lvcreate
LVCREATE(8) LVCREATE(8)
NAME
lvcreate - create a logical volume in an existing volume group
SYNOPSIS
lvcreate [--addtag Tag] [--alloc AllocationPolicy] [-A/--autobackup
y/n] [-C/--contiguous y/n] [-d/--debug] [-h/-?/--help] [-i/--stripes
Stripes [-I/--stripesize StripeSize]] {-l/--extents LogicalExtentsNum-
ber[%{VG|PVS|FREE}] |
-L/--size LogicalVolumeSize[kKmMgGtT]} [-M/--persistent y/n] [--minor
minor] [-m/--mirrors Mirrors [--nosync] [--mirrorlog {disk|log}]
[--corelog] [-R/--regionsize MirrorLogRegionSize]] [-n/--name Logi-
calVolumeName] [-p/--permission r/rw] [-r/--readahead ReadAheadSec-
tors|auto|none] [-t/--test] [-v/--verbose] [-Z/--zero y/n] Vol-
umeGroupName [PhysicalVolumePath...]
lvcreate {-l/--extents LogicalExtentsNumber[%{VG|FREE}] |
-L/--size LogicalVolumeSize[kKmMgGtT]} [-c/--chunksize ChunkSize]
-s/--snapshot -n/--name SnapshotLogicalVolumeName OriginalLogicalVol-
umePath
DESCRIPTION
lvcreate creates a new logical volume in a volume group ( see vgcre-
ate(8), vgchange(8) ) by allocating logical extents from the free
physical extent pool of that volume group. If there are not enough
free physical extents then the volume group can be extended ( see
vgextend(8) ) with other physical volumes or by reducing existing log-
ical volumes of this volume group in size ( see lvreduce(8) ).
The second form supports the creation of snapshot logical volumes
which keep the contents of the original logical volume for backup pur-
poses.
OPTIONS
See lvm for common options.
-c, --chunksize ChunkSize
Power of 2 chunk size for the snapshot logical volume between
4k and 512k.
-C, --contiguous y/n
Sets or resets the contiguous allocation policy for logical
volumes. Default is no contiguous allocation based on a next
free principle.
-i, --stripes Stripes
Gives the number of stripes. This is equal to the number of
physical volumes to scatter the logical volume.
-I, --stripesize StripeSize
Gives the number of kilobytes for the granularity of the
stripes.
StripeSize must be 2^n (n = 2 to 9) for metadata in LVM1 for-
mat. For metadata in LVM2 format, the stripe size may be a
larger power of 2 but must not exceed the physical extent size.
-l, --extents LogicalExtentsNumber[%{VG|PVS|FREE}]
Gives the number of logical extents to allocate for the new
logical volume. This can also be expressed as a percentage of
the total space in the Volume Group with the suffix %VG, of the
remaining free space in the Volume Group with the suffix %FREE,
or of the remaining free space for the specified PhysicalVol-
ume(s) with the suffix %PVS,
-L, --size LogicalVolumeSize[kKmMgGtTpPeE]
Gives the size to allocate for the new logical volume. A size
suffix of K for kilobytes, M for megabytes, G for gigabytes, T
for terabytes, P for petabytes or E for exabytes is optional.
Default unit is megabytes.
--minor minor
Set the minor number.
-M, --persistent y/n
Set to y to make the minor number specified persistent.
-m, --mirrors Mirrors
Creates a mirrored logical volume with Mirrors copies. For
example, specifying "-m 1" would result in a mirror with two-
sides; that is, a linear volume plus one copy.
Specifying the optional argument --nosync will cause the cre-
ation of the mirror to skip the initial resynchronization. Any
data written afterwards will be mirrored, but the original con-
tents will not be copied. This is useful for skipping a poten-
tially long and resource intensive initial sync of an empty
device.
The optional argument --mirrorlog specifies the type of log to
be used. The default is disk, which is persistent and requires
a small amount of storage space, usually on a separate device
from the data being mirrored. Using core means the mirror is
regenerated by copying the data from the first device again
each time the device is activated, for example, after every
reboot.
The optional argument --corelog is equivalent to --mirrorlog
core.
-n, --name LogicalVolumeName
The name for the new logical volume.
Without this option a default names of "lvol#" will be gener-
ated where # is the LVM internal number of the logical volume.
-p, --permission r/w
Set access permissions to read only or read and write.
Default is read and write.
-r, --readahead ReadAheadSectors|auto|none
Set read ahead sector count of this logical volume. For volume
groups with metadata in lvm1 format, this must be a value
between 2 and 120. The default value is "auto" which allows
the kernel to choose a suitable value automatically. "None" is
equivalent to specifying zero.
-R, --regionsize MirrorLogRegionSize
A mirror is divided into regions of this size (in MB), and the
mirror log uses this granularity to track which regions are in
sync.
-s, --snapshot
Create a snapshot logical volume (or snapshot) for an existing,
so called original logical volume (or origin). Snapshots pro-
vide a ’frozen image’ of the contents of the origin while the
origin can still be updated. They enable consistent backups and
online recovery of removed/overwritten data/files. The snapshot
does not need the same amount of storage the origin has. In a
typical scenario, 15-20% might be enough. In case the snapshot
runs out of storage, use lvextend(8) to grow it. Shrinking a
snapshot is supported by lvreduce(8) as well. Run lvdisplay(8)
on the snapshot in order to check how much data is allocated to
it.
-Z, --zero y/n
Controls zeroing of the first KB of data in the new logical
volume.
Default is yes.
Volume will not be zeroed if read only flag is set.
Snapshot volumes are zeroed always.
Warning: trying to mount an unzeroed logical volume can cause
the system to hang.
Examples
"lvcreate -i 3 -I 8 -L 100M vg00" tries to create a striped logical
volume with 3 stripes, a stripesize of 8KB and a size of 100MB in the
volume group named vg00. The logical volume name will be chosen by
lvcreate.
"lvcreate -m1 -L 500M vg00" tries to create a mirror logical volume
with 2 sides with a useable size of 500 MiB. This operation would
require 3 devices - two for the mirror devices and one for the disk
log.
"lvcreate -m1 --mirrorlog core -L 500M vg00" tries to create a mirror
logical volume with 2 sides with a useable size of 500 MiB. This
operation would require 2 devices - the log is "in-memory".
"lvcreate --size 100m --snapshot --name snap /dev/vg00/lvol1"
creates a snapshot logical volume named /dev/vg00/snap which has
access to the contents of the original logical volume named
/dev/vg00/lvol1 at snapshot logical volume creation time. If the orig-
inal logical volume contains a file system, you can mount the snapshot
logical volume on an arbitrary directory in order to access the con-
tents of the filesystem to run a backup while the original filesystem
continues to get updated.
SEE ALSO
lvm(8), vgcreate(8), lvremove(8), lvrename(8) lvextend(8), lvre-
duce(8), lvdisplay(8), lvscan(8)
Sistina Software UK LVM TOOLS LVCREATE(8)
