Today, I was working on an Ubuntu virtual machine hosting a database. The VM had been allocated 200GB of disk space, but the system was reporting that the disk was completely full. After some initial confusion and digging, I discovered something important and surprisingly common:

Extending disk size in VMware does not automatically extend it inside Ubuntu.

If you’ve ever expanded your VM disk and still run into space issues, this guide will walk you through exactly what’s happening and how to fix it step by step.

Quick Fix (3 Steps)

Step 1: Check Disk Layout

lsblk

Look for unused space.
If your disk shows ~200GB but your filesystem is ~100GB → you found the issue.

Step 2: Extend the Logical Volume

sudo lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

This tells Ubuntu to use all available free space.

Step 3: Resize the Filesystem

sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

This step is critical—without it, the extra space won’t be usable.

Step 4: Verify

df -h

You should now see the full disk size available.

Before vs After

Before:

LV size: 197GB
Filesystem: 98GB ❌

After:

LV size: 197GB
Filesystem: 197GB ✅

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