Re: [Libguestfs] virt-resize problem for Windows 2003

On Wed, Nov 06, 2013 at 10:58:06AM +0800, Xinglong Wu wrote: > Hi, > > I'm using virt-resize to expand the primary partition (C:) in a > Windows 2003 image. The command works fine but after expanding, when I boot > into Windows 2003, all the other partitions (D:, E:, and F:) are lost. I can see why this would happen. In the Windows registry, Windows stores drive letter mappings using a (basically crazy) system using the partition offset. It is described here: http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/partsigs.shtml "How does Windows XP remember drive letters?" We implement this in libguestfs: https://github.com/libguestfs/libguestfs/blob/aee6fc4863c170d08e572dbdcfc... Virt-resize moves partitions around, so of course the partition offset changes and we don't update the registry to reflect this. As a result Windows cannot find the D:/E:/... partitions any longer. (I believe the C: drive probably works a bit differently, so the C: drive isn't "lost"). Anyway, we could conceivably fix up the Registry in virt-resize. You would need to file an RFE bug: http://libguestfs.org/guestfs-faq.1.html#how-do-i-propose-a-feature Patches would be even better, since I don't know when we'd get around to fixing such a complex corner-case. > After using the disk management tool within Windows 2003, I can re-label > the above three partitions and all the files are still there. But it is > really annoying because every time you have to do some work by hand after > expanding the disk size. As below is the details: > > Host OS: RHEL6.3 > libguestfs: libguestfs-1.16.19-1.el6.x86_64 > libguestfs-tools-c-1.16.19-1.el6.x86_64 > libguestfs-winsupport-1.0-7.el6.x86_64 It won't fix your problem, but there is a newer version of libguestfs available for RHEL 6 users: https://www.redhat.com/archives/libguestfs/2013-May/msg00100.html > Guest OS partitions: > C: /dev/sda1 primary > D: /dev/sda5 logical > E: /dev/sda6 logical > F: /dev/sda7 logical > > Also, if I use virt-resize on logical partitions (i.e., D: E: or F:), the > command runs fine but logical partitions don't actually expand. Exactly the > same problem as descripted above shows up, and now, these logical > partitions don't even change their sizes. Any suggestions? Virt-resize cannot resize individual logical partitions. It can only resize the extended partition that contains the logical partitions. See: http://libguestfs.org/virt-resize.1.html#logical-partitions This is not expected to change any time soon. Rich. -- Richard Jones, Virtualization Group, Red Hat http://people.redhat.com/~rjones virt-p2v converts physical machines to virtual machines. Boot with a live CD or over the network (PXE) and turn machines into KVM guests. http://libguestfs.org/virt-v2v