How to Increase the Size of DigitalOcean Volumes Block Storage

If you need more storage space than your current volume provides, you can either attach additional volumes to the same Droplet or increase the size of an existing volume and expand the filesystem, so the operating system can use the additional space.

Before resizing a volume, review the following limitations and recommendations:

• Volume sizes cannot be decreased. Volume resizes are irreversible because filesystem data is not always stored sequentially. Shrinking a volume can result in data loss or corruption. To reduce storage size, create a smaller volume, then transfer the data using a tool such as SnapShooter or rsync.
• Take a snapshot before resizing. Filesystem changes can result in data loss if interrupted. We recommend taking a snapshot before resizing. After confirming the resize is successful, you can delete the snapshot.

Before resizing the volume, unmount the volume using the umount command to prevent data corruption:

sudo umount /mnt/use_your_mount_point

Resize the Volume Using Automation

You can resize a volume using the DigitalOcean CLI (doctl) or the API.

Resize the Volume via the CLI

When resizing a volume via the CLI, you must specify the volume ID and the new size in gigabytes. The new size must be larger than the current size.

Resize the Volume via the API

To resize a volume via the API, send a POST request to the volume actions endpoint and set:

• type to resize.
• size_gigabytes to the desired size in GiB.

# Attach a Volume to a Droplet by ID
curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"type": "attach", "droplet_id": 11612190, "region": "nyc1", "tags":["aninterestingtag"]}' \
  "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/volumes/7724db7c-e098-11e5-b522-000f53304e51/actions"

# Remove a Volume from a Droplet by ID
curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"type": "detach", "droplet_id": "11612190", "region": "nyc1"}' \
  "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/volumes/7724db7c-e098-11e5-b522-000f53304e51/actions"

# Resize a Volume
curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"type":"resize","size_gigabytes": 100, "region":"nyc1"}' \
  "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/volumes/7724db7c-e098-11e5-b522-000f53304e51/actions"

import (
    "context"
    "os"

    "github.com/digitalocean/godo"
)

func main() {
    token := os.Getenv("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN")

    client := godo.NewFromToken(token)
    ctx := context.TODO()

  // Attach a Volume to a Droplet by ID
    action, _, err := client.StorageActions.Attach(ctx, "7724db7c-e098-11e5-b522-000f53304e51", 11612190)

  // Remove a Volume from a Droplet by ID
  // action, _, err := client.StorageActions.Detach(ctx, "7724db7c-e098-11e5-b522-000f53304e51")

  // Resize a Volume
  // action, _, err := client.StorageActions.Resize(ctx, "7724db7c-e098-11e5-b522-000f53304e51", 100, "nyc1")
}

require 'droplet_kit'
token = ENV['DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN']
client = DropletKit::Client.new(access_token: token)

# Attach a Volume to a Droplet by ID
client.volume_actions.attach(volume_id:'7724db7c-e098-11e5-b522-000f53304e51', droplet_id: 11612190, region: 'nyc1'


# Remove a Volume from a Droplet by ID
# client.volume_actions.detach(volume_id:'7724db7c-e098-11e5-b522-000f53304e51', droplet_id: 11612190, region: 'nyc1'

import os
from pydo import Client

client = Client(token=os.environ.get("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"))

req = {
  "type": "attach",
  "droplet_id": 11612190,
  "region": "nyc1",
  "tags": [
    "aninterestingtag"
  ]
}

resp = client.volume_actions.post_by_id(volume_id="7724db7c", body=req)

Resize the Volume Using the Control Panel

To resize the volume using the DigitalOcean Control Panel, go to the Volumes section of the Control Panel. Find the volume you want to resize, click the More dropdown menu on the right, and then select Increase size.

In the Increase volume size window, select or enter a new size that’s at least 1 GB larger than the current size (for example, greater than 100 GB if the volume is currently 100 GB). Volume size increases are irreversible.

Then, click Resize volume. After the resize completes, expand the filesystem.

Expand the Filesystem

After resizing the volume, you need to expand the filesystem. Resizing increases the disk size, but the filesystem doesn’t automatically grow. You must expand the filesystem manually to use the additional space.

First, identify the filesystem type using the df -T command:

df -T /mnt/your_mount_point

sudo resize2fs /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-0DO_example

resize2fs 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)
Filesystem at /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-0DO_example is mounted on /mnt/volume-example; on-line resizing required
...
The filesystem on /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-0DO_example is now 131072000 (4k) blocks long.

sudo xfs_growfs /mnt/your_mount_point

meta-data=/dev/sda               isize=512    agcount=4, agsize=32768000 blks
...
data blocks changed from 131072000 to 157286400

If you receive the error open: No such file or directory while opening /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-0DO_example, ensure the volume is attached and mounted, then retry the command.

Verify the New Size

First, confirm the updated size with the df -h command:

df -h -x tmpfs -x devtmpfs

The Size column reflects the expanded volume capacity:

Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/vda1        20G  1.1G   18G   6% /
/dev/sda        197G   60M  187G   1% /mnt/volume-nyc1-01

Some operating systems require a reboot to recognize the new size. If the updated size does not appear, reboot your Droplet.

If the reported size doesn’t match your expectations, see why filesystem tools may report your volume as smaller than expected.