virtualbox.org

What I did until now : created a Linux 6 guest Virtual Image using 1 VDI file. My idea is that I would like to stick continue using only one file, when using this virtual image. The maximum of this file is set to 2 terabytes, which is much more than I have, but this reflects that idea : I stop when my physical disk runs out of space.

I installed some software on this virtual machine, on purpose without paying too much attention to the Linux disk setup that was chosen by default.

After this, I'm looking in detail at disk config :
- Most of the 2 terabytes was given to /home
- Some 50 gig is given to /

Obviously, I'm installing software in a subdirectory of the root disk, not in /home

There's different questions I have now, but the most urgent one : how do I end up having about 2 terabytes in the root disk, and NOT in /home ?
Both on VirtualBox image creation and on Linux installation, I used default settings. Who caused this 2 terabytes in /home ?

Thanks

Who caused this 2 terabytes in /home ?

Only one answer here. You did. The actual setup of the disk structure of any guest is either automatic and relies on the guest software or manual which relies on you to give the proper information.

It's the default setup of that guest OS ... wow, that's bad.

OK, next step : fixing.

The 2TB limit seems awfully close to the limit imposed by VirtualBox (in the create new HD dialog), not the default in any of the VM "recipes". Actually the largest suggested for any client is 25GB for Windows greater than Vista and for Linux based OSes it is up to 12GB.

Are you sure you didn't drag the slider of the HD size all the way to the right? Also, remember that data on the guest in dynamic HD mode does NOT equal data on the host, as the VDI is using a sector-based allocation method. Which means that if you keep writing/deleting files in your guest, your actual VDI is going to be increasing.

The problem is not the size, but the location. The default location the guest OS has chosen to put the majority of whatever I had chosen in VirtualBox, is /home
I'd never expect the default behaviour would be that unlogical. Who puts 128 Gig in /home ? Nobody.
I did choose 2 tera, but the point is that the guest OS did something bad with it

Anyway, I don't need 2 tera, but 125 Gig won't be enough either, because I'm going to install lots of server software, and I probably will be deleting and re-installing.
It's bad to hear in that concept, that my VirtualBox image will keep on groing - unlike a real filesystem that re-uses unused space - but also that is part of my testing. I guess that will mean I will need to revert sooner to some VirtualBox backups ...

I'm just guessing this is a nice to have, a very nice to have