The table below lists the LVM commands and a near equivalent command to use in VxVM. For more information, refer to the Task Comparison chart. For information on VxVM commands, refer to the Veritas Volume Manager documentation package.
LVM | Description/action | VxVM | Description/action |
|---|
lvchange | Changes the characteristics of logical volumes. | vxedit or vxvol set | Creates, removes, and modifies Volume Manager records. |
| There is no single equivalent LVM command. | vxresize | Resizes a file system and its underlying volume at the same time. |
lvlnboot | Creates root, primary and secondary swap and dump volumes. It also creates boot areas on the disk. | | There is no equivalent command for this release. |
lvcreate | Creates a logical volume. | vxassist | Creates volumes with the make parameter. Example: vxassist make vol_name 100M layout=stripe |
lvextend | Increases disk space allocated to a logical volume. | vxassist | Increases a volume in size with the growto or growby parameter. Example: vxassist growto vol_name 200M, vxassist growby vol_name 100M vxassist creates and modifies volumes. |
lvreduce | Decreases disk space allocated to a logical volume. | vxassist | Decreases a volume in size with the shrinkto or shrinkby parameters. Example: vxassist shrinkto vol_name 200M Make sure you shrink the file system before shrinking the volume. |
lvremove | Removes one or more logical volumes from a volume group. | vxeditvxassist | Removes volumes with the -rf rm parameters. Example: vxedit -rf rm vol_name
Removes a volume with the remove volume parameters. Example: vxassist remove volume vol_name |
lvsplit | Splits a mirrored logical volume into two logical volumes. | vxassist snapshot | The snapshot operation takes one of the attached temporary mirrors and creates a new volume with the temporary mirror as its one plex. Example: vxassist snapshot vol_name new_volume |
lvmerge | Reverses and converts the lvsplit logical volumes to a single logical volume. | vxassist snapback | The snapback operation returns the snapshot plex to the original volume from which it was snapped. Example: vxassist snapback new_volume |
lvsync | Synchronizes mirrors that are stale in one or more logical volumes. | vxrecover vxvol start | The vxrecover command performs resynchronize operations for the volumes, or for volumes residing on the named disks (medianame or the VxVM name for the disk). Example: vxrecover vol_name media_name |
pvcreate | Makes a disk an LVM disk. | vxdisksetup | Brings a disk under VxVM control. Example: vxdisksetup c0t3d0 Option 1 in the vxdiskadm menu adds or initializes one or more disks. |
pvdisplay | Displays information about physical volumes in a volume group. | vxdisk list | Lists information about VxVM disks. Example: vxdisk list disk_name |
pvchange | Sets physical volume characteristics to allow/deny allocation of additional physical extents from this disk. | vxdisk vxdisk set vxedit | The vxdisk utility performs basic administrative operations on VxVM disks. Operations include initializing and replacing disks, as well as taking care of some book-keeping necessary for the disk model presented by the Volume Manager. |
pvmove | Moves allocated physical extents from source to destination within a volume group. | vxevac
vxsd mv
vxdiskadm | Moves volumes off a disk. Performs volume operations on a subdisk. Moves the contents of old subdisk onto the new subdisks and replaces old sub disk with the new subdisks for any associations. The vxdiskadm script presents a menu of possible operations to the user. Option 7 in the vxdiskadm menu moves volumes. |
pvremove | Removes the LVM header information and releases the disk from LVM control. | vxdiskunsetup | Removes the VxVM header information and releases the disk from VxVM control. |
vgcreate | Creates a volume group. | vxdiskadd vxdg init | Creates a new disk group and/or adds disks to a disk group. |
vgdisplay | Displays information on all volume groups. | vxdg listvxprint | Displays the contents of a disk group. Displays information about all objects or a subset of objects. |
vgchange | Activates or deactivates one or more volume groups. | vxdg -g diskgroup set activation=
mode | Activates a shared disk group. |
vgextend | Extends a volume group by adding one or more disks to it. | vxdiskaddvxdiskadm | Adds a disk to the disk group. Option 1 in the vxdiskadm menu adds disks to the disk group. |
vgreduce | Reduces a volume group by removing one or more disks from it. | vxdg rmdiskvxdisk rm vxdiskadm | Removes disks from a disk group. Removes the specified disk access record by disk access name. Option 3 in the vxdiskadm menu removes disks. |
vgscan | Scans all disks and looks for logical volume groups. | vxinfo
vxprint vxdiskadm | Displays information about volumes. Displays complete or partial information from records in VxVM disk group configurations. Option list in the vxdiskadm menu displays disk information. |
vgsync | Synchronizes mirrors that are stale in one or more logical volumes. | vxrecover | Starts resynchronization and recovery of volumes. |
vgremove | Removes the definition of a volume group from the system. | vxdg deportvxdiskadm | Deports a disk group from the system. Option 9 in the vxdiskadm menu removes a disk group. |
vgexport | Removes a volume group from the system. | vxdg deportvxdiskadm | Deports a disk group from the system. Option 9 in the vxdiskadm menu removes a disk group. |
vgimport | Adds a volume group to the system by scanning physical volumes which have been exported using vgexport. | vxdg importvxdiskadm | Imports a disk group. Option 8 in the vxdiskadm menu imports a disk group. |
| No LVM command | vxplex | Operates on plex objects. |
lvchange, lvextend, lvcreate, lvreduce | Performs operations on logical volumes. | vxvol | Operates on volume objects. |
| No LVM command | vxsd | Operates on subdisk objects. |
| No LVM command | vxmend | Fixes simple misconfigurations. |
FAQs
In LVM, a disk that has been initialized by LVM becomes known as a physical volume. A VxVM disk is one that is placed under the Volume Manager control and is added to a disk group. VxVM can place a disk under its control without adding it to a disk group.
