expand partition without losing data

aristosv · 07-26-2015, 12:47 PM

Is there a way to expand that last ext4 partition, to takeover that unallocated space, without losing any data that already exist on the ext4 partition?

wpeckham · 07-26-2015, 04:22 PM

I can give you a firm and confident answer: Perhaps.
If you are using LVM and have space to extend the volume group, then yes and most likely without downtime.
If you are NOT using LVM, then it is possible. It is likely to will require unmounting the storage for the adjustment.
If you are using native disk, it is safer to back up the file system, blow it away, create the larger replacement, mount it, and restore that backup.

I hope that you are using LVM.

aristosv · 07-26-2015, 10:15 PM

No I'm not using LVM. I created that partition using fdisk and mkfs

Some times I miss Windows. (right-click & extend)

syg00 · 07-27-2015, 12:49 AM

Simple enough with gparted - it's a GUI that allows you to point and click.
Grow the extended first, then grow the logical - gparted will expand the filesystem at the same time. Never used it on a thumb drive though.
Ext4 handles online expansion fine.

Note my sigline.

aristosv · 07-27-2015, 12:51 AM

I tried gparted, its not giving me the option to expand to the unallocated space.

rknichols · 07-27-2015, 07:46 AM

What did you try to expand? You must first expand the extended partition (partition 3). Then you can expand partition 5 to use the new space in the extended partition.

aristosv · 07-27-2015, 07:53 AM

With gparted I tried to expand the last ext4 partition (4.3GB), as shown in the screen shot attached. Its the only one that can be expanded to take over the rest of the unallocated space(7.1GB). gparted would not do it.

rknichols · 07-27-2015, 08:10 AM

Partition 5 exists within the extended partition (partition 3) and cannot be extended until you grow the extended partition. In gparted, select the extended partition. You may need to select it from the list rather than the graph, since it's hard to grab the edge of the extended partition if there is no unallocated space within it. You should then be able to resize it.