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Bogdan Cornianu
Bogdan Cornianu

Posted on • Originally published at bogdancornianu.com on

Change swap size in Ubuntu 18.04 or newer

#linux #swap #ubuntu

[Updated July 26, 2020]: Change swapfile permission; Set swapfile in /etc/fstab.

Swap is a special area on your computer, which the operating system can use as additional RAM.

Starting with Ubuntu 17.04, the swap partition was replaced by a swap file. The main advantage of the swap file is easy resizing.

Note: before running the following commands, please make sure you have a backup of your data!

In the following example, we’ll extend the swap space available in the /swapfile from 4 GB to 8 GB.

  • Turn off all swap processes 
sudo swapoff -a
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  • Resize the swap 
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1G count=8
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if = input file

of = output file

bs = block size

count = multiplier of blocks

  • Change permission 
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
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  • Make the file usable as swap 
sudo mkswap /swapfile
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  • Activate the swap file 
sudo swapon /swapfile
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  • Edit /etc/fstab and add the new swapfile if it isn’t already there 
/swapfile none swap sw 0 0
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  • Check the amount of swap available 
grep SwapTotal /proc/meminfo
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