1LVMDEVICES(8) System Manager's Manual LVMDEVICES(8)
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6 lvmdevices — Manage the devices file
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9 lvmdevices option_args
10 [ option_args ]
11 --adddev PV
13 --addpvid String
14 --check
15 --commandprofile String
16 --config String
17 -d|--debug
18 --deldev String
19 --delpvid String
20 --deviceidtype String
21 --devices PV
22 --devicesfile String
23 --driverloaded y|n
24 -h|--help
25 --journal String
26 --lockopt String
27 --longhelp
28 --nohints
29 --nolocking
30 --profile String
31 -q|--quiet
32 -t|--test
33 --update
34 -v|--verbose
35 --version
36 -y|--yes
37
39 The LVM devices file lists devices that lvm can use. The default file
40 is /etc/lvm/devices/system.devices, and the lvmdevices(8) command is
41 used to add or remove device entries. If the file does not exist, or
42 if lvm.conf includes use_devicesfile=0, then lvm will not use a devices
43 file.
44 To use a device with lvm, add it to the devices file with the command
46 lvmdevices --adddev, and to prevent lvm from seeing or using a device,
47 remove it from the devices file with lvmdevices --deldev. The vgim‐
48 portdevices(8) command adds all PVs from a VG to the devices file, and
49 updates the VG metadata to include device IDs of the PVs.
50 Commands that add new devices to the devices file necessarily look out‐
52 side the existing devices file to find the devices being added. pvcre‐
53 ate, vgcreate, and vgextend also look outside the devices file to cre‐
54 ate new PVs and add those PVs to the devices file.
55 LVM records devices in the devices file using hardware-specific IDs,
57 such as the WWID, and attempts to use subsystem-specific IDs for vir‐
58 tual device types (which also aim to be as unique and stable as possi‐
59 ble.) These device IDs are also written in the VG metadata. When no
60 hardware or virtual ID is available, lvm falls back using the unstable
61 device name as the device ID. When devnames are used as IDs, lvm per‐
62 forms extra scanning to find devices if their devname changes, e.g. af‐
63 ter reboot.
64 When proper device IDs are used, an lvm command will not look at de‐
66 vices outside the devices file, but when devnames are used as a fall‐
67 back, lvm will scan devices outside the devices file to locate PVs on
68 renamed devices. A config setting search_for_devnames can be used to
69 control the scanning for renamed devname entries.
70 Related to the devices file, the new command option --devices <dev‐
72 names> allows a list of devices to be specified for the command to use,
73 overriding the devices file. The listed devices act as a sort of de‐
74 vices file in terms of limiting which devices lvm will see and use.
75 Devices that are not listed will appear to be missing to the lvm com‐
76 mand.
77 Multiple devices files can be kept /etc/lvm/devices, which allows lvm
79 to be used with different sets of devices. For example, system devices
80 do not need to be exposed to a specific application, and the applica‐
81 tion can use lvm on its own devices that are not exposed to the system.
82 The option --devicesfile <filename> is used to select the devices file
83 to use with the command. Without the option set, the default system
84 devices file is used.
85 Setting --devicesfile "" causes lvm to not use a devices file.
87 With no devices file, lvm will use any device on the system, and ap‐
89 plies the filter to limit the full set of system devices. With a de‐
90 vices file, the regex filter is not used, and the filter settings in
91 lvm.conf or the command line are ignored. The vgimportdevices command
92 is one exception which does apply the regex filter when looking for a
93 VG to import.
94 If a devices file exists, lvm will use it, even if it's empty. An
96 empty devices file means lvm will see no devices.
97 If the system devices file does not yet exist, the pvcreate or vgcreate
99 commands will create it if they see no existing VGs on the system.
100 lvmdevices --addev and vgimportdevices will always create a new devices
101 file if it does not yet exist.
102 It is recommended to use lvm commands to make changes to the devices
104 file to ensure proper updates.
105 The device ID and device ID type are included in the VG metadata and
107 can be reported with pvs -o deviceid,deviceidtype. (Note that the
108 lvmdevices command does not update VG metadata, but subsequent lvm com‐
109 mands modifying the metadata will include the device ID.)
