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Lately my root partition is running out of space which is causing me problems, and I constantly have to free some space in order to avoid it. After 2-3 days my root partition gets full again. The only solution that i find is to increase the size of my root partition, but as a newbie on Linux systems I am afraid of data loss. My laptop has dual boot of Windows 10 / Ubuntu 18.04. Is there any way that I can use the unallocated space that I created here in order to extend the root partition?

Screenshot of partitions

karel
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Christos Theofilou
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1 Answers1

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We'll repartition your disk, as requested, but also convert you from a (too small) swap partition, to a /swapfile.

Note: Pay close attention to these instructions.

Make sure that you have a good backup of your important Ubuntu files, as this procedure can corrupt or lose data.

DISABLE CURRENT SWAP PARTITION

sudo swapoff -a

sudo -H gedit /etc/fstab

Comment out the swap line that looks similar to this...

UUID=xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx  none  swap  sw  0  0

Save the file and quit gedit.

REPARTITION

Keep these things in mind:

  • always start the entire procedure with issuing a swapoff on any mounted swap partitions, and end the entire procedure with issuing a swapon on that same swap partition

  • a move is done by pointing the mouse pointer at the center of a partition and dragging it left/right with the hand cursor

  • a resize is done by dragging the left/right side of a partition to the left/right with the directional arrow cursor

  • if any partition can't be moved/resized graphically, you may have to manually enter the specific required numeric data (don't do this unless I instruct you to)

  • you begin any move/resize by right-clicking on the partition in the lower pane of the main window, and selecting the desired action from the popup menu, then finishing that action in the new move/resize window

Do the following...

Note: if the procedure doesn't work exactly as I outline, STOP immediately and DO NOT continue.

  • boot to a Ubuntu Live DVD/USB, in “Try Ubuntu” mode
  • start gparted
  • set swapoff on /dev/nvme0n1p5
  • delete the /dev/nvme0n1p5 old swap partition
  • move /dev/nvme0n1p6 partition all the way left
  • resize /dev/nvme0n1p6 right side all the way right
  • click the Apply icon
  • quit gparted and reboot the computer

CREATE /swapfile

Now we'll create a fresh new /swapfile...

Note: Incorrect use of the rm and dd commands can cause data loss. Suggest copy/paste.

In the terminal...

sudo swapoff -a           # turn off swap
sudo rm -i /swapfile      # remove old /swapfile

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=4096


sudo chmod 600 /swapfile  # set proper file protections
sudo mkswap /swapfile     # init /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile     # turn on swap
free -h                   # confirm xxG RAM and 4G swap

Edit /etc/fstab, using sudo -H gedit /etc/fstab or sudo pico /etc/fstab.

Add the following /swapfile line in /etc/fstab... and confirm no other “swap” lines... use SPACES in this line... confirm NO TABS...

/swapfile  none  swap  sw  0  0

Then reboot and verify operation.

RECOMMENDATION

Reducing the size of the /dev/nvme0n1p7 partition, and creating a new NTFS partition, that can be used for sharing files between Windows and Ubuntu.

heynnema
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