This post isn’t designed to be a “how to” merely an overview of how I achieved the subject. It is possible to do this without any physical intervention but in practice I have had to visit site at least once to fix a boot error on every one I have done.
Disclaimer:- When attempting this having some sort of remote access solution that will give access to the server even when it won’t boot is desirable i.e. BMC, DRAC or KVM over IP. Obviously resizing and deleting partitions and file systems is very dangerous so you need to be ultra careful and ultra sure you understand the process and exactly what you are doing at each step. It may also be helpful to draw the partition layout at each stage so you have a clear view of what is happening. Don’t come crying to me when it all blows up in your face. You have been warned!