1PVCREATE(8)                 System Manager's Manual                PVCREATE(8)
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NAME

6       pvcreate - Initialize physical volume(s) for use by LVM
7

SYNOPSIS

9       pvcreate position_args
10           [ option_args ]
11

DESCRIPTION

13       pvcreate initializes a PV so that it is recognized as belonging to LVM,
14       and allows the PV to be used in a VG. A PV can  be  a  disk  partition,
15       whole disk, meta device, or loopback file.
16
17       For  DOS  disk partitions, the partition id should be set to 0x8e using
18       fdisk(8), cfdisk(8), or a equivalent. For GUID Partition  Table  (GPT),
19       the  id is E6D6D379-F507-44C2-A23C-238F2A3DF928. For whole disk devices
20       only the partition table must be erased, which will effectively destroy
21       all  data  on  that  disk. This can be done by zeroing the first sector
22       with:
23
24       dd if=/dev/zero of=PhysicalVolume bs=512 count=1
25
26       Use vgcreate(8) to create a new VG on the PV, or vgextend(8) to add the
27       PV to existing VG.
28
29       The  force option will create a PV without confirmation.  Repeating the
30       force option (-ff) will forcibly create a PV,  overriding  checks  that
31       normally prevent it, e.g. if the PV is already in a VG.
32

USAGE

34       pvcreate PV ...
35           [ -f|--force ]
36           [ -M|--metadatatype lvm2 ]
37           [ -u|--uuid String ]
38           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
39           [    --dataalignment Size[k|UNIT] ]
40           [    --dataalignmentoffset Size[k|UNIT] ]
41           [    --bootloaderareasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
42           [    --labelsector Number ]
43           [    --[pv]metadatacopies 0|1|2 ]
44           [    --metadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
45           [    --metadataignore y|n ]
46           [    --norestorefile ]
47           [    --setphysicalvolumesize Size[m|UNIT] ]
48           [    --reportformat basic|json ]
49           [    --restorefile String ]
50           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
51
52       Common options for lvm:
53           [ -d|--debug ]
54           [ -h|--help ]
55           [ -q|--quiet ]
56           [ -t|--test ]
57           [ -v|--verbose ]
58           [ -y|--yes ]
59           [    --commandprofile String ]
60           [    --config String ]
61           [    --driverloaded y|n ]
62           [    --lockopt String ]
63           [    --longhelp ]
64           [    --nolocking ]
65           [    --profile String ]
66           [    --version ]
67

