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Because, of course, the obvious way to have a larger root partition is to resize and thereby expand it. Now my problem is that I have the root partition, the home partition, and some unallocated space in that exact order: GParted output of the disc
Now a probable solution is to back-up my /home partition, remove it, resize root, place /home back, and hope for the best. However, I am scared that this might break my installation as the new /home partition will have a different UUID and maybe other stuff I am not aware of.
Another solution I could think of would be to have multiple partitions which act as root, but apparently that is impossible.
Roughly the same question has been asked here, but the answer to that question is unsatisfactory to me as "yes" does not exactly describe how to do so (as well as 'bad stuff' being undefined).

So my question is: What is the best way to (effectively) enlarge my root partition, without losing my data in /home and/or breaking the system?

Simon Klaver
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3 Answers3

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/usr and /var typically use up the most space in the root directory. if you have a lot of third party software, /opt may be quite large also.

It is possible to make partitions that mount to these directories in the same manner that /home mounts to the root directory.

That said, it is easier to boot from a live CD/USB and move the /home partition as in mentioned in the comments.

Of course, back up important data before doing either operation.

ravery
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I'm assuming you're using your actual installation when running GParted which is why you can't move home.

If you instead boot with a live Ubuntu DVD/USB then you can easily move the Home partition to the end of the disk and then expand Root non-destructively.

From the picture you posted I don't believe you'll have any problems, but manipulating disk data is inherently dangerous so please back up anything you can't afford to lose before attempting it.

Mitch
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First you need to expand sdc2 into the free space, then you can move your home partition ( sdc6 ) to the right, then expand your root ( sdc5 ) into the free space. This requires that both the home and root partition be unmounted at the time, which means you need to boot from a livecd to do this. You should of course, make a backup first, since a power failure or other problem in the process will destroy your data.

psusi
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