lvextend(8) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | USAGE | OPTIONS | VARIABLES | ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON

LVEXTEND(8)              System Manager's Manual              LVEXTEND(8)

NAME         top

       lvextend — Add space to a logical volume

SYNOPSIS         top

       lvextend option_args position_args
           [ option_args ]
           [ position_args ]

           --alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|inherit
        -A|--autobackup y|n
           --commandprofile String
           --config String
        -d|--debug
           --devices PV
           --devicesfile String
           --driverloaded y|n
        -l|--extents [+]Number[PERCENT]
        -f|--force
        -h|--help
           --journal String
           --lockopt String
           --longhelp
        -m|--mirrors Number
        -n|--nofsck
           --nohints
           --nolocking
           --nosync
           --noudevsync
           --poolmetadatasize [+]Size[m|UNIT]
           --profile String
        -q|--quiet
           --reportformat basic|json
        -r|--resizefs
        -L|--size [+]Size[m|UNIT]
        -i|--stripes Number
        -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT]
        -t|--test
           --type linear|striped|snapshot|raid|mirror|thin|thin-pool|vdo|
       vdo-pool|cache|cache-pool|writecache
           --usepolicies
        -v|--verbose
           --version
        -y|--yes

DESCRIPTION         top

       lvextend extends the size of an LV. This requires allocating logi‐
       cal  extents from the VG's free physical extents. If the extension
       adds a new LV segment, the new segment will use the existing  seg‐
       ment type of the LV.

       Extending a copy-on-write snapshot LV adds space for COW blocks.

       Use  lvconvert(8) to change the number of data images in a RAID or
       mirrored LV.

       In the usage section below, --size Size can be replaced with --ex‐
       tents Number.  See both descriptions the options section.

USAGE         top

       Extend an LV by a specified size.

       lvextend -L|--size [+]Size[m|UNIT] LV
           [ -l|--extents [+]Number[PERCENT] ]
           [ -r|--resizefs ]
           [ -i|--stripes Number ]
           [ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [    --poolmetadatasize [+]Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

       —

       Extend an LV by specified PV extents.

       lvextend LV PV ...
           [ -r|--resizefs ]
           [ -i|--stripes Number ]
           [ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

       —

       Extend a pool metadata SubLV by a specified size.

       lvextend --poolmetadatasize [+]Size[m|UNIT] LV1
           [ -i|--stripes Number ]
           [ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: thinpool

       —

       Extend an LV according to a predefined policy.

       lvextend --usepolicies LV1
           [ -r|--resizefs ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: snapshot thinpool

       —

       Common options for command:
           [ -A|--autobackup y|n ]
           [ -f|--force ]
           [ -m|--mirrors Number ]
           [ -n|--nofsck ]
           [    --alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|
           inherit ]
           [    --nosync ]
           [    --noudevsync ]
           [    --reportformat basic|json ]
           [    --type linear|striped|snapshot|raid|mirror|thin|
           thin-pool|vdo|vdo-pool|cache|cache-pool|writecache ]

       Common options for lvm:
           [ -d|--debug ]
           [ -h|--help ]
           [ -q|--quiet ]
           [ -t|--test ]
           [ -v|--verbose ]
           [ -y|--yes ]
           [    --commandprofile String ]
           [    --config String ]
           [    --devices PV ]
           [    --devicesfile String ]
           [    --driverloaded y|n ]
           [    --journal String ]
           [    --lockopt String ]
           [    --longhelp ]
           [    --nohints ]
           [    --nolocking ]
           [    --profile String ]
           [    --version ]

OPTIONS         top


       --alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|inherit
              Determines the allocation policy when a  command  needs  to
              allocate Physical Extents (PEs) from the VG. Each VG and LV
              has   an  allocation  policy  which  can  be  changed  with
              vgchange/lvchange, or overridden on the command line.  nor‐
              mal applies common sense rules such as not placing parallel
              stripes on the same PV.  inherit applies the VG  policy  to
              an  LV.   contiguous requires new PEs be placed adjacent to
              existing PEs.  cling places new PEs on the same PV  as  ex‐
              isting PEs in the same stripe of the LV.  If there are suf‐
              ficient  PEs  for  an  allocation,  but normal does not use
              them, anywhere will use them even  if  it  reduces  perfor‐
              mance, e.g. by placing two stripes on the same PV.  Option‐
              al  positional PV args on the command line can also be used
              to limit which PVs the command  will  use  for  allocation.
              See lvm(8) for more information about allocation.

