Trying to install Discourse in an Ubuntu VM on Proxmox

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AI-generated summary

naupe is trying to install Discourse on an Ubuntu 18.04 VM running under Proxmox but encounters a “no space left on device” error during ./launcher start app, despite having allocated 100GB to the VM. Disk usage shows only 5GB used, and GParted confirms the full 100GB is available on /dev/sda3. Stephen advises following the official standard install guide, noting that third-party guides may not be supported. naupe clarifies they’re adapting the guide for local VM use and seeks help resolving the disk space issue. schleifer identifies the problem: the LVM logical volume (ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv) hasn’t claimed the full 99GB available in the physical volume. They advise using lvresize -l +100%FREE followed by resize2fs to expand the filesystem. naupe confirms success after running these commands, expanding the volume to 90GB and getting the Discourse setup page to load locally. They now plan to tackle external access and may return with further questions.

1

Hello Discourse community,

So I’ve successfully installed Discourse on an already set-up VM as well as on a physical server box. However, recently I bought a PowerEdge R710 and want to set up a Discourse forum in an Ubuntu Server 18.04.2 LTS VM. I’ve installed Proxmox for VM Management.

So I’ve been following this article. and everything has been going well … until I perform ./launcher start app

As it begins, I eventually receive the message no space left on device (pardon the small image sizes, since the Proxmox VM screen is small on my PC):

no_space_left
no_space_left434×284 46.7 KB

Clearly the issue should be obvious. I ran a df -h and received the following:
disk_space
disk_space386×128 9.89 KB

Now you would think I only assigned 5 GB to the VM, but I actually assigned 100 GB, as GParted shows:

gparted
gparted688×264 49.6 KB

So, where would I have assign the extra disk space to get Discourse to run? And I’m just talking about locally within the VM.

2

Why are you following a third-party installation guide?

We can only support installations here which follow the standard install guide.

If you want to use that guide then you consult its author, alternatively you can follow the supported standard install linked above.

3

Its basically the same guide as the Standard Install Guide, just without the Cloud steps (so starting from the Docker steps). I’m not looking to host this server in the Cloud (so not following them), I’m looking to host it in a VM on my server.

And the main Guide does not suggest what to do in case I run into a disk space issue like this. That’s why I’m asking here where would I have assign the extra disk space to get Discourse to start properly.

4

More has to differ between your local server and a vanilla Ubuntu VM for you to be seeing that error.

We make a best effort here to support the standard install. The assumption is that if you choose to alter elements that you have the necessary expertise to do so.

5

The LVM physical volume (sda3) is 99G, but most of that space is not allocated. You need to use lvresize to make ubuntu—vg—ubuntu—lv bigger. Don’t forget the -r flag to also resize the filesystem.

6

@schleifer Thank you for answering!

How do I go about using lveresize? I’m not familiar with resizing partitions.

Looking at some other code examples online, I assume something like this?
lvresize -r +99G /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

Does lvesize know to take the 99 GB in /dev/sda3? More clarity would be helpful.

7

-l +100%FREE

8

@schleifer I got it! I did the following:

sudo /sbin/lvresize -l +100%FREE /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv
sudo /sbin/resize2fs /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv now has 90 GB! I also got the Discourse Setup to come up in my browser (localhost)!

Of course, I’ll still need to figure out how to set it up so Discourse can be accessed outside the VM, which will be a new challenge for me from previous installs, but I’m glad I’ve gotten this far in 2 days.

I will likely post more progress here if I run into any more issues :slight_smile: