The below image will explain about Logical volume manager’s virtual object construction level.You can see Logical volumes are the top most virtual objects in LVM.
1. Creating Logical Volumes:
There are three type of volume layouts are possible in LVM.
1.Linear volume
2.Mirror Volume
3.Stripe Volume
1.1 How to create a Linear volume in LVM ?
Linear logical volume can be created using “lvcreate” command by without specifying any additional options to it. This is the default volume layout in LVM where it allocates the space on next-free basis within the volume group on physical volumes.
1.List the volume group available in your linux system.
[root@mylinz ~]# vgs
VG #PV #LV #SN Attr VSize VFree
uavg 1 0 0 wz--n- 508.00m 508.00m
vg_mylinz 1 2 0 wz--n- 19.51g 0
[root@mylinz ~]#
2.Create a new Linear logical volume with size of 100MB.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 100M uavg
Logical volume "lvol0" created
[root@mylinz ~]#
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs
LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Log Copy% Convert
lvol0 uavg -wi-a- 100.00m
lv_root vg_mylinz -wi-ao 16.54g
lv_swap vg_mylinz -wi-ao 2.97g
[root@mylinz ~]#
3.If you want to create a volume specific name,use the option “-n” .
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 100M -n oravol1 uavg
Logical volume "oravol1" created
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs
LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Log Copy% Convert
lvol0 uavg -wi-a- 100.00m
oravol1 uavg -wi-a- 100.00m
lv_root vg_mylinz -wi-ao 16.54g
lv_swap vg_mylinz -wi-ao 2.97g
[root@mylinz ~]#
4.To get the complete volume details ,use lvdisplay command.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvdisplay /dev/uavg/oravol1
--- Logical volume ---
LV Name /dev/uavg/oravol1
VG Name uavg
LV UUID gxTE82-XEdR-0c3M-xrso-bsb8-7dJG-fXDLFK
LV Write Access read/write
LV Status available
# open 0
LV Size 100.00 MiB
Current LE 25
Segments 1
Allocation inherit
Read ahead sectors auto
- currently set to 256
Block device 253:2
[root@mylinz ~]#
5.If you want to create a volume on specific LUN or disk,use below command.
First find the disk which has free space to create volume.
[root@mylinz ~]# pvs
PV VG Fmt Attr PSize PFree
/dev/sda2 vg_mylinz lvm2 a- 19.51g 0
/dev/sdd1 uavg lvm2 a- 508.00m 308.00m
/dev/sde uavg lvm2 a- 508.00m 508.00m
/dev/sdf lvm2 a- 5.00g 5.00g
[root@mylinz ~]#
As per the above command output,we can choose /dev/sde to create a new volume in it.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 100M -n datavol1 uavg /dev/sde
Logical volume "datavol1" created
[root@mylinz ~]#
6.Check the detailed LVM logical volume details .
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs -o +devices
LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Log Copy% Convert Devices
datavol1 uavg -wi-a- 100.00m /dev/sde(0)
lvol0 uavg -wi-a- 100.00m /dev/sdd1(13)
oravol1 uavg -wi-a- 100.00m /dev/sdd1(38)
lv_root vg_mylinz -wi-ao 16.54g /dev/sda2(0)
lv_swap vg_mylinz -wi-ao 2.97g /dev/sda2(4234)
[root@mylinz ~]#
Here you can see that volume “datavol1” is created on “/dev/sde” as we specified on the lvcreate command.
7.We can also create a volume with percentage from the volume group. (Ex: 50% of VG need to be allocated to the new volume).Note:You need to “-l” to specify the percentage.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -l 50%VG -n appvol1 uavg
Logical volume "appvol1" created
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs
LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Log Copy% Convert
appvol1 uavg -wi-a- 508.00m
datavol1 uavg -wi-a- 100.00m
lvol0 uavg -wi-a- 100.00m
oravol1 uavg -wi-a- 100.00m
lv_root vg_mylinz -wi-ao 16.54g
lv_swap vg_mylinz -wi-ao 2.97g
[root@mylinz ~]# vgs
VG #PV #LV #SN Attr VSize VFree
uavg 2 4 0 wz--n- 1016.00m 208.00m
vg_mylinz 1 2 0 wz--n- 19.51g 0
[root@mylinz ~]#
8.Create a filesystem and mount it under desired mount point.
[root@mylinz ~]# mkfs -t ext4 /dev/uavg/appvol1
mke2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=1024 (log=0)
Fragment size=1024 (log=0)
Stride=32 blocks, Stripe width=96 blocks
27664 inodes, 110592 blocks
5529 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=1
Maximum filesystem blocks=67371008
14 block groups
8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group
1976 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (4096 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
This filesystem will be automatically checked every 34 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
[root@mylinz ~]# mount -t ext4 /dev/uavg/appvol1 /appvol1
[root@mylinz ~]# df -h /mnt
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/uavg-appvol1
105M 5.6M 94M 6% /appvol1
[root@mylinz ~]#
1.2 How to create a mirror volume in LVM ?
Whenever we want data redundancy from Linux level , you should go for data mirroring.
