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 --delnotfound
20 --delpvid String
21 --deviceidtype String
22 --devices PV
23 --devicesfile String
24 --driverloaded y|n
25 -h|--help
26 --journal String
27 --lockopt String
28 --longhelp
29 --nohints
30 --nolocking
31 --profile String
32 -q|--quiet
33 -t|--test
34 --update
35 -v|--verbose
36 --version
37 -y|--yes
38
40 The LVM devices file lists devices that lvm can use. The default file
41 is /etc/lvm/devices/system.devices, and the lvmdevices(8) command is
42 used to add or remove device entries. If the file does not exist, or
43 if lvm.conf includes use_devicesfile=0, then lvm will not use a devices
44 file.
45 To use a device with lvm, add it to the devices file with the command
47 lvmdevices --adddev, and to prevent lvm from seeing or using a device,
48 remove it from the devices file with lvmdevices --deldev. The vgim‐
49 portdevices(8) command adds all PVs from a VG to the devices file, and
50 updates the VG metadata to include device IDs of the PVs.
51 Commands that add new devices to the devices file necessarily look out‐
53 side the existing devices file to find the devices being added. pvcre‐
54 ate, vgcreate, and vgextend also look outside the devices file to cre‐
55 ate new PVs and add those PVs to the devices file.
56 LVM records devices in the devices file using hardware-specific IDs,
58 such as the WWID, and attempts to use subsystem-specific IDs for vir‐
59 tual device types (which also aim to be as unique and stable as possi‐
60 ble.) These device IDs are also written in the VG metadata. When no
61 hardware or virtual ID is available, lvm falls back using the unstable
62 device name as the device ID. When devnames are used as IDs, lvm per‐
63 forms extra scanning to find devices if their devname changes, e.g. af‐
64 ter reboot.
65 When proper device IDs are used, an lvm command will not look at de‐
67 vices outside the devices file, but when devnames are used as a fall‐
68 back, lvm will scan devices outside the devices file to locate PVs on
69 renamed devices. A config setting search_for_devnames can be used to
70 control the scanning for renamed devname entries.
71 Related to the devices file, the new command option --devices <dev‐
73 names> allows a list of devices to be specified for the command to use,
74 overriding the devices file. The listed devices act as a sort of de‐
75 vices file in terms of limiting which devices lvm will see and use.
76 Devices that are not listed will appear to be missing to the lvm com‐
77 mand.
78 Multiple devices files can be kept /etc/lvm/devices, which allows lvm
80 to be used with different sets of devices. For example, system devices
81 do not need to be exposed to a specific application, and the applica‐
82 tion can use lvm on its own devices that are not exposed to the system.
83 The option --devicesfile <filename> is used to select the devices file
84 to use with the command. Without the option set, the default system
85 devices file is used.
86 Setting --devicesfile "" causes lvm to not use a devices file.
88 With no devices file, lvm will use any device on the system, and ap‐
90 plies the filter to limit the full set of system devices. With a de‐
91 vices file, the regex filter is not used, and the filter settings in
92 lvm.conf or the command line are ignored. The vgimportdevices command
93 is one exception which does apply the regex filter when looking for a
94 VG to import.
95 If a devices file exists, lvm will use it, even if it's empty. An
97 empty devices file means lvm will see no devices.
98 If the system devices file does not yet exist, the pvcreate or vgcreate
100 commands will create it if they see no existing VGs on the system.
101 lvmdevices --addev and vgimportdevices will always create a new devices
102 file if it does not yet exist.
103 It is recommended to use lvm commands to make changes to the devices
105 file to ensure proper updates.
106 The device ID and device ID type are included in the VG metadata and
108 can be reported with pvs -o deviceid,deviceidtype. (Note that the
109 lvmdevices command does not update VG metadata, but subsequent lvm com‐
110 mands modifying the metadata will include the device ID.)
111 Possible device ID types are:
113 • sys_wwid uses the wwid reported by sysfs. This is the first choice
115 for non-virtual devices.
