abiosoft/colima · error

error resizing disk: %w, output: %s

Error message

error resizing disk: %w, output: %s

What it means

Returned by limautil.ResizeDisk when 'limactl disk resize <profileID> --size <N>GiB' fails; stdout/stderr of limactl is appended to the message. Colima calls this when 'colima start --disk' grows an existing VM disk.

Source

Thrown at environment/vm/lima/limautil/disk.go:62

	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error creating lima disk: %w, output: %s", err, buf.String())
	}

	return nil
}

// ResizeDisk resizes disk to new size
func ResizeDisk(size int) error {
	name := config.CurrentProfile().ID

	var buf bytes.Buffer
	cmd := Limactl("disk", "resize", name, "--size", fmt.Sprintf("%dGiB", size))
	cmd.Stderr = &buf
	cmd.Stdout = &buf

	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error resizing disk: %w, output: %s", err, buf.String())
	}

	return nil
}

// DeleteDisk deletes lima disk for the current instance.
func DeleteDisk() error {
	name := config.CurrentProfile().ID

	var buf bytes.Buffer
	cmd := Limactl("disk", "delete", name)
	cmd.Stderr = &buf
	cmd.Stdout = &buf

	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error deleting lima disk: %w, output: %s", err, buf.String())
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to c3a5f9184d)

Solutions

1. Only grow: pick a new size strictly greater than the current disk size
2. Confirm the disk exists: 'limactl disk list'
3. Ensure host free space covers the delta
4. Inspect the 'output:' field for limactl's reason and address it directly

Example fix

# before: shrink rejected
colima start --disk 20   # was 60GiB -> error resizing disk
# after: grow only
colima start --disk 80

// grow-only guard before resizing
info, err := limautil.Instance() // current size in info.Disk
if err == nil && newSizeGiB <= info.Disk {
    return fmt.Errorf("new size %d must exceed current %d", newSizeGiB, info.Disk)
}
return limautil.ResizeDisk(newSizeGiB)

When it happens

Trigger: Resizing to a size smaller than the disk's current size (limactl only grows), resizing a disk that does not exist (name = current profile ID), or host filesystem lacking space for the growth.

Common situations: 'colima start --disk 20' after the VM was created with --disk 60 (shrink attempt); resizing while the disk is attached and limactl refuses; stale/deleted lima disk after 'limactl disk delete'.

Related errors

• error creating lima disk: %w, output: %s
• error creating runtime disk: %w
• unable to resize disk: %w
• error deleting lima disk: %w, output: %s
• error deleting container data: %w

AI-assisted analysis of abiosoft/colima@c3a5f9184d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c9e5eecff13c13b4. Report an issue: GitHub.