InfrastructureCloud VMs

Resize a VM

You can move a running Cloud VM to a larger plan from Settings → Change Plan. The VM is briefly stopped, resources are upgraded in place, and it restarts on the new plan.

Settings tab availability. Change Plan is generally available. The Change OS, SSH Keys, and Hostname sub-tabs on the Settings panel show “This section is under development” today — they’re being rolled out. In the meantime, rebuild from a template (Change OS), add or rotate keys at the organization level (SSH Keys), and set the hostname inside the guest (Hostname).

When to resize

  • CPU sustained near 100% over the 24h range in Monitoring.
  • Memory pressure: high used / total ratio with no free RAM.
  • Disk full on the root volume and you don’t want to attach a separate Block Storage volume.

If only data is growing, attaching a block storage volume is usually a better fit than resizing the whole plan.

Before you begin

  • The VM must be in the Running or Stopped state.
  • Only upgrades are supported in the console — moving to a smaller plan is not available because root disks cannot shrink in place.
  • Available plans depend on the VM’s region. The Change Plan dropdown shows only plans available in the current region.

Steps

1

1. Open Settings

On the server detail page, open the Settings tab. Change Plan is selected by default.

2

2. Review your current plan

The Current Plan card shows your existing vCPU, RAM, and disk — for example 2 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 50 GB NVMe.

3

3. Pick an upgrade

Open the Available Upgrades dropdown and select a plan. The dropdown lists each plan with its name and headline specs:

General Purpose-4vcpu-8GB
4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 100 GB NVMe
General Purpose-8vcpu-16GB
8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 100 GB NVMe

After selection, a Selected Plan summary appears confirming the new specs.

4

4. Confirm and upgrade

Read the Upgrade Process notice:

  1. Your server is briefly stopped for the resize operation.
  2. CPU, RAM, and disk are upgraded to the new plan.
  3. The server automatically restarts with the new resources.
  4. Billing is adjusted to the new plan rate.

Click Upgrade Plan to start. The VM transitions through Stopping → Resizing → Starting → Running.

What changes

ResourceBehavior
vCPU / RAMUpdated atomically during the brief stop.
Root diskGrows to the new plan’s size. The partition is auto-extended; you may need to extend the filesystem inside the guest if it doesn’t auto-grow (see below).
Public IPPreserved.
Attached volumesPreserved and remain attached.
Snapshots / backupsPreserved.
Hostname / SSH keysPreserved.

Extend the root filesystem (Linux)

Most cloud images use cloud-initramfs-growroot and resize automatically on boot. If df -h / still shows the old size after resize, run:

$# Identify the root device
$lsblk
$
$# Grow the partition (adjust device/partition number)
$sudo growpart /dev/vda 1
$
$# Extend the filesystem
$sudo resize2fs /dev/vda1     # ext4
$sudo xfs_growfs /            # XFS

Reboot if any tool reports the partition is busy.

Downgrade

In-console downgrades are not supported. To move to a smaller plan:

  1. Take a snapshot of the current VM.
  2. Use Restore → Create New VM and choose the smaller plan when sizing the new VM.
  3. Cut DNS over to the new VM and delete the old one when verified.

Troubleshooting

The dropdown is empty Your VM’s region only has plans equal to or smaller than the current plan. Check Regions and locations for plan availability.

Resize stuck Open the Activity feed. A failed resize will surface as Operation Failed with a message; the VM will roll back to the original plan automatically.

Disk space didn’t grow Run the growpart / resize2fs commands above. Some images don’t auto-extend on resize.