How do I resize a RAW disk?
Linode
Linode Staff
I'm running freebsd 11 on my linode using raw disk, via your howto.
I'd like to know if I can nondestructively resize this disk?
2 Replies
rmoyer
Linode Staff
Linode treats raw disks differently than the other support file types. You can still resize them, though. Resizing will have to be performed in two steps, though keep in mind that raw disks can only be resized up:
- Resize via the Manager
- Resize the filesystem itself with the tool of your choosing depending on the filesystem you are using, such as fdisk or cloud-utils-growpart
Our HOW-TO guide on FreeBSD suggest using ZFS. If that's the filesystem you are using, you may find the following 3rd party guide resizing the filesystem.
Lastly, if you do have concerns or a level of discomfort when proceeding through the resizing process, then I would strongly recommend using a backup method on your Linode, just to ensure that you always have a good configuration to restore from, worst case scenario. For a little more information regarding this process, I'm including some documentation below which I hope can help:
One thing that guide doesn't mention: raw disks can only be resized up to a larger size, they can't be shrunk down.