       -A|--autobackup y|n
              Specifies if metadata should be backed up automatically af‐
              ter  a  change.   Enabling  this  is  strongly advised! See
              vgcfgbackup(8) for more information.

       --commandprofile String
              The command profile to use for command configuration.   See
              lvm.conf(5) for more information about profiles.

       --config String
              Config settings for the command. These override lvm.conf(5)
              settings.    The   String  arg  uses  the  same  format  as
              lvm.conf(5),  or  may  use   section/field   syntax.    See
              lvm.conf(5) for more information about config.

       -d|--debug ...
              Set  debug  level. Repeat from 1 to 6 times to increase the
              detail of messages sent to the log file and/or  syslog  (if
              configured).

       --devices PV
              Devices  that  the  command can use. This option can be re‐
              peated or accepts a comma separated list of  devices.  This
              overrides the devices file.

       --devicesfile String
              A  file listing devices that LVM should use.  The file must
              exist  in  /etc/lvm/devices/  and  is  managed   with   the
              lvmdevices(8)  command.  This overrides the lvm.conf(5) de‐
              vices/devicesfile and devices/use_devicesfile settings.

       --driverloaded y|n
              If set to no, the command will not attempt to  use  device-
              mapper.  For testing and debugging.

       -l|--extents [+]Number[PERCENT]
              Specifies  the  new size of the LV in logical extents.  The
              --size and --extents options are alternate methods of spec‐
              ifying size.  The total number  of  physical  extents  used
              will be greater when redundant data is needed for RAID lev‐
              els.   An alternate syntax allows the size to be determined
              indirectly as a percentage of the size of a related VG, LV,
              or set of PVs. The suffix %VG denotes the total size of the
              VG, the suffix %FREE the remaining free space  in  the  VG,
              and  the  suffix  %PVS the free space in the specified PVs.
              For a snapshot, the size can be expressed as  a  percentage
              of  the total size of the origin LV with the suffix %ORIGIN
              (100%ORIGIN provides space for the whole origin).  When ex‐
              pressed as a percentage, the size defines  an  upper  limit
              for  the  number of logical extents in the new LV. The pre‐
              cise number of logical extents in the new LV is not  deter‐
              mined  until the command has completed.  When the plus + or
              minus - prefix is used, the value is not an absolute  size,
              but  is  relative  and added or subtracted from the current
              size.

       -f|--force ...
              Override various  checks,  confirmations  and  protections.
              Use with extreme caution.

       -h|--help
              Display help text.

       --journal String
              Record  information  in the systemd journal.  This informa‐
              tion is in addition to information enabled by the  lvm.conf
              log/journal setting.  command: record information about the
              command.   output:  record the default command output.  de‐
              bug: record full command debugging.

       --lockopt String
              Used to pass options for special cases  to  lvmlockd.   See
              lvmlockd(8) for more information.

       --longhelp
              Display long help text.

       -m|--mirrors Number
              Not used.

       -n|--nofsck
              Do   not  perform  fsck  before  resizing  filesystem  when
              filesystem requires it. You may need to use --force to pro‐
              ceed with this option.

       --nohints
              Do not use the hints file to locate devices for PVs. A com‐
              mand may read more devices to find PVs when hints  are  not
              used. The command will still perform standard hint file in‐
              validation where appropriate.

       --nolocking
              Disable locking.

       --nosync
              Causes  the  creation  of  mirror,  raid1, raid4, raid5 and
              raid10 to skip the initial synchronization. In case of mir‐
              ror, raid1 and raid10, any data written afterwards will  be
              mirrored,  but the original contents will not be copied. In
              case of raid4 and raid5, no parity blocks will be  written,
              though any data written afterwards will cause parity blocks
              to  be  stored.   This is useful for skipping a potentially
              long and resource intensive initial sync of an  empty  mir‐
              ror/raid1/raid4/raid5  and  raid10  LV.  This option is not
              valid for raid6, because raid6 relies on proper  parity  (P
              and  Q Syndromes) being created during initial synchroniza‐
              tion in order to reconstruct proper user date  in  case  of
              device  failures.   raid0 and raid0_meta do not provide any
              data copies or parity support and thus do not support  ini‐
              tial synchronization.

       --noudevsync
              Disables  udev  synchronisation.  The process will not wait
              for notification from udev. It will  continue  irrespective
              of any possible udev processing in the background. Only use
              this  if  udev  is not running or has rules that ignore the
              devices LVM creates.

       --poolmetadatasize [+]Size[m|UNIT]
              Specifies the new size of the pool metadata LV.   The  plus
              prefix  +  can be used, in which case the value is added to
              the current size.

