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Storage / Task

Resize a volume

Updated · 3 min read

Grow a volume, including one attached to a running instance, then extend the partition and filesystem inside the guest to use the new space.

On this page6 sections

Grow a volume when it runs out of space. You can grow a volume while it’s attached to a running instance, without a restart. Volumes only grow: there’s no way to make a volume smaller.

Before you begin

Resize the volume

  1. Check the volume’s current sizeInGib, status, and modificationStatus.

    terminal
    origin storage get-volume --volume-urn <volume-urn>

  2. Request a size larger than the current sizeInGib.

    terminal
    origin storage resize-volume --volume-urn <volume-urn> \
  --size-in-gib 120

    With the API, use the resizeVolume mutation:

    GraphQL
    mutation {
  pvs {
    resizeVolume(input: {
      volumeUrn: "<volume-urn>"
      sizeInGib: 120
    }) {
      accepted
      message
    }
  }
}

    The volume reports modificationStatus: RESIZING, and pendingSizeInGib shows the target size.

  3. Check the volume until modificationStatus reports COMPLETED and sizeInGib shows the new size.

    terminal
    origin storage get-volume --volume-urn <volume-urn>

Use the new space inside the guest

The platform grows the block device. It doesn’t change the partition table or the filesystem on it.

  • On a running instance, the guest sees the larger disk without a restart. Grow the partition and then the filesystem, for example with growpart and the filesystem’s own grow command. Many images do this at boot, so a restart also makes the space appear.
  • On a stopped instance or a detached volume, nothing is needed now. The instance sees the new size the next time it starts.

What the platform refuses

These requests are refused immediately with an error, and nothing about the volume changes, not even modificationStatus:

  • A size equal to or smaller than the current sizeInGib. Shrinking would truncate the filesystem on the disk. To use less storage, create a smaller volume, copy your data across at file level, and delete the old volume. A volume created from a snapshot can’t be smaller than the snapshot’s source volume, so a snapshot doesn’t help here.
  • A volume in a state other than AVAILABLE or INUSE.
  • A resize while another one is in progress.
  • A resize that would exceed your volume storage quota, from an inactive organization, or from a project whose billing account can’t pay.

If your usage is already over a limit, for example because the limit was lowered, no resize brings you back under it. Deleting volumes you no longer need frees quota, and a delete is never held to a quota.

If this fails

If the platform accepts the resize but can’t apply it, modificationStatus reports FAILED with a modificationStatusReason. The volume’s data is intact and sizeInGib still reports its real size. Request the resize again.