110 Possible device ID types are:
112 • sys_wwid uses the wwid reported by sysfs. This is the first choice
114 for non-virtual devices.
115 • sys_serial uses the serial number reported by sysfs. This is the
117 second choice for non-virtual devices.
118 • mpath_uuid is used for dm multipath devices, reported by sysfs.
120 • crypt_uuid is used for dm crypt devices, reported by sysfs.
122 • md_uuid is used for md devices, reported by sysfs.
124 • lvmlv_uuid is used if a PV is placed on top of an lvm LV, reported by
126 sysfs.
127 • loop_file is used for loop devices, the backing file name repored by
129 sysfs.
130 • devname the device name is used if no other type applies.
132 The default choice for device ID type can be overriden using lvmdevices
134 --addev --deviceidtype <type>. If the specified type is available for
135 the device it will be used, otherwise the device will be added using
136 the type that would otherwise be chosen.
137
139 Print devices in the devices file.
140 lvmdevices
142 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
143 —
145 Check the devices file and report incorrect values.
147 lvmdevices --check
149 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
150 —
152 Update the devices file to fix incorrect values.
154 lvmdevices --update
156 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
157 —
159 Add a device to the devices file.
161 lvmdevices --adddev PV
163 [ --deviceidtype String ]
164 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
165 —
167 Remove a device from the devices file.
169 lvmdevices --deldev String|PV
171 [ --deviceidtype String ]
172 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
173 —
175 Find the device with the given PVID and add it to the devices file.
177 lvmdevices --addpvid String
179 [ --deviceidtype String ]
180 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
181 —
183 Remove the devices file entry for the given PVID.
185 lvmdevices --delpvid String
187 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
188 —
190 Common options for lvm:
192 [ -d|--debug ]
193 [ -h|--help ]
194 [ -q|--quiet ]
195 [ -t|--test ]
196 [ -v|--verbose ]
197 [ -y|--yes ]
198 [ --commandprofile String ]
199 [ --config String ]
200 [ --devices PV ]
201 [ --devicesfile String ]
202 [ --driverloaded y|n ]
203 [ --journal String ]
204 [ --lockopt String ]
205 [ --longhelp ]
206 [ --nohints ]
207 [ --nolocking ]
208 [ --profile String ]
209 [ --version ]
210
212 --adddev PV
213 Add a device to the devices file.
214 --addpvid String
216 Find a device with the PVID and add the device to the devices
217 file.
218 --check
220 Checks the content of the devices file. Reports incorrect de‐
221 vice names or PVIDs for entries.
222 --commandprofile String
224 The command profile to use for command configuration. See
225 lvm.conf(5) for more information about profiles.
226 --config String
228 Config settings for the command. These override lvm.conf(5) set‐
229 tings. The String arg uses the same format as lvm.conf(5), or
230 may use section/field syntax. See lvm.conf(5) for more informa‐
231 tion about config.
232 -d|--debug ...
234 Set debug level. Repeat from 1 to 6 times to increase the detail
235 of messages sent to the log file and/or syslog (if configured).
236 --deldev String
238 Remove a device from the devices file. When used alone,
239 --deldev specifies a device name. When used with --deviceid‐
240 type, --deldev specifies a device id.
241 --delpvid String
243 Remove a device with the PVID from the devices file.
244 --deviceidtype String
246 The type of device ID to use for the device. If the specified
247 type is available for the device, then it will override the de‐
248 fault type that lvm would use.
249 --devices PV
251 Restricts the devices that are visible and accessible to the
252 command. Devices not listed will appear to be missing. This op‐
253 tion can be repeated, or accepts a comma separated list of de‐
254 vices. This overrides the devices file.
255 --devicesfile String
257 A file listing devices that LVM should use. The file must exist
258 in /etc/lvm/devices/ and is managed with the lvmdevices(8) com‐
259 mand. This overrides the lvm.conf(5) devices/devicesfile and
260 devices/use_devicesfile settings.