Redhat Linux provides software RAID also for mirroring the physical DISKS or LUNS. Here we will see how to create a mirrored volume from the volume group.
1.List the volume group.
[root@mylinz ~]# vgs
VG #PV #LV #SN Attr VSize VFree
uavg 2 0 0 wz--n- 1016.00m 1016.00m
vg_mylinz 1 2 0 wz--n- 19.51g 0
[root@mylinz ~]#
2.Create a mirror volume from volume group uavg.This command will force to keep the log in memory instead of disk.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 100MB -m1 --corelog -n mirrorvol1 uavg
Logical volume "mirrorvol1" created
[root@mylinz ~]#
3.Check the newly created volume “mirrorvol1” details.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs -a -o +devices
LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Log Copy% Convert Devices
mirrorvol1 uavg mwi-a- 100.00m 100.00 mirrorvol1_mimage_0(0),mirrorvol1_mimage_1(0)
[mirrorvol1_mimage_0] uavg iwi-ao 100.00m /dev/sdd1(0)
[mirrorvol1_mimage_1] uavg iwi-ao 100.00m /dev/sde(0)
lv_root vg_mylinz -wi-ao 16.54g /dev/sda2(0)
lv_swap vg_mylinz -wi-ao 2.97g /dev/sda2(4234)
[root@mylinz ~]#
4.If you want to keep the corelog in disk,use the below command.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 100M -m1 -n mirrorvol1 uavg
Insufficient suitable allocatable extents for logical volume : 25 more required
Unable to allocate extents for mirror(s).
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 50M -m1 -n mirrorvol1 uavg
Rounding up size to full physical extent 52.00 MiB
Insufficient suitable allocatable extents for logical volume : 13 more required
Unable to allocate extents for mirror(s).
[root@mylinz ~]# pvs
PV VG Fmt Attr PSize PFree
/dev/sda2 vg_mylinz lvm2 a- 19.51g 0
/dev/sdd1 uavg lvm2 a- 508.00m 508.00m
/dev/sde uavg lvm2 a- 508.00m 508.00m
/dev/sdf lvm2 a- 5.00g 5.00g
[root@mylinz ~]#
Oops…Yes.you will get the above error if you don’t have minimum three disks in volume group. LVM will always try to keep the mirror copies and logs in different disks .So you need three disks otherwise follow step 2 to create a mirror volume. (1.2.2)
Let me add one more disks to “uavg” and retry the above operation.
[root@mylinz ~]# pvs
PV VG Fmt Attr PSize PFree
/dev/sda2 vg_mylinz lvm2 a- 19.51g 0
/dev/sdd1 uavg lvm2 a- 508.00m 508.00m
/dev/sde uavg lvm2 a- 508.00m 508.00m
/dev/sdf uavg lvm2 a- 5.00g 5.00g
[root@mylinz ~]# vgs
VG #PV #LV #SN Attr VSize VFree
uavg 3 0 0 wz--n- 5.99g 5.99g
vg_mylinz 1 2 0 wz--n- 19.51g 0
[root@mylinz ~]#
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 100M -m1 -n mirrorvol1 uavg
Logical volume "mirrorvol1" created
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs -a -o +devices
LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Log Copy% Convert Devices
mirrorvol1 uavg mwi-a- 100.00m mirrorvol1_mlog 60.00 mirrorvol1_mimage_0(0),mirrorvol1_mimage_1(0)
[mirrorvol1_mimage_0] uavg Iwi-ao 100.00m /dev/sdd1(0)
[mirrorvol1_mimage_1] uavg Iwi-ao 100.00m /dev/sde(0)
[mirrorvol1_mlog] uavg lwi-ao 4.00m /dev/sdf(0)
lv_root vg_mylinz -wi-ao 16.54g /dev/sda2(0)
lv_swap vg_mylinz -wi-ao 2.97g /dev/sda2(423)
[root@mylinz ~]#
.Good…We have successfully created a mirror volume with dedicated log disks(Step 1.2.4) and without disk using in memory log.(Step:1.2.2)
5. LVM provides an option to specify the number of mirror copies.Number of copies can be increased by increasing the “m” number.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 10M --corelog -m2 -n twowaymirvol1 uavg
Rounding up size to full physical extent 12.00 MiB
Logical volume "twowaymirvol1" created
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs
LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Log Copy% Convert
mirrorvol1 uavg mwi-a- 100.00m mirrorvol1_mlog 100.00
twowaymirvol1 uavg mwi-a- 12.00m 100.00
lv_root vg_mylinz -wi-ao 16.54g
lv_swap vg_mylinz -wi-ao 2.97g
[root@mylinz ~]#
6.How to specify the devices for mirror ? Is it possible ?