OPTIONS

69       --bootloaderareasize Size[m|UNIT]
70              Create a separate bootloader area of specified size besides PV's
71              data area. The bootloader area is an area of reserved space on
72              the PV from which LVM will not allocate any extents and it's
73              kept untouched. This is primarily aimed for use with bootloaders
74              to embed their own data or metadata.  The start of the boot‐
75              loader area is always aligned, see also --dataalignment and
76              --dataalignmentoffset. The bootloader area size may eventually
77              end up increased due to the alignment, but it's never less than
78              the size that is requested. To see the bootloader area start and
79              size of an existing PV use pvs -o +pv_ba_start,pv_ba_size.
80
81       --commandprofile String
82              The command profile to use for command configuration.  See
83              lvm.conf(5) for more information about profiles.
84
85       --config String
86              Config settings for the command. These override lvm.conf set‐
87              tings.  The String arg uses the same format as lvm.conf, or may
88              use section/field syntax.  See lvm.conf(5) for more information
89              about config.
90
91       --dataalignment Size[k|UNIT]
92              Align the start of the data to a multiple of this number.  Also
93              specify an appropriate Physical Extent size when creating a VG.
94              To see the location of the first Physical Extent of an existing
95              PV, use pvs -o +pe_start. In addition, it may be shifted by an
96              alignment offset.  See lvm.conf/data_alignment_offset_detection
97              and --dataalignmentoffset.
98
99       --dataalignmentoffset Size[k|UNIT]
100              Shift the start of the data area by this additional offset.
101
102       -d|--debug ...
103              Set debug level. Repeat from 1 to 6 times to increase the detail
104              of messages sent to the log file and/or syslog (if configured).
105
106       --driverloaded y|n
107              If set to no, the command will not attempt to use device-mapper.
108              For testing and debugging.
109
110       -f|--force ...
111              Override various checks, confirmations and protections.  Use
112              with extreme caution.
113
114       -h|--help
115              Display help text.
116
117       --labelsector Number
118              By default the PV is labelled with an LVM2 identifier in its
119              second sector (sector 1). This lets you use a different sector
120              near the start of the disk (between 0 and 3 inclusive - see
121              LABEL_SCAN_SECTORS in the source). Use with care.
122
123       --lockopt String
124              Used to pass options for special cases to lvmlockd.  See lvm‐
125              lockd(8) for more information.
126
127       --longhelp
128              Display long help text.
129
130       --metadataignore y|n
131              Specifies the metadataignore property of a PV.  If yes, metadata
132              areas on the PV are ignored, and lvm will not store metadata in
133              the metadata areas of the PV.  If no, lvm will store metadata on
134              the PV.
135
136       --metadatasize Size[m|UNIT]
137              The approximate amount of space used for each VG metadata area.
138              The size may be rounded.
139
140       -M|--metadatatype lvm2
141              Specifies the type of on-disk metadata to use.  lvm2 (or just 2)
142              is the current, standard format.  lvm1 (or just 1) is no longer
143              used.
144
145       --nolocking
146              Disable locking.
147
148       --norestorefile
149              In conjunction with --uuid, this allows a uuid to be specified
150              without also requiring that a backup of the metadata be pro‐
151              vided.
152
153       --profile String
154              An alias for --commandprofile or --metadataprofile, depending on
155              the command.
156
157       --[pv]metadatacopies 0|1|2
158              The number of metadata areas to set aside on a PV for storing VG
159              metadata.  When 2, one copy of the VG metadata is stored at the
160              front of the PV and a second copy is stored at the end.  When 1,
161              one copy of the VG metadata is stored at the front of the PV
162              (starting in the 5th sector).  When 0, no copies of the VG meta‐
163              data are stored on the given PV.  This may be useful in VGs con‐
164              taining many PVs (this places limitations on the ability to use
165              vgsplit later.)
166
167       -q|--quiet ...
168              Suppress output and log messages. Overrides --debug and --ver‐
169              bose.  Repeat once to also suppress any prompts with answer
170              'no'.
171
172       --reportformat basic|json
173              Overrides current output format for reports which is defined
174              globally by the report/output_format setting in lvm.conf.  basic
175              is the original format with columns and rows.  If there is more
176              than one report per command, each report is prefixed with the
177              report name for identification. json produces report output in
178              JSON format. See lvmreport(7) for more information.
179
180       --restorefile String
181              In conjunction with --uuid, this reads the file (produced by
182              vgcfgbackup), extracts the location and size of the data on the
183              PV, and ensures that the metadata produced by the program is
184              consistent with the contents of the file, i.e. the physical
185              extents will be in the same place and not be overwritten by new
186              metadata. This provides a mechanism to upgrade the metadata for‐
187              mat or to add/remove metadata areas. Use with care.
188
189       --setphysicalvolumesize Size[m|UNIT]
190              Overrides the automatically detected size of the PV.  Use with
191              care, or prior to reducing the physical size of the device.
192
193       -t|--test
194              Run in test mode. Commands will not update metadata.  This is
195              implemented by disabling all metadata writing but nevertheless
196              returning success to the calling function. This may lead to
197              unusual error messages in multi-stage operations if a tool
198              relies on reading back metadata it believes has changed but
199              hasn't.
200
201       -u|--uuid String
202              Specify a UUID for the device.  Without this option, a random
203              UUID is generated.  This option is needed before restoring a
204              backup of LVM metadata onto a replacement device; see vgcfgre‐
205              store(8). As such, use of --restorefile is compulsory unless the
206              --norestorefile is used.  All PVs must have unique UUIDs, and
207              LVM will prevent certain operations if multiple devices are seen
208              with the same UUID.  See vgimportclone(8) for more information.
209
210       -v|--verbose ...
211              Set verbose level. Repeat from 1 to 4 times to increase the
212              detail of messages sent to stdout and stderr.
213
214       --version
215              Display version information.
216
217       -y|--yes
218              Do not prompt for confirmation interactively but always assume
219              the answer yes. Use with extreme caution.  (For automatic no,
220              see -qq.)
221
222       -Z|--zero y|n
223              Controls if the first 4 sectors (2048 bytes) of the device are
224              wiped.  The default is to wipe these sectors unless either or
225              both of --restorefile or --uuid are specified.
226

