On 05/03/2010 05:15 AM, Rudi Ahlers wrote:
Is it possible, safely, to resize /var while a server is running? I urgently need to resize a full 2GB /var on a running server which is located at a remote location where no one can get to it for 2 days?
I've done it before on a quiet system and it worked fine. Still think its a bit risky if you cant get to it for 2 days.
I already moved /var/logs to it's own LVM partition but it didn't help at all so I think it's better to rather just resize it. Google searches suggest taking the server offline, or boot into single mode. But this won't be possible for another 2 or so days and I urgently need to install more software on the server.
If you "urgently need to install new software", then a small possibility of breaking the system for 2 days is probably a show stopper. I'd continue with your approach (as a temporary solution) of migrating bits of /var to a different LVM. If moving /var/logs didn't help, you need to track down the big directories. Try
du -sh /var/*
then drill down though your big candidates
/var/cache/yum, /var/spool, and /var/tmp are always candidates for clean up.
Hope this helps.
Kal