LVM

Resource

• Logical Volume Manager (Linux)
• LVM (Logical Volume Manager) is not a filesystem; it is a volume manager that provides logical volume management for the Linux kernel. It allows users to create, resize, and manage logical volumes, which are essentially virtual storage structures that can be formatted and used like regular filesystems (e.g., ext4 or XFS).
• Benefits of LVM
• A layout illustration
• LVM Demystified
• How To Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) On UEFI and Legacy BIOS System
• How to Manage and Use LVM (Logical Volume Management) in Ubuntu
  • How to Use LVM on Ubuntu for Easy Partition Resizing and Snapshots
• How to Extend LVM Disk on Ubuntu 20.04
• How to Extend/Increase LVM’s (Logical Volume Resize) in Linux, How To Resize LVM Partitions In Linux
• Adding a New Disk to an Ubuntu 20.04 Volume Group and Logical Volume
• How to Set Up Flexible File System Storage With LVM in Linux
• LFCS: How to Manage and Create LVM Using vgcreate, lvcreate and lvextend Commands – Part 11
• An Introduction to LVM Concepts, Terminology, and Operations

Check if LVM is in use

lsblk -f

Look under the FSTYPE column — if you see LVM2_member, it means the partition is part of an LVM volume group.

Cheatsheet

• Downloadable LVM Cheat Sheet
• datadisk.org.uk
• privex.io

Naming convention

• /dev/vg_<hostname>_<type><number>/lv_<filesystem>. See this
• /dev/vg_`hostname -s`_[0-9][0-9]/lv_{foo|bar}. See this.

Creation

• Setup LVM and pool hard drives in Ubuntu or Kodibuntu

  # Step 1 Find your drive names
  lsblk -o NAME,FSTYPE,SIZE,MOUNTPOINT,LABEL
  
  NAME         FSTYPE        SIZE MOUNTPOINT   LABEL
  sda                      223.6G              
  ├─sda1                    1007K              
  ├─sda2       vfat          512M /boot/efi    
  └─sda3       LVM2_member 223.1G              
    ├─pve-swap swap            8G [SWAP]       
    └─pve-root ext4        215.1G /            
  nvme0n1                  465.8G              
  └─nvme0n1p1  ext4        465.8G /mnt/pve/vm1 
  
  # Step 2 Format your drives
  fdisk /dev/sdX
  
  # Step 3 Create physical volume
  pvcreate /dev/sd[bcd]
  pvdisplay
  
  # Step 4 Adding the VG (Volume Group) to the LVM
  vgcreate {VG_NAME} /dev/sd[bcd]
  vgdisplay
  
  # Step 5 Adding the LV (Logical Volume) to the LVM VG (Volume Group)
  lvcreate -l 100%FREE -n {LV_NAME} {VG_NAME}
  lvdisplay
  
  # Step 6 FORMATTING OUR NEW LVM LV (LOGICAL VOLUME)
  mkfs.ext4 {LV_PATH}
  
  # Step 7 MOUNT LVM LV (LOGICAL VOLUME) ON BOOT
  blkid
  # Grab the UUID of your storage space, 
  # it will be after the /dev/mapper/{VG_NAME}-{LV_NAME}
  nano /etc/fstab
  mount -a
  
  # Step 8 ENABLE SMART DRIVE MONITORING
  nano /etc/defaults/smartmontools
  nano /etc/smartd.conf

• LVM Layout & Arch Linux Tutorial – Configure LVM on Arch Linux 2017

  # Step 0 See available physical disks
  fdisk
  
  # Step 1 Create new Physical Volume
  pvcreate /dev/vdb
  pvcreate /dev/vdc
  pvdisplay 
  
  # Step 2 Create new Volume Group (VG)
  vgcreate archVG /dev/vdb /dev/vdc
  vgdisplay
  
  # Step 3 Logical Volume
  lvcreate -L 5G archVG -n archLV01
  lvcreate -L 15G archVG -n archLV02
  lvdisplay
  lsblk 
  
  # Step 4 Format the new volume
  mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/archVG-archLV01
  
  # Step 5 Mount
  mount /dev/mapper/archVG-archLV01 /mnt

• How to Extend LVM Disk on Ubuntu 20.04

  # Step 1. Check the file system list
  sudo df -h /home/
  
  # Step 2. Check the Physical Volume (pv)
  sudo pvs
  sudo vgdisplay
  sudo lvdisplay
  
  # Step 3. Create a New Physical Volume
  sudo fdisk -l
  sudo lvmdiskscan
  sudo pvcreate /dev/sdb
  sudo lvmdiskscan -l
  
  # Step 4. Add the new Physical Volume (pv) to Existing Logical Volume (lv)
  sudo vgextend ubuntu-vg /dev/sdb
  sudo lvm lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv
  
  sudo resize2fs -p /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv
  sudo df -h

Add new disk

• How to add new disk to existing Volume Group vgextend

  # Step 1 Create Physical Volume
  pvcreate /dev/vdc
  
  # Step 2 Add Physical Volume to Existing Volume Group
  vgdisplay
  vgextend manjaro_lvm /dev/vdc
  vgdisplay

• Adding a New Disk Into an Existing Logical Volume. lvextend

  umount /dev/serverdata/data
  fdisk -l
  pvcreate /dev/sdb
  vgextend serverdata /dev/sdb
  vgdisplay serverdata 
  
  lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/serverdata/data
  # OR something like 
  # lvextend -L+25G /dev/serverdata/data
  lvdisplay serverdata
  
  e2fsck -f /dev/serverdata/data # optional
  resize2fs /dev/serverdata/data
  e2fsck -f /dev/serverdata/data # optional

Delete

• 5.2.5. REMOVING PHYSICAL VOLUMES from RedHat
• How to Delete Volume Group(LVM) in Linux Using 5 Easy Steps

  # 1. Check mounted Logical Volume using df command
  df -h
  # 2. Unmount the Volume using umount command
  umount /u01
  # 3. Disable Logical Volume using lvchange command
  lvchange -an /dev/vol_grp/log_grp1
  lvscan
  # 4. Delete Logical Volume using lvremove command
  lvremove /dev/vol_grp/log_grp1
  lvscan
  # 5. Delete Volume Group using vgremove command
  vgremove vol_grp
  vgscan
  # 6. Delete physical volumes using pvremove command
  pvremove /dev/sdb
  pvremove /dev/sda4

• How to Remove Physical Volume from a Volume Group in LVM
• How to Remove Volume Group and Physical Volume on LVM
• Linux Quick Tip: How to Delete or Remove LVM volumes
• Using LVM to manage physical volumes, volume groups, and logical volumes – RHCSA Objective Preparation

Move

How To Move LVM Volume Group To Another Machine In Linux

Snapshot

• 5.4.5. CREATING SNAPSHOT VOLUMES from RedHat
• How to Take ‘Snapshot of Logical Volume and Restore’ in LVM – Part III
  • lvcreate
  • lvconvert
• Backup and Restore Logical Volume using LVM Snapshot
• LVM backup and restore snapshot in Linux
• Kali Linux adds VM-like snapshot feature to bare-metal installs

Raspberry Pi

• Easy backups and snapshots of a running system with LVM