What is the difference between VxVM and LVM? ›
In LVM, a disk that has been initialized by LVM becomes known as a physical volume. A VxVM disk is one that is placed under the Volume Manager control and is added to a disk group. VxVM can place a disk under its control without adding it to a disk group.
What are LVM commands? ›
The 'LVM' (Logical Volume Manager) command in Linux is a powerful tool for managing disk spaces. It allows you to create, delete, resize, and manage disk partitions, providing a high level of flexibility and control.
What is Veritas Volume Manager in Linux? ›
VeritasTM Volume Manager (VxVM) by Symantec is a storage management subsystem that allows you to manage physical disks as logical devices called volumes. A VxVM volume appears to applications and the operating system as a physical disk on which file systems, databases and other managed data objects can be configured.
What is the volume command in Linux? ›
Unleashing the Full Potential of LVMs
| Argument | Description | Example |
|---|
| -n | Names the logical volume. | lvcreate -n mylv -L 10G myvg |
| -p | Sets the permissions to read or write. | lvchange -p r myvg/mylv |
| -r | Makes the logical volume read-only. | lvchange -pr myvg/mylv |
| -s | Creates a snapshot of the logical volume. | lvcreate -s -n mylv_snap myvg/mylv |
6 more rowsDec 14, 2023
Even though LVM has always been a great technology, it has never been easy to use. Today's Linux LVM has no doubt come a long way in terms of functionalities and ease-of-use since its inception. Some Linux distributions even went so far as pre-configuring them as system root devices, making it effortless to use.
Why not to use LVM? ›
One of the drawbacks of using LVM is complexity. LVM adds an extra layer of management and configuration to your storage system, which can make it more difficult to understand and troubleshoot.
What is LVM in simple words? ›
Logical volume management (LVM) is a form of storage virtualization that offers system administrators a more flexible approach to managing disk storage space than traditional partitioning. This type of virtualization tool is located within the device-driver stack on the operating system.
Is LVM same as raid? ›
For example, LVM can create logical volumes on top of RAID arrays, or use built-in RAID support to create RAID logical volumes. RAID implementation uses the Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) to create and manage RAID arrays, which are groups of devices that store data in a distributed and redundant way.
When to use LVM in Linux? ›
Uses. LVM is used for the following purposes: Creating single logical volumes of multiple physical volumes or entire hard disks (somewhat similar to RAID 0, but more similar to JBOD), allowing for dynamic volume resizing.
The Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM) configuration daemon (vxconfigd) provides the interface between VxVM commands and the kernel device drivers. vxconfigd handles configuration change requests from VxVM utilities, communicates the change requests to the VxVM kernel, and modifies configuration information stored on disk.
What is LVM and Btrfs? ›
BTRFS focuses mainly on file storage, working as a modern filesystem full of features to make data handling more robust. Conversely, LVM zeros in on the allocation of space in storage devices, enhancing our control over how we manage our disk space.
What is LVM and PVM in Linux? ›
Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM) Partitions are created from Physical Disks and Physical Volumes (PVs) are created from Partitions. A Physical Disk can be allocated as a single Physical Volume spanning the whole disk, or can be partitioned into multiple Physical Volumes.
What is LVM in Linux interview questions? ›
Q1: What is LVM, and why is it used? A1: LVM (Logical Volume Manager) is a flexible and powerful disk management system in Linux that allows administrators to manage disk space more efficiently. It is used for the following reasons: Simplifies disk space management by abstracting physical disks into logical volumes.
What is LVM and ZFS? ›
ZFS and LVM are disk management systems. With ZFS you're limited to ZFS whereas with LVM you can partition using any filesystem (btrfs, xfs, ntfs, etc.) LVM uses your physical disks and creates Logical Volumes which can be used to create Volume Groups which then contain Partitions.
How many types of LVM are there in Linux? ›
There are three types of LVM logical volumes: linear volumes, striped volumes, and mirrored volumes.
What is the difference between standard partition and LVM in Centos 7? ›
A standard partition can contain a file system or swap space. Standard partitions are most commonly used for /boot and the BIOS Boot and EFI System partitions . LVM logical volumes are recommended for most other uses. Choosing LVM (or Logical Volume Management) as the device type creates an LVM logical volume.
What is the difference between disk partition and LVM? ›
The advantage of LVM over traditional static partitioning of hard disks is the possibility to expand the file system. For this purpose, the VG can also be resized and expanded by adding a PV (hard disk). Simply with this LVM method you can expand the root volume and Data volume easily.
What is the difference between LVM and normal partition? ›
LVM stands for Logical Volume Management. If you choose standard partitions, then the only partition that you will be able to resize is the last one on the disk. Therefore earlier partitions won't be possible. WIth LVM you would normally have two partitions on the disk, the first being /boot, the second being for LVM.
What is the difference between a physical volume and a volume group? ›
A Volume Group (VG) is a collection of one or more physical devices, each called a Physical Volume (PV). A Logical Volume (LV) is a virtual block device that can be used by the system or applications.
