Allot free space from one partition to other

Linux and Unix-Like Red Hat
1

I have a RHEL 5.3 machine with the following partitions and free space:

Free space on the partitions

/     : 74GB
/boot : 81MB
/var  : 73GB
/home : 37GB
/icat : 758MB
/opt  : 1.5GB

Now is it possible to allot a free space of some other partitions to /opt? I want around 100 GB more space on /opt. Thus, if it is possible I could move 50GB from /var and /20 GB from /home to /opt. This can make at least 70 GB space available. The partition table type is msdos. The output of "fdisk" command is attached herewith.

What are other possible ways to increase space on /opt?
Thanks in advance !!!

2

"I wouldn't start from here" :wink: If you were using LVM you could dynamically adjust partition sizes, if you were to back up the data on the existing partitions you could repartition the disk and copy the data back in. this would have the advantage of providing you with a backup :slight_smile:

3

Shoving space between partitions is risky and not that straightforward. Be very careful, as inadequate commands may result in data corruption or loss. Wouldn't adding a new disk do the same job?

  • Make backups of all data involved.
  • Shrink the "donor" file systems with e.g. resize2fs and/or ntfsresize .
  • Adapt (and move) partition sizes with parted or fdisk .
  • Inflate "receptor" file systems.
4

Please make sure the donor partition is unmounted before you attempt to resize it

also please can you give out put of

df -h

if you need more help on this

5

A resizing attempt will be refused because we don't appear to be LVM volumes, hence the ""I wouldn't start from here ;)" from Skrynesaver

This is a more complex process that will need manual adjustment with backup, delete & re-create (preferably as LVM this time) then restore to complete.

Robin