How To Enable Increasing Disk Space Ubuntu

Increasing Disk Space on Ubuntu VM (ESXi 6.5)

Increasing disk space in a VM is a two-step process:

1. Expand the virtual disk in ESXi
2. Resize the partition and filesystem inside Ubuntu

⚠️ Your /dev/sda3 is currently at 99% capacity. Act quickly to avoid system instability.

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Step 1: Expand Disk in ESXi 6.5

1. Log in to the ESXi 6.5 Web Client
2. Shut down the Ubuntu VM (recommended for safety)
3. Right-click the VM → Edit Settings
4. Locate Hard disk 1
5. Increase the disk size (example: from 30 GB → 100 GB)
6. Click Save
7. Power the VM back on

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Step 2: Expand Partition in Ubuntu

Since this is a VM, the safest and easiest approach is using growpart and resize2fs.

1. Install Required Tools

If not already installed:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install cloud-guest-utils

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2. Identify the Root Partition

From your df -h output, the root filesystem is on:

/dev/sda3

This means:

• Disk: /dev/sda
• Partition: 3

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3. Grow the Partition

Resize the partition to consume the newly added disk space:

sudo growpart /dev/sda 3

ℹ️ Note the space between sda and 3

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4. Resize the Filesystem

Now expand the ext4 filesystem to fill the resized partition:

sudo resize2fs /dev/sda3

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Step 3: Verify the Changes

Run:

df -h

You should now see:

• /dev/sda3 with the new size
• Significantly lower Use%

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Troubleshooting: “No space left on device”

If the system is too full to install packages, free space immediately:

Clear APT Cache

sudo apt-get clean

Remove Old Logs

sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=1d

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✅ Once resized, your Ubuntu VM will fully utilize the expanded ESXi disk without data loss.