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NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | USAGE | OPTIONS | VARIABLES | ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON |
PVCREATE(8) System Manager's Manual PVCREATE(8)
pvcreate - Initialize physical volume(s) for use by LVM
pvcreate position_args
[ option_args ]
pvcreate initializes a Physical Volume (PV) on a device so the device
is recognized as belonging to LVM. This allows the PV to be used in
a Volume Group (VG). An LVM disk label is written to the device, and
LVM metadata areas are initialized. A PV can be placed on a whole
device or partition.
Use vgcreate(8) to create a new VG on the PV, or vgextend(8) to add
the PV to an existing VG. Use pvremove(8) to remove the LVM disk
label from the device.
The force option will create a PV without confirmation. Repeating
the force option (-ff) will forcibly create a PV, overriding checks
that normally prevent it, e.g. if the PV is already in a VG.
Metadata location, size, and alignment
The LVM disk label begins 512 bytes from the start of the device, and
is 512 bytes in size.
The LVM metadata area begins at an offset (from the start of the
device) equal to the page size of the machine creating the PV (often
4 KiB.) The metadata area contains a 512 byte header and a multi-KiB
circular buffer that holds text copies of the VG metadata.
With default settings, the first physical extent (PE), which contains
LV data, is 1 MiB from the start of the device. This location is
controlled by default_data_alignment in lvm.conf, which is set to 1
(MiB) by default. The pe_start will be a multiple of this many MiB.
This location can be checked with:
pvs -o pe_start PV
The size of the LVM metadata area is the space between the the start
of the metadata area and the first PE. When metadata begins at 4 KiB
and the first PE is at 1024 KiB, the metadata area size is 1020 KiB.
This can be checked with:
pvs -o mda_size PV
The mda_size cannot be increased after pvcreate, so if larger
metadata is needed, it must be set during pvcreate. Two copies of
the VG metadata must always fit within the metadata area, so the
maximum VG metadata size is around half the mda_size. This can be
checked with:
vgs -o mda_free VG
A larger metadata area can be set with --metadatasize. The resulting
mda_size may be larger than specified due to default_data_alignment
placing pe_start on a MiB boundary, and the fact that the metadata
area extends to the first PE. With metadata starting at 4 KiB and
default_data_alignment 1 (MiB), setting --metadatasize 2048k results
in pe_start of 3 MiB and mda_size of 3068 KiB. Alternatively,
--metadatasize 2044k results in pe_start at 2 MiB and mda_size of
2044 KiB.
The alignment of pe_start described above may be automatically
overriden based on md device properties or device i/o properties
reported in sysfs. These automatic adjustments can be
enabled/disabled using lvm.conf settings md_chunk_alignment and
data_alignment_offset_detection.
To use a different pe_start alignment, use the --dataalignment
option. The --metadatasize option would also typically be used in
this case because the metadata area size also determines the location
of pe_start. When using these two options together, pe_start is
calculated as: metadata area start (page size), plus the specified
--metadatasize, rounded up to the next multiple of --dataalignment.
With metadata starting at 4 KiB, --metadatasize 2048k, and
--dataalignment 128k, pe_start is 2176 KiB and mda_size is 2172 KiB.
The pe_start of 2176 KiB is the nearest even multiple of 128 KiB that
provides at least 2048 KiB of metadata space. Always check the
resulting alignment and metadata size when using these options.
To shift an aligned pe_start value, use the --dataaligmentoffset
option. The pe_start alignment is calculated as described above, and
then the value specified with --dataaligmentoffset is added to
produce the final pe_start value.
pvcreate PV ...
[ -f|--force ]
[ -M|--metadatatype lvm2 ]
[ -u|--uuid String ]
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ --dataalignment Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ --dataalignmentoffset Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ --bootloaderareasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --labelsector Number ]
[ --[pv]metadatacopies 0|1|2 ]
[ --metadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --metadataignore y|n ]
[ --norestorefile ]
[ --setphysicalvolumesize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --reportformat basic|json ]
[ --restorefile String ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
Common options for lvm:
[ -d|--debug ]
[ -h|--help ]
[ -q|--quiet ]
[ -t|--test ]
[ -v|--verbose ]
[ -y|--yes ]
[ --commandprofile String ]
[ --config String ]
[ --driverloaded y|n ]
[ --lockopt String ]
[ --longhelp ]
[ --nolocking ]
[ --profile String ]
[ --version ]
--bootloaderareasize Size[m|UNIT]
Reserve space for the bootloader between the LVM metadata area
and the first PE. The bootloader area is reserved for
bootloaders to embed their own data or metadata; LVM will not
use it. The bootloader area begins where the first PE would
otherwise be located. The first PE is moved out by the size
of the bootloader area, and then moved out further if
necessary to match the data alignment. The start of the
bootloader area is always aligned, see also --dataalignment
and --dataalignmentoffset. The bootloader area may be larger
than requested due to the alignment, but it's never less than
the requested size. To see the bootloader area start and size
of an existing PV use pvs -o +pv_ba_start,pv_ba_size.
