Managing storage efficiently is essential for maintaining a stable and scalable Proxmox environment. In this guide, you will learn how to safely resize the Local and Local-LVM partitions step by step. The tutorial explains how to identify disk layouts, extend volumes, and update the Proxmox storage configuration correctly. This process helps you increase available space without reinstalling the system or affecting your existing virtual machines. Each step is presented clearly, making it easy for both beginners and experienced system administrators to follow. You will also learn common issues when resizing partitions and how to fix them. With proper storage expansion, your Proxmox server becomes more flexible and efficient for daily workloads. Follow along to optimize your Proxmox VE setup and unlock more usable storage effortlessly.

Case 1: Reduce local-lvm capacity to increase local capacity

Lab: local 27.21Gb, local-lvm 21.88Gb. Simulate need to increase 10Gb for local

Step 1: Remove local-lvm

Go to GUI  Datacenter  Storage select local-lvm Remove
Go to Shell run command remove pve/data
lvremove pve/data

Step 2: Increase capacity for local

lvresize -L +10GB pve/root –resizefs
resize2fs /dev/pve/root

Step 3: Recreate local-lvm

Recreate local-lvm 5Gb drive (thin pool)
lvcreate -L 5G -ndata pve

Recreate metadata size
lvconvert –type thin-pool –poolmetadatasize 1G pve/data
Gui  Re-add LVM-Thin storage
Add all remaining free space to lvm
lvresize -l +100%FREE pve/data

Case 2: Reduce local capacity to increase local-lvm

Lab: local 27.21Gb, local-lvm 21.88Gb. The emulator needs to increase 10Gb for local-lvm

Step 1: Add Ubuntu Desktop iso file CD

Or boot from usb containing Ubuntu Desktop installation

Step 2: Go to Ubuntu Desktop’s Try interface

Open terminal Check file system errors

sudo e2fsck -f /dev/pve/root

Step 3: Reduce filesystem (reduce before reducing LV)

For example, you want to reduce from 27G to 17G (reduce 10Gb)
sudo resize2fs /dev/pve/root 17G
Note: you must enter the remaining capacity, not the subtracted capacity.

Step 4. Reduce Logical Volume

sudo lvreduce -L 17G /dev/pve/root
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Step 5. Expand pve/data

sudo lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/pve/data

Step 6: Remove CD, shutdown
Restart proxmox and check
lsblk

Note: When not to resize
• If there is a VM with a disk on local-lvm, the LVM-thin pool is busy, and cannot change the partition or expand the volume directly.
• If the filesystem is mounted and in use (e.g. /var/lib/vz on local), it cannot be resized manually while the system is running.
=> Use case 2