Skip to main content

Expanding the Boot Volume of a Windows Server 2008 Virtual Machine


Expanding the Boot Volume

To demonstrate how this works, I installed Windows Server 2008 as a virtual machine inside VMware ESXi 4.0. During the creation of the VM the boot partition size was set at 20 GB, which in Windows Server 2008 might just be a bit to small.



To expand it, we need to expand the virtual disk first. This is a simple process, all it needs is a couple of mouse clicks and you're set.

In the vSphere Client, right click the virtual machine and select Edit Settings



Next, you need to find the virtual disk and edit it's size from 20 GB to 30 GB, or any other size you might want, click OK and let it weave it's magic.



The disk should now be expanded, but Windows Server 2008 still doesn't recognize the new available space. This is where the Disk Manager enters the picture.

Navigate the Start Menu and find Server Manager. Find the Storage node, expand it and select Disk Management





Right click Disk Management and use either Refresh or Rescan Disks, both should work just fine. When the refresh is finished, you should see the newly added extra 10 GB as unallocated space on the disk you expanded. In our case it's Disk 0, as thats the only virtual disk that is attached to this particular server.



Right click the c:\ volume, and select Extend Volume and the "Extend Volume Wizard" should appear. This is pretty straight forward, but click next and you will be presented with a the tool that allows the volume expansion.



By default, the wizard will select all available space in the Selected column, but you can tweak those settings if you like. When you have done a selection you're comfortable with, click Next and a summary screen will appear outlining the changes you have made. If you are satisfied with your choices, click Finish, if not select Back and redo your settings.

Lean back and see that your boot drive has been extended to 30GB instead of 20GB, all without any downtime or interruption of service at all.





Note that if this was a physical machine, and not a virtual one, it would be a bit harder to accomplish. It would require that you have available, unpartitioned space, on the physical boot drive. Normally that's not the case and you would still need third party tools to be able to repartition your boot drive to free up some space that you could expand your boot volume with.
Summary

The Windows Server 2008 Disk Manager allows you to easily expand a boot volume, given that you have available unpartitioned space available to it. This great feature add-on in Windows Server 2008 might just prove invaluable to you down the line, especially in virtualized environments. The “Extend” feature only works when there is unallocated space available directly adjacent to the boot partition. That is too say, you cannot extend the system partition by shrinking others partition, you have to delete the partitions.

Popular posts from this blog

HOW TO EDIT THE BCD REGISTRY FILE

The BCD registry file controls which operating system installation starts and how long the boot manager waits before starting Windows. Basically, it’s like the Boot.ini file in earlier versions of Windows. If you need to edit it, the easiest way is to use the Startup And Recovery tool from within Vista. Just follow these steps: 1. Click Start. Right-click Computer, and then click Properties. 2. Click Advanced System Settings. 3. On the Advanced tab, under Startup and Recovery, click Settings. 4. Click the Default Operating System list, and edit other startup settings. Then, click OK. Same as Windows XP, right? But you’re probably not here because you couldn’t find that dialog box. You’re probably here because Windows Vista won’t start. In that case, you shouldn’t even worry about editing the BCD. Just run Startup Repair, and let the tool do what it’s supposed to. If you’re an advanced user, like an IT guy, you might want to edit the BCD file yourself. You can do this

DNS Scavenging.

                        DNS Scavenging is a great answer to a problem that has been nagging everyone since RFC 2136 came out way back in 1997.  Despite many clever methods of ensuring that clients and DHCP servers that perform dynamic updates clean up after themselves sometimes DNS can get messy.  Remember that old test server that you built two years ago that caught fire before it could be used?  Probably not.  DNS still remembers it though.  There are two big issues with DNS scavenging that seem to come up a lot: "I'm hitting this 'scavenge now' button like a snare drum and nothing is happening.  Why?" or "I woke up this morning, my DNS zones are nearly empty and Active Directory is sitting in a corner rocking back and forth crying.  What happened?" This post should help us figure out when the first issue will happen and completely avoid the second.  We'll go through how scavenging is setup then I'll give you my best practices.  Scavenging s

AD LDS – Syncronizing AD LDS with Active Directory

First, we will install the AD LDS Instance: 1. Create and AD LDS instance by clicking Start -> Administrative Tools -> Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services Setup Wizard. The Setup Wizard appears. 2. Click Next . The Setup Options dialog box appears. For the sake of this guide, a unique instance will be the primary focus. I will have a separate post regarding AD LDS replication at some point in the near future. 3. Select A unique instance . 4. Click Next and the Instance Name dialog box appears. The instance name will help you identify and differentiate it from other instances that you may have installed on the same end point. The instance name will be listed in the data directory for the instance as well as in the Add or Remove Programs snap-in. 5. Enter a unique instance name, for example IDG. 6. Click Next to display the Ports configuration dialog box. 7. Leave ports at their default values unless you have conflicts with the default values. 8. Click N