       --profile String
              An alias for --commandprofile or --metadataprofile, depend‐
              ing on the command.

       -q|--quiet ...
              Suppress output and log  messages.  Overrides  --debug  and
              --verbose.   Repeat  once to also suppress any prompts with
              answer 'no'.

       --reportformat basic|json
              Overrides current output format for reports  which  is  de‐
              fined  globally  by  the  report/output_format  setting  in
              lvm.conf(5).  basic is the original format with columns and
              rows.  If there is more than one report per  command,  each
              report is prefixed with the report name for identification.
              json   produces   report   output   in   JSON  format.  See
              lvmreport(7) for more information.

       -r|--resizefs
              Resize underlying filesystem together  with  the  LV  using
              fsadm(8).

       -L|--size [+]Size[m|UNIT]
              Specifies the new size of the LV.  The --size and --extents
              options  are alternate methods of specifying size.  The to‐
              tal number of physical extents used will  be  greater  when
              redundant  data is needed for RAID levels.  When the plus +
              or minus - prefix is used, the value  is  not  an  absolute
              size, but is relative and added or subtracted from the cur‐
              rent size.

       -i|--stripes Number
              Specifies  the  number  of stripes in a striped LV. This is
              the number of PVs (devices) that a  striped  LV  is  spread
              across.  Data  that  appears sequential in the LV is spread
              across multiple devices in units of the  stripe  size  (see
              --stripesize).  This  does  not  change  existing allocated
              space, but only applies to space  being  allocated  by  the
              command.   When  creating a RAID 4/5/6 LV, this number does
              not include the extra devices that are required for parity.
              The largest number depends on the  RAID  type  (raid0:  64,
              raid10:  32, raid4/5: 63, raid6: 62), and when unspecified,
              the default depends on the RAID type (raid0: 2, raid10:  2,
              raid4/5:  3, raid6: 5.)  To stripe a new raid LV across all
              PVs     by     default,     see     lvm.conf(5)     alloca‐
              tion/raid_stripe_all_devices.

       -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT]
              The  amount  of  data  that is written to one device before
              moving to the next in a striped LV.

       -t|--test
              Run in test mode. Commands will not update metadata.   This
              is implemented by disabling all metadata writing but never‐
              theless returning success to the calling function. This may
              lead to unusual error messages in multi-stage operations if
              a  tool  relies  on  reading  back metadata it believes has
              changed but hasn't.

       --type linear|striped|snapshot|raid|mirror|thin|thin-pool|vdo|
              vdo-pool|cache|cache-pool|writecache
              The LV type, also known as  "segment  type"  or  "segtype".
              See  usage  descriptions for the specific ways to use these
              types.  For more information about redundancy  and  perfor‐
              mance  (raid<N>,  mirror,  striped, linear) see lvmraid(7).
              For thin provisioning  (thin,  thin-pool)  see  lvmthin(7).
              For    performance    caching   (cache,   cache-pool)   see
              lvmcache(7).  For copy-on-write  snapshots  (snapshot)  see
              usage  definitions.   For VDO (vdo) see lvmvdo(7).  Several
              commands omit an explicit type option because the  type  is
              inferred  from  other options or shortcuts (e.g. --stripes,
              --mirrors,  --snapshot,  --virtualsize,  --thin,   --cache,
              --vdo).   Use  inferred types with care because it can lead
              to unexpected results.

       --usepolicies
              Perform an operation according to the policy configured  in
              lvm.conf(5) or a profile.

       -v|--verbose ...
              Set verbose level. Repeat from 1 to 4 times to increase the
              detail of messages sent to stdout and stderr.

       --version
              Display version information.

       -y|--yes
              Do not prompt for confirmation interactively but always as‐
              sume  the answer yes. Use with extreme caution.  (For auto‐
              matic no, see -qq.)

VARIABLES         top

       LV     Logical Volume name.  See lvm(8) for valid names.  An LV
              positional arg generally includes the VG name and LV name,
              e.g. VG/LV.  LV1 indicates the LV must have a specific
              type, where the accepted LV types are listed. (raid repre‐
              sents raid<N> type).

       PV     Physical Volume name, a device path under /dev.  For com‐
              mands managing physical extents, a PV positional arg gener‐
              ally accepts a suffix indicating a range (or multiple
              ranges) of physical extents (PEs). When the first PE is
              omitted, it defaults to the start of the device, and when
              the last PE is omitted it defaults to end.  Start and end
              range (inclusive): PV[:PE-PE]...  Start and length range
              (counting from 0): PV[:PE+PE]...