116 • sys_serial uses the serial number reported by sysfs. This is the
118 second choice for non-virtual devices.
119 • mpath_uuid is used for dm multipath devices, reported by sysfs.
121 • crypt_uuid is used for dm crypt devices, reported by sysfs.
123 • md_uuid is used for md devices, reported by sysfs.
125 • lvmlv_uuid is used if a PV is placed on top of an lvm LV, reported by
127 sysfs.
128 • loop_file is used for loop devices, the backing file name repored by
130 sysfs.
131 • devname the device name is used if no other type applies.
133 The default choice for device ID type can be overridden using lvmde‐
135 vices --addev --deviceidtype <type>. If the specified type is avail‐
136 able for the device it will be used, otherwise the device will be added
137 using the type that would otherwise be chosen.
138
140 Print devices in the devices file.
141 lvmdevices
143 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
144 —
146 Check the devices file and report incorrect values.
148 lvmdevices --check
150 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
151 —
153 Update the devices file to fix incorrect values.
155 lvmdevices --update
157 [ --delnotfound ]
158 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
159 —
161 Add a device to the devices file.
163 lvmdevices --adddev PV
165 [ --deviceidtype String ]
166 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
167 —
169 Remove a device from the devices file.
171 lvmdevices --deldev String|PV
173 [ --deviceidtype String ]
174 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
175 —
177 Find the device with the given PVID and add it to the devices file.
179 lvmdevices --addpvid String
181 [ --deviceidtype String ]
182 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
183 —
185 Remove the devices file entry for the given PVID.
187 lvmdevices --delpvid String
189 [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
190 —
192 Common options for lvm:
194 [ -d|--debug ]
195 [ -h|--help ]
196 [ -q|--quiet ]
197 [ -t|--test ]
198 [ -v|--verbose ]
199 [ -y|--yes ]
200 [ --commandprofile String ]
201 [ --config String ]
202 [ --devices PV ]
203 [ --devicesfile String ]
204 [ --driverloaded y|n ]
205 [ --journal String ]
206 [ --lockopt String ]
207 [ --longhelp ]
208 [ --nohints ]
209 [ --nolocking ]
210 [ --profile String ]
211 [ --version ]
212
214 --adddev PV
215 Add a device to the devices file.
216 --addpvid String
218 Find a device with the PVID and add the device to the devices
219 file.
220 --check
222 Checks the content of the devices file. Reports incorrect de‐
223 vice names or PVIDs for entries.
224 --commandprofile String
226 The command profile to use for command configuration. See
227 lvm.conf(5) for more information about profiles.
228 --config String
230 Config settings for the command. These override lvm.conf(5) set‐
231 tings. The String arg uses the same format as lvm.conf(5), or
232 may use section/field syntax. See lvm.conf(5) for more informa‐
233 tion about config.
234 -d|--debug ...
236 Set debug level. Repeat from 1 to 6 times to increase the detail
237 of messages sent to the log file and/or syslog (if configured).
238 --deldev String
240 Remove a device from the devices file. When used alone,
241 --deldev specifies a device name. When used with --deviceid‐
242 type, --deldev specifies a device id.
243 --delnotfound
245 Remove devices file entries with no matching device.
246 --delpvid String
248 Remove a device with the PVID from the devices file.
249 --deviceidtype String
251 The type of device ID to use for the device. If the specified
252 type is available for the device, then it will override the de‐
253 fault type that lvm would use.
254 --devices PV
256 Restricts the devices that are visible and accessible to the
257 command. Devices not listed will appear to be missing. This op‐
258 tion can be repeated, or accepts a comma separated list of de‐
259 vices. This overrides the devices file.
260 --devicesfile String
262 A file listing devices that LVM should use. The file must exist
263 in /etc/lvm/devices/ and is managed with the lvmdevices(8) com‐
264 mand. This overrides the lvm.conf(5) devices/devicesfile and
265 devices/use_devicesfile settings.
266 --driverloaded y|n
268 If set to no, the command will not attempt to use device-mapper.
269 For testing and debugging.
270 -h|--help
272 Display help text.
273 --journal String
275 Record information in the systemd journal. This information is
276 in addition to information enabled by the lvm.conf log/journal
277 setting. command: record information about the command. out‐
278 put: record the default command output. debug: record full com‐
279 mand debugging.
280 --lockopt String
282 Used to pass options for special cases to lvmlockd. See lvm‐
283 lockd(8) for more information.
284 --longhelp
286 Display long help text.
287 --nohints
289 Do not use the hints file to locate devices for PVs. A command
290 may read more devices to find PVs when hints are not used. The
291 command will still perform standard hint file invalidation where
292 appropriate.
293 --nolocking
295 Disable locking. Use with caution, concurrent commands may pro‐
296 duce incorrect results.
297 --profile String
299 An alias for --commandprofile or --metadataprofile, depending on
300 the command.
301 -q|--quiet ...
303 Suppress output and log messages. Overrides --debug and --ver‐
304 bose. Repeat once to also suppress any prompts with answer
305 'no'.
306 -t|--test
308 Run in test mode. Commands will not update metadata. This is
309 implemented by disabling all metadata writing but nevertheless
310 returning success to the calling function. This may lead to un‐
311 usual error messages in multi-stage operations if a tool relies
312 on reading back metadata it believes has changed but hasn't.
313 --update
315 Update the content of the devices file.
316 -v|--verbose ...
318 Set verbose level. Repeat from 1 to 4 times to increase the de‐
319 tail of messages sent to stdout and stderr.
320 --version
322 Display version information.
323 -y|--yes
325 Do not prompt for confirmation interactively but always assume
326 the answer yes. Use with extreme caution. (For automatic no,
327 see -qq.)
328
330 String See the option description for information about the string con‐
331 tent.
332 Size[UNIT]
334 Size is an input number that accepts an optional unit. Input
335 units are always treated as base two values, regardless of capi‐
336 talization, e.g. 'k' and 'K' both refer to 1024. The default
337 input unit is specified by letter, followed by |UNIT. UNIT rep‐
338 resents other possible input units: b|B is bytes, s|S is sectors
339 of 512 bytes, k|K is KiB, m|M is MiB, g|G is GiB, t|T is TiB,
340 p|P is PiB, e|E is EiB. (This should not be confused with the
341 output control --units, where capital letters mean multiple of
342 1000.)
343
345 See lvm(8) for information about environment variables used by lvm.
346 For example, LVM_VG_NAME can generally be substituted for a required VG
347 parameter.
348
350 lvm(8), lvm.conf(5), lvmconfig(8), lvmdevices(8),
351 pvchange(8), pvck(8), pvcreate(8), pvdisplay(8), pvmove(8),
353 pvremove(8), pvresize(8), pvs(8), pvscan(8),
354 vgcfgbackup(8), vgcfgrestore(8), vgchange(8), vgck(8), vgcreate(8),
356 vgconvert(8), vgdisplay(8), vgexport(8), vgextend(8), vgimport(8),
357 vgimportclone(8), vgimportdevices(8), vgmerge(8), vgmknodes(8),
358 vgreduce(8), vgremove(8), vgrename(8), vgs(8), vgscan(8), vgsplit(8),
359 lvcreate(8), lvchange(8), lvconvert(8), lvdisplay(8), lvextend(8),
361 lvreduce(8), lvremove(8), lvrename(8), lvresize(8), lvs(8), lvscan(8),
362 lvm-fullreport(8), lvm-lvpoll(8), blkdeactivate(8), lvmdump(8),
364 dmeventd(8), lvmpolld(8), lvmlockd(8), lvmlockctl(8), cmirrord(8),
366 lvmdbusd(8), fsadm(8),
367 lvmsystemid(7), lvmreport(7), lvmcache(7), lvmraid(7), lvmthin(7),
369 lvmvdo(7), lvmautoactivation(7)
370Red Hat, Inc. LVM TOOLS 2.03.22(2) (2023-08-02) LVMDEVICES(8)