How to extend the ext4 primary partition

The below steps can be followed if you need to expand the ext4 primary partition of an Ubuntu 12.04 server partition. The same procedure can be followed to increase the primary partition on Ubuntu VMs running on VMware vSphere server or Citrix Xenserver.

Note:

You should have Ubuntu Live CD or GParted ISO to achieve this task.

1.    Make CD-ROM as the default boot device in the machine's BIOS settings and then boot with your Ubuntu LiveCD

2.    Run gParted as shown below

3.    Now you will see the GParted screen like this.

4.    Unmount the swap partition by right-clicking on lock icon and click swap off.

5.    Delete the swap partition.

6.    Delete the extended partition.

7.    Resize your primary partition to desired size.

8.    Allocate your swap back again to whatever you like - create an extended partition and then allocate as linux swap. Remember about click swapon.

And that's it. Reboot the machine and now you have a primary partition with more space!