VARIABLES

228       PV
229              Physical Volume name, a device path under  /dev.   For  commands
230              managing physical extents, a PV positional arg generally accepts
231              a suffix indicating a range (or  multiple  ranges)  of  physical
232              extents  (PEs). When the first PE is omitted, it defaults to the
233              start of the device, and when the last PE is omitted it defaults
234              to  end.   Start and end range (inclusive): PV[:PE-PE]...  Start
235              and length range (counting from 0): PV[:PE+PE]...
236
237       String
238              See the option description for information about the string con‐
239              tent.
240
241       Size[UNIT]
242              Size  is  an  input number that accepts an optional unit.  Input
243              units are always treated as base two values, regardless of capi‐
244              talization,  e.g.  'k'  and 'K' both refer to 1024.  The default
245              input unit is specified by letter, followed by |UNIT.  UNIT rep‐
246              resents  other  possible  input units: bBsSkKmMgGtTpPeE.  b|B is
247              bytes, s|S is sectors of 512 bytes, k|K  is  kilobytes,  m|M  is
248              megabytes, g|G is gigabytes, t|T is terabytes, p|P is petabytes,
249              e|E is exabytes.  (This should not be confused with  the  output
250              control --units, where capital letters mean multiple of 1000.)
251

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

253       See  lvm(8)  for  information  about environment variables used by lvm.
254       For example, LVM_VG_NAME can generally be substituted for a required VG
255       parameter.
256

EXAMPLES

258       Initialize a partition and a full device.
259       pvcreate /dev/sdc4 /dev/sde
260
261       If  a device is a 4KiB sector drive that compensates for windows parti‐
262       tioning (sector 7 is the lowest aligned logical block, the 4KiB sectors
263       start at LBA -1, and consequently sector 63 is aligned on a 4KiB bound‐
264       ary) manually account for this when initializing for use by LVM.
265       pvcreate --dataalignmentoffset 7s /dev/sdb
266

SEE ALSO

268       lvm(8) lvm.conf(5) lvmconfig(8)
269
270       pvchange(8)  pvck(8)  pvcreate(8)  pvdisplay(8)  pvmove(8)  pvremove(8)
271       pvresize(8) pvs(8) pvscan(8)
272
273       vgcfgbackup(8)  vgcfgrestore(8)  vgchange(8) vgck(8) vgcreate(8) vgcon‐
274       vert(8)  vgdisplay(8)  vgexport(8)  vgextend(8)  vgimport(8)  vgimport‐
275       clone(8)  vgmerge(8)  vgmknodes(8)  vgreduce(8) vgremove(8) vgrename(8)
276       vgs(8) vgscan(8) vgsplit(8)
277
278       lvcreate(8) lvchange(8)  lvconvert(8)  lvdisplay(8)  lvextend(8)  lvre‐
279       duce(8) lvremove(8) lvrename(8) lvresize(8) lvs(8) lvscan(8)
280
281       lvm-fullreport(8) lvm-lvpoll(8) lvm2-activation-generator(8) blkdeacti‐
282       vate(8) lvmdump(8)
283
284       dmeventd(8) lvmpolld(8)  lvmlockd(8)  lvmlockctl(8)  cmirrord(8)  lvmd‐
285       busd(8)
286
287       lvmsystemid(7) lvmreport(7) lvmraid(7) lvmthin(7) lvmcache(7)
288
289
290
291Red Hat, Inc.       LVM TOOLS 2.03.02(2)-RHEL8 (2019-01-04)        PVCREATE(8)
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