Resizing default local storage

[sancla]

Hello everyone,

I have a question that may have been asked before.
Sorry for this, this is not intended.

Together with a few friends, we've rented a dedicated server from a hosting provider.
We've installed Proxmox on it and set up several VMs.
===> Installation is done by using the "installimage script provided by Hetzner", for installing Proxmox on Debian.

Now, I noticed that with the default installation, the "local" storage is only 15GB in size, while the physical disks are around 960GB in total (2 disks RAID1).

I searched the forum, but I found that not all information and tips could be directly applied to my situation. That’s probably also due to my limited insight, knowledge, and experience. From what I've read (like in this thread: https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/resize-local-or-local-lvm-and-how.105263/), it appears that resizing the disk space for VMs can result in data loss, meaning I’d lose the VMs currently stored there.

Is there a way to expand the default Proxmox volume without losing data?
Am I even using a proper setup here, or would it make more sense to structure things differently?

Please excuse all the questions, I’m still a newbie and could really use some help.
Thanks in advance if you’re willing to assist me.

I've already gathered some information from this forum that seems relevant to the challenge I'm facing:

Hardware specs

CPU:         Intel Xeon E-2176G
Memory:     64 GB (4 x RAM 16384 MB DDR4 ECC)
Disks:         2 x SSD U.2 NVMe 960 GB Datacenter - Software RAID1
Network:     1 x NIC 1 Gbit - Intel I219-LM
OS:         Debian 12 with Proxmox (based on Hetzner install image)

Installimage script provided by Hetzner

I used the "installimage script provided by Hetzner", for installing Proxmox on Debian.
The benefit of this, is that the correct network is preconfigured (no hardware console access).

https://docs.hetzner.com/robot/dedicated-server/operating-systems/installimage/

root@proxmox-001 ~ # pvs

  PV         VG  Fmt  Attr PSize   PFree

  /dev/md1   vg0 lvm2 a--  893.12g 872.12g

root@proxmox-001 ~ # vgs

  VG  #PV #LV #SN Attr   VSize   VFree

  vg0   1   2   0 wz--n- 893.12g 872.12g

root@proxmox-001~#lvs

  LV   VG  Attr       LSize  Pool Origin Data%  Meta%  Move Log Cpy%Sync Convert

  root vg0 -wi-ao---- 15.00g

  swap vg0 -wi-ao----  6.00g

root@proxmox-001 ~ # lsblk

NAME           MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINTS

nvme1n1        259:0    0 894.3G  0 disk

├─nvme1n1p1    259:1    0     1G  0 part

│ └─md0          9:0    0  1022M  0 raid1 /boot

└─nvme1n1p2    259:2    0 893.3G  0 part

  └─md1          9:1    0 893.1G  0 raid1

    ├─vg0-root 252:0    0    15G  0 lvm   /

    └─vg0-swap 252:1    0     6G  0 lvm   [SWAP]

nvme0n1        259:3    0 894.3G  0 disk

├─nvme0n1p1    259:4    0     1G  0 part

│ └─md0          9:0    0  1022M  0 raid1 /boot

└─nvme0n1p2    259:5    0 893.3G  0 part

  └─md1          9:1    0 893.1G  0 raid1

    ├─vg0-root 252:0    0    15G  0 lvm   /

    └─vg0-swap 252:1    0     6G  0 lvm   [SWAP]

cat /etc/pve/storage.cfg

dir: local
        path /var/lib/vz
        content snippets,backup,images,iso,vztmpl,rootdir
        prune-backups keep-all=1

 

[LnxBil]

It looks like you have LVM running with 872 GB free, which should be the default storage location for your VMs, not the local storage. Please post the output of cat /etc/pve/storage.cfg in CODE tags for further analysis.

 

[Impact]

Is there a way to expand the default Proxmox volume without losing data?

Since you have enough free space in the VG you can simply increase the root volume and its file system from 15G to 32G like this

lvresize -r -L 32G pve/root

Am I even using a proper setup here

I wouldn't say so, no. Here's how a typical default storage setup the installer creates looks like. Also see options.
You might want to create a thin pool like the installer would to store your guest disks on. local/root should only be used for files such as isos, templates, backups, etc. File based virtual disks are slow and CTs don't support snapshots with them.

Since you use RAID I would have recommended ZFS. Depends a bit on the drive models though as ZVOLs are punishing, especially on HDDs. Also see here.

 

[sancla]

It looks like you have LVM running with 872 GB free, which should be the default storage location for your VMs, not the local storage. Please post the output of cat /etc/pve/storage.cfg in CODE tags for further analysis.

Hi LnxBil,

Thanks for helping.
Here are the results:

cat /etc/pve/storage.cfg

dir: local
        path /var/lib/vz
        content snippets,backup,images,iso,vztmpl,rootdir
        prune-backups keep-all=1

 

[sancla]

...
sancla said: Am I even using a proper setup here
I wouldn't say so, no. Here's how a typical default storage setup the installer creates looks like. Also see options.
...

Now that I'm thinking of this, I did not use the official installer image.
Instead, I used the "installimage script provided by Hetzner", for installing Proxmox on Debian.
The benefit of this, is that the correct network is preconfigured.

https://docs.hetzner.com/robot/dedicated-server/operating-systems/installimage/

Perhaps, maybe, this way a different configuration than the default is used for installation and configuration.
Missing the correct default storage volumes.