--commandprofile String
The command profile to use for command configuration. See
lvm.conf(5) for more information about profiles.
--config String
Config settings for the command. These override lvm.conf
settings. The String arg uses the same format as lvm.conf, or
may use section/field syntax. See lvm.conf(5) for more
information about config.
--dataalignment Size[k|UNIT]
Align the start of a PV data area with a multiple of this
number. To see the location of the first Physical Extent (PE)
of an existing PV, use pvs -o +pe_start. In addition, it may
be shifted by an alignment offset, see --dataalignmentoffset.
Also specify an appropriate PE size when creating a VG.
--dataalignmentoffset Size[k|UNIT]
Shift the start of the PV data area by this additional offset.
-d|--debug ...
Set debug level. Repeat from 1 to 6 times to increase the
detail of messages sent to the log file and/or syslog (if
configured).
--driverloaded y|n
If set to no, the command will not attempt to use device-
mapper. For testing and debugging.
-f|--force ...
Override various checks, confirmations and protections. Use
with extreme caution.
-h|--help
Display help text.
--labelsector Number
By default the PV is labelled with an LVM2 identifier in its
second sector (sector 1). This lets you use a different sector
near the start of the disk (between 0 and 3 inclusive - see
LABEL_SCAN_SECTORS in the source). Use with care.
--lockopt String
Used to pass options for special cases to lvmlockd. See
lvmlockd(8) for more information.
--longhelp
Display long help text.
--metadataignore y|n
Specifies the metadataignore property of a PV. If yes,
metadata areas on the PV are ignored, and lvm will not store
metadata in the metadata areas of the PV. If no, lvm will
store metadata on the PV.
--metadatasize Size[m|UNIT]
The approximate amount of space used for each VG metadata
area. The size may be rounded.
-M|--metadatatype lvm2
Specifies the type of on-disk metadata to use. lvm2 (or just
2) is the current, standard format. lvm1 (or just 1) is no
longer used.
--nolocking
Disable locking.
--norestorefile
In conjunction with --uuid, this allows a uuid to be specified
without also requiring that a backup of the metadata be
provided.
--profile String
An alias for --commandprofile or --metadataprofile, depending
on the command.
--[pv]metadatacopies 0|1|2
The number of metadata areas to set aside on a PV for storing
VG metadata. When 2, one copy of the VG metadata is stored at
the front of the PV and a second copy is stored at the end.
When 1, one copy of the VG metadata is stored at the front of
the PV. When 0, no copies of the VG metadata are stored on
the given PV. This may be useful in VGs containing many PVs
(this places limitations on the ability to use vgsplit later.)
-q|--quiet ...
Suppress output and log messages. Overrides --debug and
--verbose. Repeat once to also suppress any prompts with
answer 'no'.
--reportformat basic|json
Overrides current output format for reports which is defined
globally by the report/output_format setting in lvm.conf.
basic is the original format with columns and rows. If there
is more than one report per command, each report is prefixed
with the report name for identification. json produces report
output in JSON format. See lvmreport(7) for more information.
--restorefile String
In conjunction with --uuid, this reads the file (produced by
vgcfgbackup), extracts the location and size of the data on
the PV, and ensures that the metadata produced by the program
is consistent with the contents of the file, i.e. the physical
extents will be in the same place and not be overwritten by
new metadata. This provides a mechanism to upgrade the
metadata format or to add/remove metadata areas. Use with
care.
--setphysicalvolumesize Size[m|UNIT]
Overrides the automatically detected size of the PV. Use with
care, or prior to reducing the physical size of the device.
-t|--test
Run in test mode. Commands will not update metadata. This is
implemented by disabling all metadata writing but nevertheless
returning success to the calling function. This may lead to
unusual error messages in multi-stage operations if a tool
relies on reading back metadata it believes has changed but
hasn't.
-u|--uuid String
Specify a UUID for the device. Without this option, a random
UUID is generated. This option is needed before restoring a
backup of LVM metadata onto a replacement device; see
vgcfgrestore(8). As such, use of --restorefile is compulsory
unless the --norestorefile is used. All PVs must have unique
UUIDs, and LVM will prevent certain operations if multiple
devices are seen with the same UUID. See vgimportclone(8) for
more information.
-v|--verbose ...
Set verbose level. Repeat from 1 to 4 times to increase the
detail of messages sent to stdout and stderr.
