Azure Virtual Machine

Question

I've inherited an Azure VM which is out of disk space. How do I get that increased.

Answer 1

Hi Trevor,

Is this VM running SQL Server installed from marketplace image? I ask because there is different procedure for increasing size of disks on SQL Server VM.

For non-SQL Server VMs you would typically navigate to the VM in Azure portal, on left click on Settings -- Disks. Click on the managed disk that you want to expand. Next click on Settings -- Size + performance blade, select larger size, click Save.

Once you have increased the size of the managed disk you need to expand the volume inside of the VM. Instructions for Windows and Linux at links below:

Windows - Expand the volume in the operating system

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/expand-disks#expand-the-volume-in-the-operating-system

Linux - Expand a disk partition and filesystem

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/expand-disks?tabs=ubuntu#expand-a-disk-partition-and-filesystem

If you have any questions please add comment below. Again the above is for non-SQL Server VMs. If this is SQL Server VM please let me know and I'll give different instructions for that.

Expand virtual hard disks attached to a Windows virtual machine

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/expand-disks

Please click Accept Answer if the above was helpful.

Thanks.

-TP

Answer 2

To increase disk space on an Azure VM, expand the managed disk in Azure, then extend the volume inside the guest OS.

1. In the Azure portal, open the VM.
2. If the disk does not meet the Expand without downtime requirements, select Stop to deallocate the VM.
3. Go to Settings > Disks.
4. Select the disk to expand.
5. Open Size + performance.
6. Choose a new size that is larger than the current size, then select Resize.

Important:

• Shrinking an existing disk is not supported and may result in data loss.
• The target size must be larger than the current size.
• For Windows OS disks, the maximum allowed is 4,095 GB.

After Azure shows the larger disk size, sign in to the VM and extend the partition in the OS so the new space becomes usable.

For a Windows VM:

• Open Computer Management or Disk Management.
• Extend the volume into the newly allocated space.

If Azure shows the new disk size but Windows still shows the old size:

• Allow up to 10 minutes.
• Perform a Windows rescan.
• If needed, rescan again or restart the VM.

If the volume still cannot be extended, common blockers include:

• A recovery partition between C: and the unallocated space.
• MBR partition style limiting usable size to 2 TiB.
• Encrypted OS volume layout issues.
• SQL Server VM Storage Spaces configuration.

If a recovery partition is blocking the extension, take a snapshot first before deleting that partition. Deleting partitions is destructive.

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• Expand virtual hard disks attached to a Windows virtual machine
• Troubleshoot Azure disk resize failures
• Can't extend an OS volume because a recovery partition blocks the extension
• Tutorial: Manage disks with Azure PowerShell