How to add a VMWARE virtual disk on CentOS.
*WARNING* THIS CAN RESULT IN FILE SYSTEM CORRUPTION IF DONE IMPROPERLY.
Backup SERVER is *STRONGLY* recommended.
First just check the partition table of the virtual disk in the VM
# fdisk -l
Now, shutdown the guest in preparation to add the additional virtual disk
# shutdown
Check system again
# fdisk -l
# fdisk /dev/sdb
# n {new partition}
# p {primary partition}
# 1 {select partition number, by default 1 is the next available}
# t {select partition id we just made (1)}
# p {print. the new device should be described as Linux LVM}
# w {write to memory}
You will need to reboot if fdisk updated kernel tables, just follow the recommendation message that will show up.
# reboot
You can check the partition table after the reboot if you like, make sure it looks like what you expect
fdisk -l /dev/sdb
Disk /dev/sdb: 85.8 GB, 85899345920 bytes
Now, create a new physical volume from the new partition
# pvcreate /dev/sdb1
# mkdir /mnt/cache
Then (I prefer XFS system, you also can use ext4)
# /sbin/mkfs.xfs -L /mnt/cache /dev/sdb1
Configuring CentOS 6 to Automatically Mount a File System
In order to set up the system so that the new file system is automatically mounted at boot time an entry needs to be added to the /etc/fstab file.
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/cache xfs defaults 1 2
Done.