       String See the option description for information about the string
              content.

       Size[UNIT]
              Size is an input number that accepts an optional unit.  In‐
              put units are always treated as base two values, regardless
              of capitalization, e.g. 'k' and 'K' both refer to 1024.
              The default input unit is specified by letter, followed by
              |UNIT.  UNIT represents other possible input units: b|B is
              bytes, s|S is sectors of 512 bytes, k|K is KiB, m|M is MiB,
              g|G is GiB, t|T is TiB, p|P is PiB, e|E is EiB.  (This
              should not be confused with the output control --units,
              where capital letters mean multiple of 1000.)

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES         top

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

EXAMPLES         top

       Extend the size of an LV by 54MiB, using a specific PV.
       lvextend -L +54 vg01/lvol10 /dev/sdk3

       Extend the size of an LV by the amount of free space on PV
       /dev/sdk3. This is equivalent to specifying "-l +100%PVS" on the
       command line.
       lvextend vg01/lvol01 /dev/sdk3

       Extend an LV by 16MiB using specific physical extents.
       lvextend -L+16m vg01/lvol01 /dev/sda:8-9 /dev/sdb:8-9

       Extend an LV to use all remaining free space in volume group and
       all resize its filesystem with fsadm(8).
       lvextend -l+100%FREE -r vg01/lvol01

SEE ALSO         top

       lvm(8), lvm.conf(5), lvmconfig(8), lvmdevices(8),

       pvchange(8), pvck(8), pvcreate(8), pvdisplay(8), pvmove(8),
       pvremove(8), pvresize(8), pvs(8), pvscan(8),

       vgcfgbackup(8), vgcfgrestore(8), vgchange(8), vgck(8),
       vgcreate(8), vgconvert(8), vgdisplay(8), vgexport(8), vgextend(8),
       vgimport(8), vgimportclone(8), vgimportdevices(8), vgmerge(8),
       vgmknodes(8), vgreduce(8), vgremove(8), vgrename(8), vgs(8),
       vgscan(8), vgsplit(8),

       lvcreate(8), lvchange(8), lvconvert(8), lvdisplay(8), lvextend(8),
       lvreduce(8), lvremove(8), lvrename(8), lvresize(8), lvs(8),
       lvscan(8),

       lvm-fullreport(8), lvm-lvpoll(8), blkdeactivate(8), lvmdump(8),

       dmeventd(8), lvmpolld(8), lvmlockd(8), lvmlockctl(8), cmirrord(8),
       lvmdbusd(8), fsadm(8),

       lvmsystemid(7), lvmreport(7), lvmcache(7), lvmraid(7), lvmthin(7),
       lvmvdo(7), lvmautoactivation(7)

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the lvm2 (Logical Volume Manager 2) project.
       Information about the project can be found at 
       ⟨http://www.sourceware.org/lvm2/⟩.  If you have a bug report for
       this manual page, see ⟨https://github.com/lvmteam/lvm2/issues⟩.
       This page was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨git://sourceware.org/git/lvm2.git⟩ on 2025-02-02.  (At that time,
       the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
       repository was 2025-01-31.)  If you discover any rendering
       problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
       a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
       corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
       (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
       man-pages@man7.org

Red Hat, Inc.     LVM TOOLS 2.03.31(2)-git (2025-01-14)       LVEXTEND(8)

Pages that refer to this page: lvmcache(7)lvmraid(7)lvmthin(7)lvmvdo(7)dmeventd(8)lvchange(8)lvconvert(8)lvcreate(8)lvdisplay(8)lvextend(8)lvm(8)lvmconfig(8)lvmdevices(8)lvmdiskscan(8)lvm-fullreport(8)lvm-lvpoll(8)lvreduce(8)lvremove(8)lvrename(8)lvresize(8)lvs(8)lvscan(8)pvchange(8)pvck(8)pvcreate(8)pvdisplay(8)pvmove(8)pvremove(8)pvresize(8)pvs(8)pvscan(8)resize2fs(8)vgcfgbackup(8)vgcfgrestore(8)vgchange(8)vgck(8)vgconvert(8)vgcreate(8)vgdisplay(8)vgexport(8)vgextend(8)vgimport(8)vgimportclone(8)vgimportdevices(8)vgmerge(8)vgmknodes(8)vgreduce(8)vgremove(8)vgrename(8)vgs(8)vgscan(8)vgsplit(8)