New VM has Low Disk Space

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
Post Reply
DC7070
Posts: 2
Joined: 11. Jul 2022, 21:35

New VM has Low Disk Space

Post by DC7070 »

Hi -

Recently, I created a Ubuntu 20.04.04 LTS Guest Virtual Machine with a dynamically allocated disk of 10 GB max. Quickly after creating it and doing the normal software update, I decided to check how much free space I had left. I come to find out that 8.8 GB of data had been used up. And I can’t seem to understand why that would happen. Especially since I had only just created the virtual machine and performed a normal software update. Nothing else.

Is it normal for the installation of Ubuntu on a Virtual Machine to take up 8.8 GB?

And if it is normal that the installation takes up that much space; then would the right course of action be to create a new Virtual machine with more space allocated to it?
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: New VM has Low Disk Space

Post by scottgus1 »

Yes, a modern OS takes up many GB of space. Windows 10 weighs in around 16-20 GB in the installs I've done.
DC7070 wrote:create a new Virtual machine with more space allocated to it?
You could, but you can also make the existing disk bigger. How to Resize a Drive
AndyCot
Posts: 296
Joined: 29. Feb 2020, 03:04

Re: New VM has Low Disk Space

Post by AndyCot »

The size of the installation has nothing to do with VirtualBox.

The size on the disk is dependent on the OS used and the options chosen to install and the applications installed. After the initial install with any OS there will be temporary files left on the disc that can be removed by a cleaner that removed unneeded files, but as for which one to use you will need to find one that you are comfortable to use.

One thing you have done is to use a very small HDD in the initial Virtualbox configuration of the hardware configuration of 10GB. Most modern OS have a recommendation of way more than this. Have a look at the following page for an example of this for Ubunu:
https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop

I summary yes it is expected that a 10GB hard disk will fill up quickly with a modern OS.
Post Reply