10+ lvcreate command examples in Linux [Cheat Sheet]


CheatSheet

Reviewer: Deepak Prasad

Introduction to lvcreate command

lvcreate is a command-line utility to create a new logical volume in a volume group. It includes the allocation of logical extents from the free physical extents of that volume group. If there is not enough space on the volume group, it can be extended with other physical volumes (vgextend), or the existing logical volumes can be reduced or removed (lvreduce, lvremove). lvcreate can also create snapshots of existing logical volumes which store the content of the original logical volume from the time the snapshot was created. It is useful for backup purposes.

 

Are you new to LVM and still learning how it works?

We have written detailed articles covering different areas of managing logical volumes, which you can follow using the below links:

Manage Logical Volume in Linux - One STOP Solution
Understand LVM Architecture
Create LVM during installation RHEL/CentOS 7/8
How to use LVM Snapshot for Backup and Restore
Create Mirrored Logical Volume
Create Striped Logical Volume

 

How to install lvcreate

lvcreate command is available in the lvm2 package in Linux. You can use the following command to install the lvm2 package according to your Linux distribution.

To install lvm2 on CentOS, Fedora, and RHEL

$ sudo yum install lvm2

To install lvm2 on Ubuntu and Debian

$ sudo apt install lvm2

 

Syntax to use lvcreate command in Linux

You will need the root privileges for the functionality of lvcreate command.

The syntax for lvcreate command is as follows:

$ sudo lvcreate option

We will try to cover the most used OPTIONs with lvcreate command.

 

Create physical volumes and volume groups

Before creating a logical volume, you need to have physical volumes and volume groups on the system.

You can create a physical volume on the disk using pvcreate command.

golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ sudo pvcreate /dev/sda1
  Physical volume "/dev/sda1" successfully created.

To list the physical volumes, you can use pvs command.

golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ sudo pvs
  PV         VG Fmt  Attr PSize   PFree  
  /dev/sda1     lvm2 ---  512.00m 512.00m

Now, let's create a volume group named vol_grp using /dev/sda1 with the help of vgcreate command.

golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ sudo vgcreate vol_grp /dev/sda1
  Volume group "vol_grp" successfully created

You can use vgs command to view the list of volume groups.

golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ sudo vgs
  VG      #PV #LV #SN Attr   VSize   VFree  
  vol_grp   1   0   0 wz--n- 508.00m 508.00m

 

Different examples to use lvcreate command in Linux

1. Create a linear logical volume

A linear logical volume combines space from one or more physical volumes. If you have two 60GB drives, you can create a 120GB logical volume. The -L or --size option creates a new linear logical volume in the volume group.

For example, the following commands create a linear logical volume named golinux_vol with a usable size of 100MiB on the volume group vol_grp.

$ sudo lvcreate -L 100M -n golinux_vol vol_grp

OR

$ sudo lvcreate --size 100M --name golinux_vol vol_grp 

Sample Output:

lvcreate command to create linear logical volume

The -n or --name option allows you to specify a name for the new logical volume.

 

2. Create striped logical volume

By creating a striped logical volume, you can control how data is written to physical volumes. This can increase data I/O efficiency for large sequential reads and writes. With striping, I/O can be done in parallel.

You can use -i or --stripes option to create a new striped logical volume on the volume group.

The following commands create a striped logical volume named strip_lv with 1 stripe and size of 50MiB in the volume group named vol_grp.

$ sudo lvcreate -i 1 -n strip_lv -L 50M vol_grp

OR

$ sudo lvcreate --stripes 1 -n strip_lv -L 50M vol_grp

Sample Output:

The number of stripes (-i) must not exceed the number of physical volumes.

lvcreate command to create striped logical volume

The -I or --stripesize option can be used to specify the number of kilobytes for the granularity of the stripes.

 

3. Create a mirrored logical volume

​When you create a mirrored logical volume, LVM ensures that data written to an underlying physical volume is mirrored onto a separate physical volume. It provides protection in case of device failures.

The -m or --mirrors option creates a new mirrored logical volume with mirrors copies on the volume group. For example, specifying "-m 1" creates one mirror with two copies, i.e., a linear volume and one copy.

The commands below create a mirrored logical volume named mirror_lv with a single mirror on the volume group vol_grp. The size of the mirror_lv is 100MiB.

$ sudo lvcreate -m 1 -n mirror_lv -L 100M vol_grp

OR

$ sudo lvcreate --mirrors 1 -n mirror_lv -L 100M vol_grp

Sample Output:

golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ sudo lvcreate -m 1 -n mirror_lv -L 100M vol_grp
  Logical volume "mirror_lv created."

 

4. Create a snapshot logical volume

The -s or --snapshot options create a snapshot logical volume that keeps the contents of the original logical volume.

The following commands create a snapshot LV named snap of the logical volume golinux_vol on the volume group vol_grp.

