up resizing the existing file system, can you or
>> someone remind me of which file to edit to control how the file
>> systems get initialized and mounted during boot.  I'll probably need
>> to deactivate the swap and possibly change the device id if I create
>> another virtual drive.  I cannot remember the name for that, but it's
>> the long string of digits that identify a partition.
>>      
> Procedure (1) above does need tweeking inside the VM to use the new
> space, as you will if you do the copy you are considering.  Last time I
> did this, I ran gparted inside the VM to expand the last partition into
> the new space.  gparted automatically ran resize2fs for me.  I could
> just as easily run gparted in the *host* before running the VM to
> achieve the same results.
>
>    
>> "Michael B. Trausch"<mbt at naunetcorp.com>  wrote:
>>      
>    
>>> Because this is a virtual *HDD* and *HDD*s cannot be resized,
>>> well, that's a reasonable limitation.
>>>        
> Except that you can, if you are using a suitable *host*.
>
>    
>>> What it boils down to is that you add disk space to a VM the same
>>> way you do to a real host:  Add a second drive and append it to
>>> your setup (if you're using LVM), or create a second drive and move
>>> the data over to it (hopefully putting LVM on that so that you have
>>> the ability to grow later).
>>>        
> I love LVM, but I don't use it much *in* my VMs.
>
> <flamebait>
> For *desktop* duty on a linux host, I find VBox superior to all other
> virtualization tools.  :-)
> </flamebait>
>
> Phil
>    


-- 

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Ron Frazier
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