vgcreate(8)
NAME
vgcreate --- create a volume group
SYNOPSIS
vgcreate [--addtag Tag] [--alloc AllocationPolicy] [-A|--autobackup
{y|n}] [-c|--clustered {y|n}] [--commandprofile ProfileName]
[-d|--debug] [-h|--help] [-l|--maxlogicalvolumes MaxLogicalVolumes]
[-M|--metadatatype type] [--metadataprofile ProfileName]
[-p|--maxphysicalvolumes MaxPhysicalVolumes] [--[vg]metadatacopies
NumberOfCopies|unmanaged|all] [-s|--physicalextentsize
PhysicalExtentSize[bBsSkKmMgGtTpPeE]] [--reportformat {basic|json}]
[--shared] [--systemid SystemID] [-t|--test] [-v|--verbose] [--version]
[PHYSICAL DEVICE OPTIONS] VolumeGroupName PhysicalDevicePath
[PhysicalDevicePath...]
DESCRIPTION
vgcreate creates a new volume group called VolumeGroupName using the
block special device PhysicalDevicePath.
If PhysicalDevicePath was not previously configured for LVM with
pvcreate(8), the device will be initialized with the same default
values used with pvcreate(8). If non-default pvcreate values are
desired, they may be given on the commandline with the same options as
pvcreate(8). See PHYSICAL DEVICE OPTIONS for available options. Note
that the restore-related options such as --restorefile, --uuid and
--physicalvolumesize are not available. If a restore operation is
needed, use pvcreate(8) and vgcfgrestore(8).
OPTIONS
See lvm(8) for common options.
-c, --clustered {y|n}
If clustered locking is enabled, this defaults to y indicating
that this Volume Group is shared with other nodes in the
cluster.
If the new Volume Group contains only local disks that are not
visible on the other nodes, you must specify --clustered n. If
the cluster infrastructure is unavailable on a particular node
at a particular time, you may still be able to use such Volume
Groups.
-l, --maxlogicalvolumes MaxLogicalVolumes
Sets the maximum number of logical volumes allowed in this
volume group. The setting can be changed with vgchange(8). For
volume groups with metadata in lvm1 format, the limit and
default value is 255. If the metadata uses lvm2 format, the
default value is 0 which removes this restriction: there is then
no limit.
-p, --maxphysicalvolumes MaxPhysicalVolumes
Sets the maximum number of physical volumes that can belong to
this volume group. The setting can be changed with vgchange.
For volume groups with metadata in lvm1 format, the limit and
default value is 255. If the metadata uses lvm2 format, the
value 0 removes this restriction: there is then no limit. If
you have a large number of physical volumes in a volume group
with metadata in lvm2 format, for tool performance reasons, you
should consider some use of --pvmetadatacopies 0 as described in
pvcreate(8), and/or use --vgmetadatacopies.
--[vg]metadatacopies NumberOfCopies|unmanaged|all
Sets the desired number of metadata copies in the volume group.
If set to a non-zero value, LVM will automatically manage the
'metadataignore' flags on the physical volumes (see pvcreate(8)
or pvchange --metadataignore) in order to achieve NumberOfCopies
copies of metadata. If set to unmanaged, LVM will not
automatically manage the 'metadataignore' flags. If set to all,
LVM will first clear all of the 'metadataignore' flags on all
metadata areas in the volume group, then set the value to
unmanaged. The vgmetadatacopies option is useful for volume
groups containing large numbers of physical volumes with
metadata as it may be used to minimize metadata read and write
overhead. The default value is unmanaged.
--metadataprofile ProfileName
Uses and attaches the ProfileName configuration profile to the
volume group metadata. Whenever the volume group is processed
next time, the profile is automatically applied. The profile is
inherited by all logical volumes in the volume group unless the
logical volume itself has its own profile attached. See
lvm.conf(5) for more information about metadata profiles.
-s, --physicalextentsize PhysicalExtentSize[bBsSkKmMgGtTpPeE]
Sets the physical extent size on physical volumes of this volume
group. A size suffix (k for kilobytes up to t for terabytes) is
optional, megabytes is the default if no suffix is present. For
LVM2 format, the value must be a power of 2 of at least 1 sector
(where the sector size is the largest sector size of the PVs
currently used in the VG) or, if not a power of 2, at least
128KiB. For the older LVM1 format, it must be a power of 2 of
at least 8KiB. The default is 4 MiB. Once this value has been
set, it is difficult to change it without recreating the volume
group which would involve backing up and restoring data on any
logical volumes. However, if no extents need moving for the new
value to apply, it can be altered using vgchange -s.
If the volume group metadata uses lvm1 format, extents can vary
in size from 8KiB to 16GiB and there is a limit of 65534 extents
in each logical volume. The default of 4 MiB leads to a maximum
logical volume size of around 256GiB.
If the volume group metadata uses lvm2 format those restrictions
do not apply, but having a large number of extents will slow
down the tools but have no impact on I/O performance to the
logical volume. The smallest PE is 1KiB
The 2.4 kernel has a limitation of 2TiB per block device.
--shared
Create a shared VG using lvmlockd if LVM is compiled with lockd
support.
lvmlockd will select lock type sanlock or dlm depending on
which lock manager is running. This allows multiple hosts to
share a VG on shared devices. lvmlockd and a lock manager must
be configured and running. See lvmlockd(8).
--systemid SystemID
Specifies the system ID that will be given to the new VG,
overriding the system ID of the host running the command. A VG
is normally created without this option, in which case the new
VG is given the system ID of the host creating it. Using this
option requires caution because the system ID of the new VG may
not match the system ID of the host running the command, leaving
the VG inaccessible to the host. See lvmsystemid(7).
PHYSICAL DEVICE OPTIONS
The following options are available for initializing physical devices
in the volume group. These options are further described in the
pvcreate(8) man page.
-f, --force
-y, --yes
-Z, --zero {y|n}
--labelsector sector
--metadatasize size
--pvmetadatacopies copies
--dataalignment alignment
--dataalignmentoffset alignment_offset
Examples
Creates a volume group named "test_vg" using physical volumes
"/dev/sdk1" and "/dev/sdl1" with default physical extent size of 4MiB:
vgcreate test_vg /dev/sdk1 /dev/sdl1
SEE ALSO
lvm(8), pvdisplay(8), pvcreate(8), vgdisplay(8), vgextend(8),
vgreduce(8), lvcreate(8), lvdisplay(8), lvextend(8), lvreduce(8)
Free and Open Source Software