qubes-doc/configuration/resize-disk-image.md

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Resize Disk Image

There are several disk images which can be easily extended, but pay attention to the overall consumed space of your sparse/thin disk images. In most cases, the GUI tool Qube Settings (available for every qube from the Start menu, and also in the Qube Manager) will allow you to easily increase maximum disk image size.

In case of standalone qubes and templates, just change the Disk Storage settings above. In case of template-based qubes, the private storage (the /home directory and user files) can be changed in the qube's own settings, but the system root image is inherited from the template, and so it must be changed in the template settings. If you are increasing the disk image size for Linux-based qubes installed from Qubes OS repositories in Qubes 4.0 or later, changing the settings above is all you need to do - in other cases, you may need to do more, according to instructions below. See also OS Specific Follow-up Instructions at the end of this page.

Resize disk image (R4.0)

Use either GUI tool Qube Settings (qubes-vm-settings) or the CLI tool qvm-volume. Maximum size which can be assigned through Qube Settings is 1048576 MiB - if you need more, use qvm-volume:

qvm-volume extend <vm_name>:root <size>

OR

qvm-volume extend <vm_name>:private <size>

Note: Size is the target size (i.e. 4096MB or 16GB, ...), not the size to add to the existing disk.

If you have run out of space for software in your Template, you need to increase root image of the Template (not private storage!). Make sure changes in the Template between reboots don't exceed 10G. It is recommended to restart (or start and then shutdown, if it is not running) the template after resizing the root image.

If you are not using Linux in the qube, you will also need to:

1. Start the template.
2. Resize the filesystem using OS appropriate tools.
3. Verify available space in the template using df -h or OS specific tools.
4. Shutdown the template.

Template disk image (R3.2)

If you want install a lot of software in your TemplateVM, you may need to increase the amount of disk space your TemplateVM can use. Make sure changes in the TemplateVM between reboots don't exceed 10G.

1. Make sure that all the VMs based on this template are shut down (including netvms etc).
2. Resize the root image using the procedure below.
3. If any netvm/proxyvm used by this template is based on it, set template's netvm to none.
4. Start the template.
5. Resize the filesystem using OS appropriate tools (Linux is sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/dmroot).
6. Verify available space in the template using df -h or OS specific tools.
7. Shutdown the template.
8. Restore original netvm setting (if changed), and check firewall settings (setting netvm to none causes the firewall to reset to "block all")

Expand disk image (R3.2)

1048576 MB is the maximum size which can be assigned to storage through Qubes Manager.

To grow the private disk image of an AppVM beyond this limit, qvm-grow-root or qvm-grow-private can be used:

qvm-grow-root <vm-name> <size>

OR

qvm-grow-private <vm-name> <size>

Note: Size is the target size (i.e. 4096MB or 16GB, ...), not the size to add to the existing disk.

Resize a StandaloneVM Root Image

For more flexibility, you may also turn your Template into a Standalone qube. Doing this means it will have its own root filesystem (Standalone qubes use a copy of the template, instead of smart sharing). To do this run qvm-create --standalone from dom0 console, then perform the OS Specific Follow-up Instructions below.

Shrinking a disk image

Ext4 and most other filesystems do not support online shrinking, so it can't be done as conveniently as growing the image. Note that we don't want to touch the VM filesystem directly in dom0 for security reasons.

1. Create a new qube with smaller disk using Qube Manager or qvm-create
2. Move data to the new qube using qvm-copy, backup & restore, or OS utilities
3. Delete old qube using Qube Manager or qvm-remove

OS Specific Follow-up Instructions

In the case of Linux-based qubes installed from Qubes repositories, no further actions are required. In some other cases, after expanding volumes, the partition table and file-system may need to be adjusted. Use tools appropriate to the OS in your qube. Brief instructions for Windows 7, FreeBSD, and Linux are provided below.

Windows 7

1. Click Start
2. type "diskmgmt.msc" - this takes you to Disk Management
3. Right-click on your existing volume, select "Extend Volume..."
4. Click through the wizard.

No reboot required.

FreeBSD

gpart recover ada0
sysctl kern.geom.debugflags=0x10
gpart resize -i index ada0
zpool online -e poolname ada0

Linux

Qubes will automatically grow the filesystem for you on all AppVMs with Qubes packages installed (which are all AppVMs installed from templates, cloned from templates etc. - if you have not created an empty HVM and installed a Linux distribution in it, without using Qubes repositories, you are almost certainly safe). Otherwise, you will see that there is unallocated free space at the end of your primary disk. You can use standard linux tools like fdisk and resize2fs to make this space available.