--version
Display version information.
-y|--yes
Do not prompt for confirmation interactively but always assume
the answer yes. Use with extreme caution. (For automatic no,
see -qq.)
-Z|--zero y|n
Controls if the first 4 sectors (2048 bytes) of the device are
wiped. The default is to wipe these sectors unless either or
both of --restorefile or --uuid are specified.
PV
Physical Volume name, a device path under /dev. For commands
managing physical extents, a PV positional arg generally
accepts a suffix indicating a range (or multiple ranges) of
physical extents (PEs). When the first PE is omitted, it
defaults to the start of the device, and when the last PE is
omitted it defaults to end. Start and end range (inclusive):
PV[:PE-PE]... Start and length range (counting from 0):
PV[:PE+PE]...
String
See the option description for information about the string
content.
Size[UNIT]
Size is an input number that accepts an optional unit. Input
units are always treated as base two values, regardless of
capitalization, e.g. 'k' and 'K' both refer to 1024. The
default input unit is specified by letter, followed by |UNIT.
UNIT represents other possible input units: bBsSkKmMgGtTpPeE.
b|B is bytes, s|S is sectors of 512 bytes, k|K is kilobytes,
m|M is megabytes, g|G is gigabytes, t|T is terabytes, p|P is
petabytes, e|E is exabytes. (This should not be confused with
the output control --units, where capital letters mean
multiple of 1000.)
See lvm(8) for information about environment variables used by lvm.
For example, LVM_VG_NAME can generally be substituted for a required
VG parameter.
Initialize a partition and a full device.
pvcreate /dev/sdc4 /dev/sde
If a device is a 4KiB sector drive that compensates for windows
partitioning (sector 7 is the lowest aligned logical block, the 4KiB
sectors start at LBA -1, and consequently sector 63 is aligned on a
4KiB boundary) manually account for this when initializing for use by
LVM.
pvcreate --dataalignmentoffset 7s /dev/sdb
lvm(8) lvm.conf(5) lvmconfig(8)
pvchange(8) pvck(8) pvcreate(8) pvdisplay(8) pvmove(8) pvremove(8)
pvresize(8) pvs(8) pvscan(8)
vgcfgbackup(8) vgcfgrestore(8) vgchange(8) vgck(8) vgcreate(8)
vgconvert(8) vgdisplay(8) vgexport(8) vgextend(8) vgimport(8)
vgimportclone(8) vgmerge(8) vgmknodes(8) vgreduce(8) vgremove(8)
vgrename(8) vgs(8) vgscan(8) vgsplit(8)
lvcreate(8) lvchange(8) lvconvert(8) lvdisplay(8) lvextend(8)
lvreduce(8) lvremove(8) lvrename(8) lvresize(8) lvs(8) lvscan(8)
lvm-fullreport(8) lvm-lvpoll(8) lvm2-activation-generator(8)
blkdeactivate(8) lvmdump(8)
dmeventd(8) lvmpolld(8) lvmlockd(8) lvmlockctl(8) cmirrord(8)
lvmdbusd(8)
lvmsystemid(7) lvmreport(7) lvmraid(7) lvmthin(7) lvmcache(7)
This page is part of the lvm2 (Logical Volume Manager 2) project.
Information about the project can be found at
⟨http://www.sourceware.org/lvm2/⟩. If you have a bug report for this
manual page, see ⟨https://github.com/lvmteam/lvm2/issues⟩. This page
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COLOPHON (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail
to man-pages@man7.org
Red Hat, Inc. LVM TOOLS 2.03.10(2) (2020-08-09) PVCREATE(8)
Pages that refer to this page: fullreport(8) , lvchange(8) , lvconvert(8) , lvcreate(8) , lvdisplay(8) , lvextend(8) , lvm(8) , lvm-config(8) , lvmconfig(8) , lvmdiskscan(8) , lvm-dumpconfig(8) , lvm-fullreport(8) , lvm-lvpoll(8) , lvpoll(8) , lvreduce(8) , lvremove(8) , lvrename(8) , lvresize(8) , lvs(8) , lvscan(8) , pvchange(8) , pvck(8) , pvcreate(8) , pvdisplay(8) , pvmove(8) , pvremove(8) , pvresize(8) , pvs(8) , pvscan(8) , vgcfgbackup(8) , vgcfgrestore(8) , vgchange(8) , vgck(8) , vgconvert(8) , vgcreate(8) , vgdisplay(8) , vgexport(8) , vgextend(8) , vgimport(8) , vgimportclone(8) , vgmerge(8) , vgmknodes(8) , vgreduce(8) , vgremove(8) , vgrename(8) , vgs(8) , vgscan(8) , vgsplit(8)