Help with resizing partitions

Hi

First post :o

I have recently used Acronis (Backup software for data backup and disaster recovery in Windows and Linux - Acronis) to create identical systems that I need to build.
Everything works OK, but one of the machine has a bigger harddisk (250G) than the one I used to create the backup image (I think it was 180G).
When I applied the backup image to that harddisk, everything works fine, but `df -a` only shows 180G.
When I run `fdisk -l` it does say the size is 250G.
The machines run on CentOS 5.2 and here are some info:

# df -a
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00
                     187150052   3169204 174320844   2% /
proc                         0         0         0   -  /proc
sysfs                        0         0         0   -  /sys
devpts                       0         0         0   -  /dev/pts
/dev/sda1               101086     12210     83657  13% /boot
tmpfs                  1025204         0   1025204   0% /dev/shm
none                         0         0         0   -  /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
sunrpc                       0         0         0   -  /var/lib/nfs/rpc_pipefs

# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 14 24321 195254010 8e Linux LVM

LVM:

lvm> pvdisplay
  --- Physical volume ---
  PV Name               /dev/sda2
  VG Name               VolGroup00
  PV Size               232.71 PB / not usable 128.00 PB
  Allocatable           yes
  PE Size (KByte)       32768
  Total PE              3513503756
  Free PE               3513497798
  Allocated PE          5958
  PV UUID               m2sZJE-t8Dl-d4kk-DpMY-p2Px-FDgn-dHxKtv
lvm> vgdisplay
  --- Volume group ---
  VG Name               VolGroup00
  System ID
  Format                lvm2
  Metadata Areas        1
  Metadata Sequence No  5
  VG Access             read/write
  VG Status             resizable
  MAX LV                0
  Cur LV                2
  Open LV               2
  Max PV                0
  Cur PV                1
  Act PV                1
  VG Size               104.71 PB
  PE Size               32.00 MB
  Total PE              3513503756
  Alloc PE / Size       5958 / 186.19 GB
  Free  PE / Size       3513497798 / 104.71 PB
  VG UUID               JOfhL1-ObNO-EebF-zwBQ-W9Ei-GGCL-zrJSbe

I would like to make use of that extra space. I know I need to extend the partition, but not sure on what steps to take. As it is a potentially dangerous operation I would like to get some advice on how to do it properly.

I hope I can get some help regarding this matter.

Thank you for your help and sorry for the long post.

You could extend the partition, but I think it would be easier to create a third partition on the device, add it as a LVM physical volume and extend the volume group. If you want to include that space into the existing mount point, you'll have to know whether or not your filesystem supports resizing (online/offline).

Thanks for the reply.

I have created a third partition, add it as an LVM physical volume and extended the volume group, using this instructions:

Logical Volume Manager: How can I extend a Volume Group? | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1          13      104391   83  Linux
/dev/sda2              14       24321   195254010   8e  Linux LVM
/dev/sda3           24322       30401    48837600   8e  Linux LVM

How do I check whether or not I can resize my existing partitions?
vgdisplay says that the volume group is resizable.