SignLogger is a virtual appliance that runs on virtualization platforms such as VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V and Proxmox VE. As your log archive grows you may need to increase disk capacity. This guide explains, step by step, how to safely expand SignLogger's disk on all three platforms.
Overview: How Disk Expansion Works
A SignLogger virtual appliance has two disks:
- System (root) disk: where SignLogger itself runs. It never needs expanding — do not touch it.
- Data disk: where the log archive lives. Capacity increases are made only on this disk, and expansion is supported up to 64 TB.
Expanding SignLogger's disk is really just expanding the appliance's data disk on the hypervisor. Nothing needs to be done inside SignLogger; the process has four steps:
- Shut down SignLogger gracefully.
- Extend the data disk on your virtualization platform.
- Start SignLogger — the appliance detects the larger disk at boot and performs the expansion automatically.
- When done, the new capacity appears on the status page and in disk management.
Important: disks can only be grown; shrinking is not supported. Choose the new size with headroom but stay measured — you can grow again later, up to 64 TB, using the same procedure.
Before You Start
- Identify the correct disk. The disk to expand is the data disk: of the two disks attached to the VM it is the second and larger one (e.g. "Hard disk 2" in VMware). To be sure, compare its current size with the data disk capacity shown in SignLogger's disk management screen. Do not expand the system disk.
- Plan a short outage. While SignLogger is off, logs sent by your devices cannot be collected. Schedule the work for a low-traffic window; the hypervisor-side expansion usually takes 1–2 minutes.
- Remove snapshots/checkpoints. None of the three platforms allows expanding a disk that has snapshots: VMware greys out the size field, Hyper-V disables the Edit button and Proxmox returns an error. Delete snapshots first (deletion merges them — no data is lost).
- Check storage space. The datastore/storage volume must have free space equal to the capacity you are adding.
- Keep your backups current. Disk expansion is a routine, safe operation; still, as with any major infrastructure change, an up-to-date backup is good practice.
Step 1: Shut Down SignLogger
Disk expansion is performed while the appliance is off. Shut SignLogger down gracefully from the management interface or console menu, and confirm on the hypervisor that the VM state is fully Powered Off / Stopped.
Warning: the hypervisor's Power Off / Stop action is the equivalent of pulling the plug and can prevent the last writes from reaching disk. Always prefer a graceful shutdown.
Step 2: Extend the Virtual Disk
Follow the section for your virtualization platform.
VMware ESXi / vSphere
- Locate the SignLogger VM in vSphere Client or the ESXi Host Client.
- Check snapshots first: right-click the VM, open Snapshots > Manage Snapshots; if any exist, use Delete All and wait for consolidation to finish.
- Right-click the VM and open Edit Settings.
- Select the data disk — the larger of the two, usually listed as Hard disk 2 — and change the size to the new total capacity (e.g. 250 GB → 500 GB). This field is the total size.
- Save with OK.
If the size field is not editable (greyed out), the VM still has a snapshot or a backup job is holding a lock on the disk; revisit step 2.
Microsoft Hyper-V
- Locate the SignLogger VM in Hyper-V Manager.
- Delete any checkpoints: select the VM, right-click entries in the Checkpoints pane and choose Delete Checkpoint (or Delete Checkpoint Subtree), then wait for merging to complete.
- Right-click the VM and open Settings.
- Select the Hard Drive entry of the data disk — the larger (second) one; use Inspect to verify its size if unsure — and click Edit.
- In the wizard choose Expand, enter the new total size and finish with Finish.
The same operation via PowerShell (adjust path and size to your environment):
Resize-VHD -Path "D:\Hyper-V\SignLogger\SignLogger.vhdx" -SizeBytes 500GBIf the Edit button is inactive, the dialog shows a "checkpoint exists" warning — delete the checkpoints first.
Proxmox VE
- Select the SignLogger VM in the Proxmox web interface.
- Delete any snapshots on the Snapshots tab.
- On the Hardware tab select the data disk — the larger of the two (e.g.
scsi1). - Open Disk Action > Resize.
- Enter the capacity to add. Note: in Proxmox this field is not the total size but the amount added on top of the current size (to grow a 250 GB disk to 500 GB, enter 250).
- Confirm with Resize disk.
The same operation from the Proxmox console (example adds 100 GB; adjust the VM ID and disk name):
qm resize 101 scsi1 +100GStep 3: Start SignLogger — Automatic Expansion
Start the virtual machine. SignLogger detects the size increase at boot and performs the expansion itself; no action is required on your side.
Very important: do not shut down or restart SignLogger until the expansion completes. Depending on the added capacity it may take several minutes. The appliance boots normally and keeps working during this time; the expansion finishes in the background.
Step 4: Verify
When the expansion completes, the new capacity is visible on the status page and in the disk management screen of the SignLogger management interface. Check that total and free space show the expected new size, and confirm the appliance is collecting logs again.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Size field greyed out in VMware | The VM has a snapshot, or a backup job is locking the disk | Delete all snapshots via Manage Snapshots; wait for running backups to finish. |
| Edit button inactive in Hyper-V | The VM has checkpoints | Delete the checkpoints, wait for merging, then retry. |
| Resize fails in Proxmox | The disk has snapshots or the storage volume is full | Delete entries on the Snapshots tab; check free space on the storage volume. |
| SignLogger is up but the new size doesn't show | Expansion is still running in the background | Wait a few minutes and refresh the status page. If nothing changes, restart the appliance gracefully once; if it still doesn't appear, contact technical support. |
| I accidentally grew the disk too much | Shrinking is not supported | If you notice before starting SignLogger, you can roll back from a hypervisor backup; once the appliance has booted, the size is permanent — contact technical support. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which disk should be expanded?
Only the data disk. SignLogger has two disks — the system (root) disk and the data disk; the log archive lives on the data disk and capacity increases are made only there. On the hypervisor, the data disk is the second and larger of the two.
What is the maximum size of the data disk?
The data disk can be expanded up to 64 TB. If you are approaching this limit, we recommend planning your archive strategy together with our technical support team.
Can the disk be shrunk?
No. Expansion is one-way; SignLogger disks cannot be shrunk. Be measured when choosing the new size — you can always grow again later using the same procedure.
Will I lose logs during the expansion?
While SignLogger is off, logs sent by your devices cannot be collected. The outage is usually limited to a few minutes; schedule the work for a low-traffic window to minimize the impact. Once the appliance is back up, log collection resumes.
Can I expand the disk while SignLogger is running?
No. The supported method is expanding the disk while the appliance is off. SignLogger detects the new capacity during boot, so follow the shut down → extend → start sequence.