LVM(8) LVM(8)
NAME
lvm(5,8) - LVM2 tools
SYNOPSIS
lvm(5,8) [command | file(1,n)]
DESCRIPTION
lvm(5,8) provides the command-line tools for LVM2. A separate manual page
describes each command in(1,8) detail.
If lvm(5,8) is invoked with no arguments it presents a readline prompt
(assuming it was compiled with readline support). LVM commands may be
entered interactively at this prompt with readline facilities including
history(1,3,n,1 builtins) and command name and option completion. Refer to readline(3)
for details.
If lvm(5,8) is invoked with argv[0] set(7,n,1 builtins) to the name of a specific LVM com-
mand (for example by using a hard or soft link(1,2)) it acts as that com-
mand.
Where commands take VG or LV names as arguments, the full path name is
optional. An LV called "lvol0" in(1,8) a VG called "vg0" can be specified
as "vg0/lvol0". Where a list of VGs is required but is left empty, a
list of all VGs will be substituted. Where a list of LVs is required
but a VG is given, a list of all the LVs in(1,8) that VG will be substi-
tuted. So "lvdisplay vg0" will display all the LVs in(1,8) "vg0". Tags can
also be used - see addtag below.
One advantage of using the built-in shell is that configuration infor-
mation gets(3,n) cached internally between commands.
A file(1,n) containing a simple script with one command per line can also be
given on the command line. The script can also be executed directly if(3,n)
the first line is #! followed by the absolute path of lvm(5,8).
BUILT-IN COMMANDS
The following commands are built into lvm(5,8) without links normally being
created in(1,8) the filesystem for them.
dumpconfig -- Display the configuration information after
loading lvm.conf (8) and any other configuration files.
formats -- Display recognised metadata formats.
help -- Display the help text.
pvdata -- Not implemented in(1,8) LVM2.
segtypes -- Display recognised logical volume segment types.
version(1,3,5) -- Display version(1,3,5) information.
The following commands are not implemented in(1,8) LVM2 but might be in(1,8)
future: lvmsadc, lvmsar, pvdata, pvresize.
OPTIONS
The following options are available for many of the commands. They are
implemented generically and documented here rather than repeated on
individual manual pages.
-h | --help -- Display the help text.
--version -- Display version(1,3,5) information.
-v | --verbose -- Set verbose level.
Repeat from 1 to 3 times to increase the detail of messages sent
to stdout and stderr. Overrides config(1,5) file(1,n) setting.
-d | --debug -- Set debug level.
Repeat from 1 to 6 times to increase the detail of messages sent
to the log file(1,n) and/or syslog(2,3,5,3 Sys::Syslog) (if(3,n) configured). Overrides config(1,5)
file(1,n) setting.
--quiet -- Suppress output and log messages.
Overrides -d and -v.
-t | --test -- Run in(1,8) test mode.
Commands will not update(7,n) metadata. This is implemented by dis-
abling all metadata writing but nevertheless returning success
to the calling function. This may lead to unusual error(8,n) mes-
sages in(1,8) multi-stage operations if(3,n) a tool relies on reading back
metadata it believes has changed but hasn't.
--driverloaded { y | n }
Whether or not the device-mapper kernel driver is loaded. If
you set(7,n,1 builtins) this to n, no attempt will be made to contact the
driver.
-A | --autobackup { y | n }
Whether or not to metadata should be backed up automatically
after a change. You are strongly advised not to disable this!
See vgcfgbackup (8).
-P | --partial
When set(7,n,1 builtins), the tools will do their best to provide access(2,5) to vol-
ume groups that are only partially available. Where part of a
logical volume is missing, /dev/ioerror will be substituted, and
you could use dmsetup (8) to set(7,n,1 builtins) this up to return I/O errors
when accessed, or create it as a large block device of nulls.
Metadata may not be changed with this option. To insert a
replacement physical volume of the same or large size use pvcre-
ate -u to set(7,n,1 builtins) the uuid to match the original followed by vgcf-
grestore (8).