Yes.Its possible.When you are creating the mirror volume,you can also specify which devices need to be used for mirror volume.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 10M --corelog -m1 -n oramirvol1 uavg /dev/sde /dev/sdf
Rounding up size to full physical extent 12.00 MiB
Logical volume "oramirvol1" created
[root@mylinz ~]#
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs |grep oramirvol1
oramirvol1 uavg mwi-a- 12.00m 100.00
[root@mylinz ~]#
7.Create a filesystem and mount it .(Refer 1.1.8)
1.3 How to create a stripe volume in LVM ?
Stripe volumes are very useful where you need performance.This volume will be mostly used where large sequential reads and writes happening.
1.List the volume group.
[root@mylinz ~]# vgs
VG #PV #LV #SN Attr VSize VFree
uavg 3 0 0 wz--n- 5.99g 5.99g
vg_mylinz 1 2 0 wz--n- 19.51g 0
[root@mylinz ~]#
2.Create a stripped volume.
Options:
i – number of stripe (not more than number physical disks in the volume group)
I – Stripe size.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 100M -i 3 -I 32 -n strivol1 uavg
Rounding size (25 extents) up to stripe boundary size (27 extents)
Logical volume "strivol1" created
[root@mylinz ~]#
3.If you tried to create a volume with more stripes than available disks ,you will get below error.
[root@mylinz ~]# lvcreate -L 100M -i 5 -I 32 -n strivol2 uavg
Number of stripes (5) must not exceed number of physical volumes (3)
[root@mylinz ~]#
4.Create a filesystem and mount it .(Refer 1.1.8).
2. Removing Logical Volumes:
Removing the logical volume is same for all the volume layouts (linear,stripe & mirror).
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs
LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Log Copy% Convert
strivol1 uavg -wi-ao 108.00m
lv_root vg_mylinz -wi-ao 16.54g
lv_swap vg_mylinz -wi-ao 2.97g
[root@mylinz ~]# df -h /mnt
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/uavg-strivol1
105M 5.6M 94M 6% /mnt
[root@mylinz ~]# lvremove /dev/uavg/strivol1
Can't remove open logical volume "strivol1"
[root@mylinz ~]#
2.First umount the filesystem and close the volume using lvchange.
[root@mylinz ~]# umount /mnt
[root@mylinz ~]# lvchange -an /dev/uavg/strivol1
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs
LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Log Copy% Convert
strivol1 uavg -wi--- 108.00m
lv_root vg_mylinz -wi-ao 16.54g
lv_swap vg_mylinz -wi-ao 2.97g
[root@mylinz ~]#
[root@mylinz ~]# lvremove /dev/uavg/strivol1
Logical volume "strivol1" successfully removed
[root@mylinz ~]# lvs
LV VG Attr LSize Origin Snap% Move Log Copy% Convert
lv_root vg_mylinz -wi-ao 16.54g
lv_swap vg_mylinz -wi-ao 2.97g
[root@mylinz ~]#
Hope this article is informative for you.
Thank you for visiting UnixArena. Please leave a comment if you have any doubt.
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K Venkatesh says
I am unable to convert the liner volume to mirror volume? error is below
[root@node2 ~]# lvcreate -L 3G -n lv6 vg3
Logical volume “lv6” created
[root@node2 ~]#
[root@node2 ~]#
[root@node2 ~]# lvconvert -m 1 –corelog /dev/vg3/
lv6 strlv1 strlv2
[root@node2 ~]# lvconvert -m 1 –corelog /dev/vg3/lv6
Insufficient free space: 768 extents needed, but only 638 available
Unable to allocate extents for mirror(s).
[root@node2 ~]#
[root@node2 ~]# lvconvert -m1 –corelog /dev/vg3/lv6
Insufficient free space: 768 extents needed, but only 638 available
Unable to allocate extents for mirror(s).
[root@node2 ~]#
K Venkatesh says
Hi Lingesh – I am getting below error, while convert from liner volume to mirror volume.
[root@node2 ~]# lvconvert -m 1 –corelog /dev/vg1/lv0
Insufficient suitable allocatable extents for logical volume : 25 more required
Unable to allocate extents for mirror(s).
kishore says
Hi ,
I have one doubt, if we will directly remove logical volume without unmount filesystem then get any problem.
Lingeswaran R says
You can’t remove the logical volume if its mounted also You should not try to remove the FS forcefully before un-mounting it.
If the FS is not used for any application , then you see df -h output the I/O error if you remove it like that.