Resizing a partition in GParted (or, how can I traverse 5 other partitions prior to expanding /dev/sda6)

gpartedpartitioningtroubleshooting

So, the traditionally adopted means of resizing partitions with GParted is to:

  • Unmount all partitions (so, use a LiveCD)
  • Right-click -> Extend partition
  • Engulf selected partition in a flurry of additional (formerly unallocated) space
  • Move on.

But, what if the unallocated space is not adjacent to /dev/sda6?

How to move a partition to the end in gparted?

1) Extend the rightmost partition so that it engulfs the unallocated space

2) Move the other partition to the end.

3) Shrink the partition that you moved back to it's original size

4) Move on.

But, what if I have 5x as many partitions to QWOP across?

To Mordor I go.

I could:

  • Extend the rightmost partition to engulf ('x' MiB of unallocated space)
  • Shrink the rightmost partition by ('x' MiB)
  • Repeat 4 times
  • Essentially like QWOPping into Mordor

I'm assuming that:

  • If your shrink/expand operation is off by even 1 MiB, your MBR is borked.
  • If you delete any partitions, your MBR is borked.
  • If you have 5x as many partitions, you have ~5x the average bork surface.

Any suggestions? Is there any way to programmatically resize the dev/sda6 partition without drastically increasing the bork surface?

If not, what would you suggest?

Thank you.

Would migrating to LVM be feasible?

Best Answer

You best bet is to:

  1. Enlarge the extended partition to include the unallocated space
  2. Move the sda7 etc partitions to the end of the disk, one by one, starting by the last one (sda11) and
  3. then extend the sda6 partition in the unallocated space.

I would do it gradually, doing one change at a time to reduce risk to corrupting data.

Related Question