-M | --metadatatype type
Specifies which type of on-disk metadata to use, such as lvm1 or
lvm2, which can be abbreviated to 1 or 2 respectively. The
default (lvm2) can be changed by setting format in(1,8) the global
section of the config(1,5) file.
--ignorelockingfailure
This lets you proceed with read-only metadata operations such as
lvchange -ay and vgchange -ay even if(3,n) the locking module fails.
One use for this is in(1,8) a system init script if(3,n) the lock direc-
tory is mounted read-only when the script runs.
--addtag tag
Add the tag tag to a PV, VG or LV. A tag is a word that can be
used to group LVM2 objects of the same type together. Tags can
be given on the command line in(1,8) place of PV, VG or LV arguments.
Tags should be prefixed with @ to avoid ambiguity. Each tag is
expanded by replacing it with all objects possessing that tag
which are of the type expected by its position on the command
line. PVs can only possess tags while they are part of a Volume
Group: PV tags are discarded if(3,n) the PV is removed from the VG.
As an example, you could tag some LVs as database and others as
userdata and then activate the database ones with lvchange -ay
@database. Objects can possess multiple tags simultaneously.
Only the new LVM2 metadata format supports tagging: objects
using the LVM1 metadata format cannot be tagged because the on-
disk format does not support it. Snapshots cannot be tagged.
Characters allowed in(1,8) tags are: A-Z a-z 0-9 _ + . -
--deltag tag
Delete the tag tag from a PV, VG or LV, if(3,n) it's present.
--alloc AllocationPolicy
The allocation policy to use: contiguous, normal, anywhere or
inherit. When a command needs to allocate physical extents from
the volume group, the allocation policy controls how they are
chosen. Each volume group and logical volume has an allocation
policy. The default for a volume group is normal which applies
common-sense rules such as not placing parallel stripes on the
same physical volume. The default for a logical volume is
inherit which applies the same policy as for the volume group.
These policies can be changed using lvchange (8) and vgchange
(8) or over-ridden on the command line of any command that per-
forms allocation. The contiguous policy requires that new
extents are adjacent to existing extents. If there are suffi-
cient free extents to satisfy an allocation request but normal
doesn't use them, anywhere will - even if(3,n) that reduces perfor-
mance by placing two stripes on the same physical volume.
N.B. The policies described above are not implemented fully yet.
In particular, contiguous does not place new extents adjacent to
existing extents and anywhere is not implemented at all.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
LVM_SYSTEM_DIR
Directory containing lvm.conf and other LVM system files.
Defaults to "/etc/lvm(5,8)".
HOME Directory containing .lvm_history if(3,n) the internal readline shell
is invoked.
LVM_VG_NAME
The volume group name that is assumed for any reference to a
logical volume that doesn't specify a path. Not set(7,n,1 builtins) by default.
DIAGNOSTICS
All tools return a status code of zero on success or non-zero on fail-
ure.
FILES
/etc/lvm(5,8)/lvm.conf
$HOME/.lvm_history
SEE ALSO
clvmd(8), lvchange(8), lvcreate(8), lvdisplay(8), lvextend(8), lvm-
change(8), lvmdiskscan(8), lvreduce(8), lvremove(8), lvrename(8), lvre-
size(8), lvs(8), lvscan(8), pvchange(8), pvcreate(8), pvdisplay(8),
pvmove(8), pvremove(8), pvs(8), pvscan(8), vgcfgbackup(8), vgchange(8),
vgck(8), vgconvert(8), vgcreate(8), vgdisplay(8), vgextend(8), vgim-
port(8), vgmerge(8), vgmknodes(8), vgreduce(8), vgremove(8),
vgrename(8), vgs(8), vgscan(8), vgsplit(8), readline(3), lvm.conf(5)
Sistina Software UK LVM TOOLS LVM(8)