Clone fixed size linux vdi to smaller vdi

[svbhvman]

OK, so I made a large fixed size vdi to act as a file server. However; I ended up storing the files on a separate drive on the host and just mounting the drive and sharing the files. Now I have a vdi with only 3Gig of data taking up 300Gig of my hosts drive. The vdi is ubuntu server if that matters at all. GParted will not let me resize the partitions because it shows that the entire 300Gig is used. How can I get this on a smaller, say 8 to 10 Gig vdi? Also, CloneVDI would not shrink it either.

Help!!!

[mpack]

You probably don't need to shrink the capacity. Just clone it using CloneVDI, with the "Compact" option enabled. The result will be a dynamic VDI which is no larger than it needs to be to accomodate the data you've got stored on the drive. If you really want to shrink the capacity then do it by shrinking the internal main partition using gparted, before compacting using CloneVDI. The drive size will not change, but this means that the guest OS can't use the entire drive - at least until you choose to enlarge the partition again.

[svbhvman]

Thanks it worked. I tried CloneVDI once before but must have been "off my meds" at the time. I thought, incorrectly, that I had to enter a target reduced size and it failed. The word "increase" in front of the box where I entered the target size should have been a clue that I was possibly having a stroke when I decided to do that. Anyway, I appear to have my meds straightened out and I am lucid once again.