LVM in Linux: A Comprehensive Cheat Sheet

Logical Volume Management (LVM) is a powerful storage management system in Linux that enables flexible disk space allocation. This guide covers essential concepts, commands, and practical examples to help you master LVM.

Basic LVM Concepts

LVM consists of three main components:

1. Physical Volume (PV) – A physical disk or partition initialized for LVM.
2. Volume Group (VG) – A pool of one or more PVs.
3. Logical Volume (LV) – A virtual partition created from a VG.

Common LVM Commands

Physical Volume (PV) Operations

pvcreate /dev/sdX  Initialize a disk/partition as PV 
pvdisplay  Show PV details 
pvs  List all PVs 
pvremove /dev/sdX  Remove a PV 

Volume Group (VG) Operations

vgcreate vg_name /dev/sdX  Create a VG from PV 
vgdisplay  Display VG details 
vgs  List all VGs 
vgextend vg_name /dev/sdY  Add a PV to VG 
vgreduce vg_name /dev/sdX  Remove a PV from VG 

Logical Volume (LV) Operations

lvcreate -L 10G -n lv_name vg_name  Create a 10GB LV 
lvdisplay  Show LV details 
lvs  List all LVs 
lvextend -L +5G /dev/vg_name/lv_name  Extend LV by 5GB 
resize2fs /dev/vg_name/lv_name  Resize filesystem (ext4) 
xfs_growfs /dev/vg_name/lv_name  Resize filesystem (XFS) 

Real-World LVM Examples

1. Extending an LV

 Check free space in VG 
vgdisplay vg_name

Extend LV 
lvextend -L +5G /dev/vg_name/lv_name

Resize filesystem (for ext4) 
resize2fs /dev/vg_name/lv_name 

2. Creating a New LV

 Create a 20GB LV 
lvcreate -L 20G -n new_lv vg_name

Format as ext4 
mkfs.ext4 /dev/vg_name/new_lv

Mount 
mkdir /mnt/new_lv 
mount /dev/vg_name/new_lv /mnt/new_lv 

3. Removing an LV

 Unmount 
umount /mnt/lv_name

Remove LV 
lvremove /dev/vg_name/lv_name 

You Should Know:

• Always back up data before modifying LVM structures.
• Use `lsblk` and `df -h` to verify disk layouts.
• LVM supports snapshots (lvcreate --snapshot).
• For encrypted LVM, use LUKS (cryptsetup).

What Undercode Say:

LVM is a must-know for Linux admins, offering flexibility in storage management. Key takeaways:

✔ Use `pvcreate`, `vgcreate`, `lvcreate` for setup.

✔ Extend LVs with `lvextend` and `resize2fs`.

✔ Monitor with `pvs`, `vgs`, `lvs`.

✔ Snapshots help in backups.

✔ Combine LVM with RAID for redundancy.

Expected Output:

A structured, actionable guide to LVM with verified commands for Linux storage management.

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References:

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