Delete partition?

[Al-linuxnewb]

Here is a screenshot of my HD partitions



I've filled the first 5GB that is mounted at /. The next 5GB is mounted at /home.

I'm almost to capacity in the / partition. Is it possible to remove the /home mount point and create a larger 10GB partition without reinstalling?

If there is a way - please let me know how!

Thanks in adance,

al

[scott_R]

Yes, install gparted, then juggle the partitions around. Alternatively, create your "free" space, then add an entry to fstab in a way that mounts the extra space in the most beneficial way. You most definitely don't need to reinstall the whole works, it's just a matter of researching the options and making them work for you. As always, backup anything irreplaceable before you play with anything unfamiliar.

[Al-linuxnewb]

I have a gParted live disk...

1.) Load it
2.) Delete / Partition
3.) Delete /Home Partition
4.) Take free space and create a new mount point of /.

Does that sound right?

Or do I have to do this from within the OS - meaning using it from the installed version rather than the live CD?

Thanks

[markfiend]

If you delete your partitions, you will delete everything that's on them.

I would (using the gparted live CD) shrink the 188GB partition -- maybe down to 180GB -- and split the extra 8G between / and /home.

Or if you prefer, remove the /home partition (losing all the data therein) and add the free space to your / partition.

[scott_R]

It might be safer to make the changes from a LiveCD (if something goes wrong, you won't crash, plus they need to be unmounted to make changes, but there are "tricky" ways to do this on a running system). It will take quite a bit longer (perhaps an hour or so extra), but I'd prefer adjust the partition sizes instead of deleting them, opening up space, moving the information in the /home (or other partition) "sideways", then increase the size of the / partition to fill in the new space. Gparted can do this with little effort.

Naturally, backing up your irreplaceable information is a must, especially if you're not used to making these changes, or the power goes out in the middle of these changes, etc.

[Al-linuxnewb]

Thanks for the timley replies!

Other info - I keep all of my neccesary data on a network share on another drive, so deleting /home won't be an issue.

I don't want to mess with the 188GB too much because it s a share on the network for pictures and video.

New plan:
-gParted live CD
-delete /home partition (2nd 5GB in the pic above)
-add the unused space to the / partition

Issues:
-What will happen when there is no /home directory on boot?
-I don't have the CD with me.. What do I have to do in gParted to assimilate unused space into an existing partition?

Thanks

[Al-linuxnewb]

Well-I went ahead and did it.

After deleting the 2nd partition, fstab was unhappy because it was trying to mount a device that no longer existed...

It wouldn't allow me to even get to a command line - So I had to reinstall

It's installed and running - I just wish I didn't have to do it...