LVM -Logical Volume Management – An alternative storage solution that allows for expanding a volume group without reformat.
Display Storage Devices On System
Display the existing storage devices (disks) on the system
sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 931.51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors Disk model: KINGSTON SNV2S1000G 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 /dev/sda: 111.79 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors Disk model: KINGSTON SA400S3 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 /dev/sdb: 111.79 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors Disk model: KINGSTON SV300S3 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 /dev/sdc: 111.79 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors Disk model: KINGSTON SV300S3 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 /dev/sdd: 447.13 GiB, 480103981056 bytes, 937703088 sectors Disk model: KINGSTON SA400S3 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 /dev/sde: 111.79 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors Disk model: KINGSTON SA400S3 Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disklabel type: gpt Disk identifier: 5867CAB3-3317-446B-9B2F-6C775D152C5B Device Start End Sectors Size Type /dev/sde1 2048 4095 2048 1M BIOS boot /dev/sde2 4096 4198399 4194304 2G Linux filesystem /dev/sde3 4198400 234438655 230240256 109.8G Linux filesystem Disk /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv: 1.78 TiB, 1958282788864 bytes, 3824771072 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
Here we can see both all the physical storage devices, like SDA, as well as the existing logical storage devices.
Display Existing Physical Volume
This will display all of the physical storage devices used in the existing logical volumes.
sudo pvs
PV VG Fmt Attr PSize PFree /dev/nvme0n1 ubuntu-vg lvm2 a-- 931.51g 0 /dev/sda ubuntu-vg lvm2 a-- <111.79g 0 /dev/sdb ubuntu-vg lvm2 a-- <111.79g 0 /dev/sdc ubuntu-vg lvm2 a-- <111.79g 0 /dev/sdd ubuntu-vg lvm2 a-- <447.13g 0 /dev/sde3 ubuntu-vg lvm2 a-- <109.79g 0
For more information, the following will show an additional amount of information.
sudo pvdisplay
--- Physical volume --- PV Name /dev/sde3 VG Name ubuntu-vg PV Size <109.79 GiB / not usable 2.00 MiB Allocatable yes (but full) PE Size 4.00 MiB Total PE 28105 Free PE 0 Allocated PE 28105 PV UUID n3n93n-3JFq-VrED-GZYQ-ngrv-Ak4C-2QKIen --- Physical volume --- PV Name /dev/sda VG Name ubuntu-vg PV Size 111.79 GiB / not usable 1.46 MiB Allocatable yes (but full) PE Size 4.00 MiB Total PE 28618 Free PE 0 Allocated PE 28618 PV UUID y7837m-1cyF-uflc-C7j8-tUGg-2bvR-NZ4zxh --- Physical volume --- PV Name /dev/sdb VG Name ubuntu-vg PV Size 111.79 GiB / not usable 1.46 MiB Allocatable yes (but full) PE Size 4.00 MiB Total PE 28618 Free PE 0 Allocated PE 28618 PV UUID nziP0N-rlw1-57rf-dLUT-4DeA-Wyl0-09R1UA --- Physical volume --- PV Name /dev/sdc VG Name ubuntu-vg PV Size 111.79 GiB / not usable 1.46 MiB Allocatable yes (but full) PE Size 4.00 MiB Total PE 28618 Free PE 0 Allocated PE 28618 PV UUID wilruo-S0ZF-CQmZ-wWVp-QoKq-rfcj-3BQkqz --- Physical volume --- PV Name /dev/sdd VG Name ubuntu-vg PV Size 447.13 GiB / not usable <2.84 MiB Allocatable yes (but full) PE Size 4.00 MiB Total PE 114465 Free PE 0 Allocated PE 114465 PV UUID sc0rSZ-h3vH-8N33-Kcon-J5s3-vTK2-ygSVBZ --- Physical volume --- PV Name /dev/nvme0n1 VG Name ubuntu-vg PV Size 931.51 GiB / not usable 1.71 MiB Allocatable yes (but full) PE Size 4.00 MiB Total PE 238467 Free PE 0 Allocated PE 238467 PV UUID 6Ml4Yl-2XA9-5Jou-IG6R-VRn6-rEPN-S2dmYe
Create a Physical Volume Device
It is possible to create a physical volume, that can be used in an LVM system. By using the following command. This can afterward be viewed by using the previous command.
sudo pvcreate /dev/sdd
Add Physical Volume to Volume Group
Adding a physical device is done by using its device filename.
sudo vgextend ubuntu-vg /dev/sda4
Expand the Volume Group
Once the physical device has been added to the logical volume. It needs to be expanded to make use of the actual storage.
sudo lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv
Finally, the filesystem needs to be resized to make use of the actual storage.
sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv
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