Skip to main content

LVM

Logical Volume Management

Tutorial

Tutorial

See also​

  • OpenZFS (Volume Manager + File System)

Config file​

/etc/lvm/lvm.conf
AbbreviationName
PVPhysical Volume
VGVolume Group
LVLogical Volume

LVM

Scan for all available devices for LVM​

lvmdiskscan
pvscan

Change partition type ID to LVM​

Optional

gdisk <device>

Command (? for help): t
Partition number (1-X): <partition>
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300): 8e00
Command (? for help): w
fdisk <device>

Command (m for help): t
Partition type (type L to list all types): L
Partition type (type L to list all types): <Linux LVM type ID>
Command (m for help): w

PV (Physical Volume)​

Create PV​

# <device> = <disk> | <partition>
pvcreate <device>[ ...]

Remove PV​

vgreduce <VG> <PV>
pvremove <PV>

Show PV information​

pvs
pvdisplay

Resize PV​

pvs will auto detect available space and extend the PV

# pvs <pv> [--setphysicalvolumesize <size>]

pvs /dev/sda1

# or specify size 1T

pvs /dev/sda1 --setphysicalvolumesize 1T

VG (Volume Group)​

Create VG​

vgcreate <VG name> <PV> ...

Add PV to VG​

vgextend <VG name> <PV> ...

Remove VG​

vgremove <VG name>

Show VG information​

vgs
vgdisplay

LV (Logical Volume)​

Create LV​

lvcreate 
    [
        -L <size>[K|M|G|T|P|E] |
        -l <percent>[%{VG|FREE}]
    ]
    -–type { linear | raid1 | raid5 | raid6 }
    -n <LV name>
    <VG name>

Show LV information​

lvs
lvdisplay

Remove LV​

lvremove <LV>

Resize LV​

lvresize 
    {
        { -L | --size } {+|-}<size>[K|M|G|T|P|E] |
        { -l | --extends } {+|-}<percent>[%{VG|FREE}]
    }
    # Auto resize2fs
    [ -r | --resizefs ]
    <LV>

Unmount LV (Optional)

umount <LV>

Resize LV to use all free space

# lvresize -l +100%FREE -r <LV>

lvresize -l +100%FREE -r /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv

--resizefs is similar to do the following

  • Check file system

    fsck -f <LV>

  • Resize file system

    resize2fs <LV> <size>[s|K|M|G]

Troubleshooting​

Device <device> excluded by a filter​

pvcreate -vvv <device> |& grep <device>

Skipping: Partition table signature found​

# Wipe all magic strings (BE CAREFUL!)
wipefs --all <device>