261 --driverloaded y|n
263 If set to no, the command will not attempt to use device-mapper.
264 For testing and debugging.
265 -h|--help
267 Display help text.
268 --journal String
270 Record information in the systemd journal. This information is
271 in addition to information enabled by the lvm.conf log/journal
272 setting. command: record information about the command. out‐
273 put: record the default command output. debug: record full com‐
274 mand debugging.
275 --lockopt String
277 Used to pass options for special cases to lvmlockd. See lvm‐
278 lockd(8) for more information.
279 --longhelp
281 Display long help text.
282 --nohints
284 Do not use the hints file to locate devices for PVs. A command
285 may read more devices to find PVs when hints are not used. The
286 command will still perform standard hint file invalidation where
287 appropriate.
288 --nolocking
290 Disable locking. Use with caution, concurrent commands may pro‐
291 duce incorrect results.
292 --profile String
294 An alias for --commandprofile or --metadataprofile, depending on
295 the command.
296 -q|--quiet ...
298 Suppress output and log messages. Overrides --debug and --ver‐
299 bose. Repeat once to also suppress any prompts with answer
300 'no'.
301 -t|--test
303 Run in test mode. Commands will not update metadata. This is
304 implemented by disabling all metadata writing but nevertheless
305 returning success to the calling function. This may lead to un‐
306 usual error messages in multi-stage operations if a tool relies
307 on reading back metadata it believes has changed but hasn't.
308 --update
310 Update the content of the devices file.
311 -v|--verbose ...
313 Set verbose level. Repeat from 1 to 4 times to increase the de‐
314 tail of messages sent to stdout and stderr.
315 --version
317 Display version information.
318 -y|--yes
320 Do not prompt for confirmation interactively but always assume
321 the answer yes. Use with extreme caution. (For automatic no,
322 see -qq.)
323
325 String See the option description for information about the string con‐
326 tent.
327 Size[UNIT]
329 Size is an input number that accepts an optional unit. Input
330 units are always treated as base two values, regardless of capi‐
331 talization, e.g. 'k' and 'K' both refer to 1024. The default
332 input unit is specified by letter, followed by |UNIT. UNIT rep‐
333 resents other possible input units: b|B is bytes, s|S is sectors
334 of 512 bytes, k|K is KiB, m|M is MiB, g|G is GiB, t|T is TiB,
335 p|P is PiB, e|E is EiB. (This should not be confused with the
336 output control --units, where capital letters mean multiple of
337 1000.)
338
340 See lvm(8) for information about environment variables used by lvm.
341 For example, LVM_VG_NAME can generally be substituted for a required VG
342 parameter.
343
345 lvm(8), lvm.conf(5), lvmconfig(8), lvmdevices(8),
346 pvchange(8), pvck(8), pvcreate(8), pvdisplay(8), pvmove(8),
348 pvremove(8), pvresize(8), pvs(8), pvscan(8),
349 vgcfgbackup(8), vgcfgrestore(8), vgchange(8), vgck(8), vgcreate(8),
351 vgconvert(8), vgdisplay(8), vgexport(8), vgextend(8), vgimport(8),
352 vgimportclone(8), vgimportdevices(8), vgmerge(8), vgmknodes(8),
353 vgreduce(8), vgremove(8), vgrename(8), vgs(8), vgscan(8), vgsplit(8),
354 lvcreate(8), lvchange(8), lvconvert(8), lvdisplay(8), lvextend(8),
356 lvreduce(8), lvremove(8), lvrename(8), lvresize(8), lvs(8), lvscan(8),
357 lvm-fullreport(8), lvm-lvpoll(8), blkdeactivate(8), lvmdump(8),
359 dmeventd(8), lvmpolld(8), lvmlockd(8), lvmlockctl(8), cmirrord(8),
361 lvmdbusd(8), fsadm(8),
362 lvmsystemid(7), lvmreport(7), lvmraid(7), lvmthin(7), lvmcache(7)
364Red Hat, Inc. LVM TOOLS 2.03.18(2)-git (2022-11-10) LVMDEVICES(8)