Fix Docker ‘No Space Left on Device’ on VMware by Expanding LVM Partitions

Problem Description

A VMware‑created server was allocated a 200 GB system disk, but starting an ~11 GB Docker service fails with the error no space left on device. The underlying cause is that the logical volume used for Docker’s isolation (mounted at /var) is only 1 GB.

Investigation

Check the disk and LVM layout:

NAME                    MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda                       8:0    0    1T  0 disk
├─sda1                    8:1    0    1M  0 part
├─sda2                    8:2    0    1G  0 part /boot
└─sda3                    8:3    0  199G  0 part
  ├─VolGroup00-LogVol03 253:0    0   30G  0 lvm  /
  ├─VolGroup00-LogVol00 253:1    0 15.7G  0 lvm  [SWAP]
  ├─VolGroup00-LogVol02 253:2    0    1G  0 lvm  /var
  └─VolGroup00-LogVol01 253:3    0    1G  0 lvm  /tmp
sr0                      11:0    1  1.5G  0 rom

The root filesystem resides on VolGroup00-LogVol03 (30 GB). The Docker isolation volume /var is backed by VolGroup00-LogVol02, which is only 1 GB, causing the space shortage.

Solution – Expand System Partition

Extend the root logical volume by 100 GB:

lvextend -L +100G /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol03
# Output
Size of logical volume VolGroup00/LogVol03 changed from 30.00 GiB (7680 extents) to 130.00 GiB (33280 extents).
Logical volume VolGroup00/LogVol03 successfully resized

Resize the filesystem to use the new space:

resize2fs /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol03
resize2fs 1.46.4 (18-Aug-2021)
Filesystem at /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol03 is mounted on /; on-line resizing required
old_desc_blocks = 4, new_desc_blocks = 17
The filesystem on /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol03 is now 34078720 (4k) blocks long.

Verify the changes:

lsblk
... (shows LogVol03 now 130G)

df -hT
Filesystem                      Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol03 ext4      128G   17G  106G  14% /

Solution – Expand Docker Isolation Volume

Extend VolGroup00-LogVol02 (the /var volume) by 50 GB:

lvextend -L +50G /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol02
Size of logical volume VolGroup00/LogVol02 changed from 1.00 GiB (256 extents) to 51.00 GiB (13056 extents).
Logical volume VolGroup00/LogVol02 successfully resized.

Resize its filesystem:

resize2fs /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol02
resize2fs 1.46.4 (18-Aug-2021)
Filesystem at /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol02 is mounted on /var; on-line resizing required
old_desc_blocks = 1, new_desc_blocks = 7
The filesystem on /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol02 is now 13369344 (4k) blocks long.

Confirm the new capacity:

df -hT
Filesystem                      Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol02 ext4       51G   66M   49G   1% /var

After extending both the root and Docker’s /var logical volumes and resizing their filesystems, Docker can now start without encountering the “no space left on device” error.