misc:smaller-qcow2
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Table of Contents
Shrink Qcow2 Disk Files
Linux Guest Preparation
Use the following command to zero out your disk (inside the VM):
# dd if=/dev/zero of=/mytempfile # rm -f /mytempfile
Shrink the Disk File
Shut down the VM.
Create a backup of your existing VM disk file:
# mv image.qcow2 image.qcow2_backup
There are 2 options, one with compression and another without.
Option #1: No Compression
# qemu-img convert -O qcow2 image.qcow2_backup image.qcow2
Option #2: With Compression (performance impact on slower systems)
# qemu-img convert -O qcow2 -c image.qcow2_backup image.qcow2
Boot your VM and verify all is working.
misc/smaller-qcow2.1483279100.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021/01/04 20:40 (external edit)