Chapter 18: Logical volume management

Build storage with LVM, grow and shrink volumes online, replace disks without downtime, and diagnose common LVM problems.

What you will learn

• Describe physical volumes, volume groups and logical volumes, and create and inspect them.
• Extend logical volumes and their file systems, add disks to a group, and shrink ext4 safely.
• Move data between disks with pvmove, rename and remove volumes, and make LVM mounts and swap permanent.
• Diagnose inactive volumes, full groups, busy volumes and missing devices.

Sections

1. Logical volumes: why and how
2. Exercise: Build your first volume group
3. Growing and shrinking volumes
4. Exercise: Grow and shrink volumes
5. Replacing disks and everyday maintenance
6. Exercise: Move data to a new disk
7. When LVM does not behave
8. Exercise: Fix three LVM problems
9. Exercise: LVM review
10. LVM quiz
11. LVM cheat sheet