unable to resize root partition on EC2 centos

I got the same problem. All I need to do is

1. reboot the instance

2. run the command

   sudo resize2fs -f /dev/xxxx
   

and it works well for me.

i found a way to do that, resize2fs not working in case not sure why but it says device or resource busy. i found a very good article on resizedisk using fdisk we can increase block size by deleting and creating it and Make the partition bootable. all it requires is a reboot. it wont effect your data if you use same start cylinder.

# df -h  <<1>>

Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/xvda1      6.0G  2.0G  3.7G  35% / 
tmpfs            15G     0   15G   0% /dev/shm

# fdisk -l  <<2>>

Disk /dev/xvda: 21.5 GB, 21474836480 bytes
97 heads, 17 sectors/track, 25435 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 1649 * 512 = 844288 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0003b587

    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/xvda1   *           2        7632     6291456   83  Linux

# fdisk /dev/xvda  <<3>>

WARNING: DOS-compatible mode is deprecated. It's strongly recommended to
         switch off the mode (command 'c') and change display units to
         sectors (command 'u').

Command (m for help): u  <<4>>
Changing display/entry units to sectors

Command (m for help): p  <<5>>

Disk /dev/xvda: 21.5 GB, 21474836480 bytes
97 heads, 17 sectors/track, 25435 cylinders, total 41943040 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0003b587

    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/xvda1   *        2048    12584959     6291456   83  Linux

Command (m for help): d  <<6>>
Selected partition 1

Command (m for help): n  <<7>>
Command action
   e   extended
   p   primary partition (1-4)
p  <<8>>
Partition number (1-4): 1  <<9>>
First sector (17-41943039, default 17): 2048  <<10>>
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (2048-41943039, default 41943039): <<11>>
Using default value 41943039

Command (m for help): p <<12>>

Disk /dev/xvda: 21.5 GB, 21474836480 bytes
97 heads, 17 sectors/track, 25435 cylinders, total 41943040 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0003b587

    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/xvda1            2048    41943039    20970496   83  Linux

Command (m for help): a  <<13>>
Partition number (1-4): 1  <<14>>


Command (m for help): w  <<15>>
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

WARNING: Re-reading the partition table failed with error 16: Device or resource busy.
The kernel still uses the old table. The new table will be used at
the next reboot or after you run partprobe(8) or kpartx(8)
Syncing disks.

# reboot  <<16>>

<wait>

# df -h  <<17>>
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/xvda1       20G  2.0G   17G  11% / 
tmpfs            15G     0   15G   0% /dev/shm

# resize2fs /dev/xvda1  <<18>>
resize2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
The filesystem is already 5242624 blocks long.  Nothing to do!

The following steps very simple works very well for me:

# lsblk
NAME    MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
xvda    202:0    0  30G  0 disk 
└─xvda1 202:1    0   8G  0 part /

Perform the following command as root:

# yum install cloud-utils-growpart

# growpart /dev/xvda 1

# reboot

After the reboot:

# lsblk
NAME    MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
xvda    202:0    0  30G  0 disk 
└─xvda1 202:1    0  30G  0 part /