$ sudo lvcreate -s -n snap -L 100M vol_grp/golinux_lv

OR

$ sudo lvcreate --snapshot -n snap -L 100M vol_grp/golinux_lv

Sample Output:

lvcreate command to create snapshot logical volume

 

5. Create a raid logical volume

The --type option creates a logical volume of specified segment type (e.g. "raid5", "mirror", "snapshot", "thin", "thin-pool"). You can specify a raid level with --type option to create a raid logical volume.

The command below creates a 100MiB RAID5 logical volume named raid_lv with 3 stripes on the volume group vol_grp.

$ sudo lvcreate --type raid5 -i 3 -L 100M -n raid_lv vol_grp

Sample Output:

golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ sudo lvcreate --type raid5 -i 3 -L 100M -n raid_lv vol_grp
  Logical volume "raid_lv" created.

 

6. Create a thin pool logical volume

The -T option creates a thin pool logical volume when the optional argument -L or --size is used.

These commands create a thin pool logical volume named thinpool_lv with 1 stripe on the volume group vol_grp.

$ sudo lvcreate -i 1 -L 50M -T vol_grp/thinpool_lv 

OR

$ sudo lvcreate -i 1 -L 50M --thinpool vol_grp/thinpool_lv 

Sample Output:

lvcreate command to create thin pool logical volume

 

7. Create a thin logical volume

The -T or --thin option creates a thin logical volume when the optional argument -V or --virtualsize is used.

The following command creates a thin provisioned logical volume thin_lv with thinpool_lv on the volume group vol_grp.

$ sudo lvcreate -V 50M -T vol_grp/thinpool_lv -n thin_lv

OR

$ sudo lvcreate -V 50M --thin vol_grp/thinpool_lv -n thin_lv

Sample Output:

lvcreate command to create thin logical volume

 

8. Create a thin logical volume, first creating a new thin pool for it

The following command creates a thin logical volume mythin, first creating a new thin pool LV mypool having size 200MiB with 1 stripe on the volume group vol_grp.

$ sudo lvcreate --type thin -n mythin --thinpool mypool -V 50M -L 200M -i 1 vol_grp

Sample Output:

lvcreate command to create thin logical volume first creating thin pool for it

 

9. Create a thin snapshot of a thin logical volume

The following commands create a thin snapshot mysnap of a thin logical volume mythin on the volume group vol_grp. You must not use the size option otherwise, a copy-on-write snapshot will be created.

$ sudo lvcreate -s -n mysnap vol_grp/mythin

OR

$ sudo lvcreate --snapshot --name mysnap vol_grp/mythin

Sample Output:

lvcreate command to create snapshot of thin logical volume

 

10. Create a cache logical volume

A cache logical volume can improve the performance of a larger and slower logical volume by storing the frequently used blocks on the smaller and faster logical volume. For this, it uses a small logical volume consisting of fast block devices (such as SSD drives).

The following command creates the cache logical volume named cache_lv of the size 100MiB on the fast device /dev/sda1, which is part of the volume group vol_grp.

$ sudo lvcreate -L 100M -n cache_lv vol_grp /dev/sda1

Sample Output:

lvcreate command to create cache logical volume

 

11. Create a cache pool from a fast physical device

You can use --type option to specify a cache pool. This command creates a cache pool named cpool of size 60MiB on the fast device /dev/sda1 and volume group vol_grp.

$ sudo lvcreate --type cache-pool -L 60M -n cpool vol_grp /dev/sda1

Sample Output:

lvcreate command to create a cache pool

The cache pool can be used to cache the logical volume.

 

12. Use percentage to specify the size of the logical volume

The -l or --extent option allows you to specify the percentage of the total space in the volume group to use as the size for the new logical volume. For example, the following command creates a new logical volume mylv that uses 60% of the total space in the volume group vol_grp.

$ sudo lvcreate -l 60%VG -n mylv vol_grp

OR

$ sudo lvcreate --extent 60%VG -n mylv vol_grp

Sample Output:

use percentage to specify the size of the logical volume

 

13. Create logical volume using the remaining space in the volume group

You can also use -l or --extent option to specify the percentage of the remaining free space as the size of the logical volume in the volume group. Using 100%FREE will create a new logical volume that uses all of the unallocated space in the volume group.

$ sudo lvcreate -l 100%FREE -n new_lv vol_grp

OR

$ sudo lvcreate --extent 100%FREE -n new_lv vol_grp

Sample Output:

lvcreate command to create logical volume of the remaining space in the volume group

 

Conclusion

This article teaches you how to use lvcreate command to create a new logical volume in the Linux system. It is a useful command that helps to create different types of logical volume such as striped, mirrors, raid, thin, thin-pool, and snapshots of the existing logical volume. If you have any queries about this article or suggestions to improve it, please share them with us in the comment section below.

 

Further Reading

man page for lvcreate command

 

Rohan Timalsina

Rohan Timalsina

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