is ext3 resizable?
 

So I gave a 5GB partition to linux, in ext3, and im loving it so much (ever since I got away from Mandrake) and i want to give it more space. Can I resize ext3 non destructively, cause I dont want to lose all my data. If so, how?

Thanks.

GNU Parted will resize ext3 partitions, and several other types. Be sure to read the restrictions (notably, the partition can only be resized at the end -- the start must remain fixed).

http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/

mandrake has a partion utility by defauly gnu parted can do the job but without graphical interface and there is partion magic

Shoot, you can even do this in fdisk, though you have to delete the partition, and then add it back with the new parameters (starting at the same place). Not that that I recommend it :-) It is a bit scary.

True, but contrasutra asked for a way to resize non-destructively. Fdisk, as you said, can only "resize" a partition by removing it and replacing it with another, obviously resulting in data loss.

Well, I scewed up slackware, and reinstalled everything, so I went with ReiserFS this time (since ext3 didnt seem all that wonderful) and I like it much better, its faster, and it uses less disk space. Cool stuff. How about a non destructive partitioner for that. I cant use GNU parted, because my Linux partition is the last on the drive, so its not resizable if the start has to remain the same, oh well.

On the contrary, fdisk IS nondestructive if used properly. Note the following from "man resize2fs":

The resize2fs program does not manipulate the size of par_
titions. If you wish to enlarge a filesystem, you must
first make sure you can expand the size of the underlying
partition first. This can be done using fdisk(8) by
deleting the partition and recreating it with a larger
size. When recreating the partition, make sure you create
it with the same starting disk cylinder as before! Other_
wise, the resize operation will certainly not work, and
you may lose your entire filesystem.

However, again, there are safer tools out there these days, and the question now seems somewhat mute as reinstallation is one of the most destructive repartition tools around ;-)

I myself prefer LVM (logical volume manager) and am slowly migrating in that direction. It allows grouping multiple block devices (whole disks/partitions) into one logical unit. As a result, the actual physical location of the data on disk does not matter.

Whether using LVM or not, the similar command to resize2fs for ReiserFS is resize_reiserfs, though again I believe this requires using fdisk to setup the block device. Therefore, as Dave Skywatcher first pointed out, use parted.

You are going to have to excuse my ignorance here but how the hell can you tell that one filesystem is better than another in just a few days? What did ext3 ever do wrong to make you like reiserfs?

I once knew a guy that liked one program better than another because it loaded 2 seconds quicker on a 30 second load. I hope that is not how you are compareing them.

I am not having a dig at anyone it is just that I have never seen a difference in the new filesystems. Between ext2 and ext3 yes there is a big difference in its ability to recover from a crash but other than that, nothing.

Just curious.

I didnt mean I didnt like ext3, but it wasnt as fast as Windows, and since Im trying as many different things as I can, I figured,while im reinstalling, ill try ReiserFS. I had heard that it takes up less space too, which is important, because I have a pretty small partition, and UT2003 takes up like 3GB.

Plus, ive been using ext3 for a year now (not a couple of days), and I wanted a change. I can't say Reiser is 10x better, but it seems to be faster (i'd guess 15%) and it takes up less space, good enough for me :)