pvcreate(8) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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PVCREATE(8)                                                        PVCREATE(8)




NAME

       pvcreate - initialize a disk or partition for use by LVM


SYNOPSIS

       pvcreate  [-d|--debug] [-f[f]|--force [--force]] [-y|--yes] [-h|--help]
       [-t|--test]  [-v|--verbose]   [--labelsector]   [-M|--metadatatypetype]
       [--metadatacopies#copies]    [--metadatasizesize]   [--restorefilefile]
       [--setphysicalvolumesizesize]        [-u|--uuiduuid]        [--version]
       [-Z|--zeroy|n] PhysicalVolume [PhysicalVolume...]


DESCRIPTION

       pvcreate initializes PhysicalVolume for later use by the Logical Volume
       Manager (LVM).  Each PhysicalVolume can  be  a  disk  partition,  whole
       disk, meta device, or loopback file.  For DOS disk partitions, the par-
       tition id should be set to 0x8e using fdisk(8), cfdisk(8), or a equiva-
       lent.   For whole disk devices only the partition table must be erased,
       which will effectively destroy all data on that disk.  This can be done
       by zeroing the first sector with:

       dd if=/dev/zero of=PhysicalVolume bs=512 count=1

       Continue  with vgcreate(8) to create a new volume group on PhysicalVol-
       ume, or vgextend(8) to add PhysicalVolume to an existing volume  group.


OPTIONS

       See lvm(8) for common options.

       -f, --force
              Force the creation without any confirmation.  You can not recre-
              ate (reinitialize) a physical volume belonging  to  an  existing
              volume  group.   In an emergency you can override this behaviour
              with -ff.

       -u, --uuid uuid
              Specify the uuid for the device.  Without this option,  pvcreate
              generates a random uuid.  All of your physical volumes must have
              unique uuids.  You need to use this option  before  restoring  a
              backup  of LVM metadata onto a replacement device - see vgcfgre-
              store(8).

       -y, --yes
              Answer yes to all questions.

       -Z, --zero y|n
              Whether or not the first 4 sectors (2048 bytes)  of  the  device
              should be wiped.  If this option is not given, the default is to
              wipe these sectors unless either or both of the --restorefile or
              --uuid options were specified.


NEW METADATA OPTIONS

       LVM2  introduces  a  new format for storing metadata on disk.  This new
       format is more efficient and resilient than  the  format  the  original
       version  of  LVM  used and offers the advanced user greater flexibility
       and control.

       The new format may be selected on the command line with -M2 or by  set-
       ting  format = "lvm2" in the global section of lvm.conf.  Each physical
       volume in the same volume group must use the same format, but different
       volume  groups  on  a machine may use different formats simultaneously:
       the tools can handle both formats.  Additional formats can be added  as
       shared libraries.

       Additional  tools  for manipulating the locations and sizes of metadata
       areas will be written in due course.  Use the verbose/debug options  on
       the tools to see where the metadata areas are placed.

       --metadatasize size
              The  approximate  amount of space to be set aside for each meta-
              data area.  (The size you specify may get rounded.)

       --metadatacopies copies
              The number of metadata areas to set aside on each PV.  Currently
              this  can  be  0, 1 or 2.  If set to 2, two copies of the volume
              group metadata are held on the PV, one at the front  of  the  PV
              and one at the end.  If set to 1 (the default), one copy is kept
              at the front of the PV (starting in the 5th sector).  If set  to
              0,  no  copies  are kept on this PV - you might wish to use this
              with VGs containing large numbers of PVs.  But if  you  do  this
              and then later use vgsplit you must ensure that each VG is still
              going to have a suitable number of copies of the metadata  after
              the split!

       --restorefile file
              In  conjunction with --uuid, this extracts the location and size
              of the data on the PV from the file  (produced  by  vgcfgbackup)
              and  ensures that the metadata that the program produces is con-
              sistent with the contents of the file i.e. the physical  extents
              will  be  in the same place and not get overwritten by new meta-
              data.  This provides a mechanism to upgrade the metadata  format
              or  to add/remove metadata areas. Use with care. See also vgcon-
              vert(8).

       --labelsector sector
              By default the PV is labelled with an  LVM2  identifier  in  its
              second  sector (sector 1).  This lets you use a different sector
              near the start of the disk (between 0  and  3  inclusive  -  see
              LABEL_SCAN_SECTORS in the source).  Use with care.

       --setphysicalvolumesize size
              Overrides  the  automatically-detected size of the PV.  Use with
              care.

Example
       Initialize partition #4 on the third SCSI disk  and  the  entire  fifth
       SCSI disk for later use by LVM:

       pvcreate /dev/sdc4 /dev/sde



SEE ALSO

       lvm(8),  vgcreate(8),  vgextend(8),  lvcreate(8),  cfdisk(8), fdisk(8),
       losetup(8), mdadm(8), vgcfgrestore(8), vgconvert(8)



Sistina Software UK    LVM TOOLS 2.02.44-cvs (02-17-09)            PVCREATE(8)