Provided by: lvm2_2.03.07-1ubuntu1_amd64 
NAME
lvconvert - Change logical volume layout
SYNOPSIS
lvconvert option_args position_args
[ option_args ]
[ position_args ]
--alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|inherit
-b|--background
-H|--cache
--cachemetadataformat auto|1|2
--cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough
--cachepolicy String
--cachepool LV
--cachesettings String
--cachevol LV
-c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT]
--commandprofile String
--compression y|n
--config String
-d|--debug
--deduplication y|n
--discards passdown|nopassdown|ignore
--driverloaded y|n
-f|--force
-h|--help
-i|--interval Number
--lockopt String
--longhelp
--merge
--mergemirrors
--mergesnapshot
--mergethin
--metadataprofile String
--mirrorlog core|disk
-m|--mirrors [+|-]Number
-n|--name String
--nolocking
--noudevsync
--originname LV
--poolmetadata LV
--poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT]
--poolmetadataspare y|n
--profile String
-q|--quiet
-r|--readahead auto|none|Number
-R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT]
--repair
--replace PV
-s|--snapshot
--splitcache
--splitmirrors Number
--splitsnapshot
--startpoll
--stripes Number
-I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT]
--swapmetadata
-t|--test
-T|--thin
--thinpool LV
--trackchanges
--type linear|striped|snapshot|mirror|raid|thin|cache|vdo|thin-pool|cache-pool|vdo-pool
--uncache
--usepolicies
--vdopool LV
-v|--verbose
--version
-V|--virtualsize Size[m|UNIT]
-y|--yes
-Z|--zero y|n
DESCRIPTION
lvconvert changes the LV type and includes utilities for LV data maintenance. The LV type controls data
layout and redundancy. The LV type is also called the segment type or segtype.
To display the current LV type, run the command:
lvs -o name,segtype LV
In some cases, an LV is a single device mapper (dm) layer above physical devices. In other cases, hidden
LVs (dm devices) are layered between the visible LV and physical devices. LVs in the middle layers are
called sub LVs. A command run on a visible LV sometimes operates on a sub LV rather than the specified
LV. In other cases, a sub LV must be specified directly on the command line.
Sub LVs can be displayed with the command:
lvs -a
The linear type is equivalent to the striped type when one stripe exists. In that case, the types can
sometimes be used interchangably.
In most cases, the mirror type is deprecated and the raid1 type should be used. They are both
implementations of mirroring.
Striped raid types are raid0/raid0_meta, raid5 (an alias for raid5_ls), raid6 (an alias for raid6_zr) and
raid10 (an alias for raid10_near).
As opposed to mirroring, raid5 and raid6 stripe data and calculate parity blocks. The parity blocks can
be used for data block recovery in case devices fail. A maximum number of one device in a raid5 LV may
fail, and two in case of raid6. Striped raid types typically rotate the parity and data blocks for
performance reasons, thus avoiding contention on a single device. Specific arrangements of parity and
data blocks (layouts) can be used to optimize I/O performance, or to convert between raid levels. See
lvmraid(7) for more information.
Layouts of raid5 rotating parity blocks can be: left-asymmetric (raid5_la), left-symmetric (raid5_ls with
alias raid5), right-asymmetric (raid5_ra), right-symmetric (raid5_rs) and raid5_n, which doesn't rotate
parity blocks. Layouts of raid6 are: zero-restart (raid6_zr with alias raid6), next-restart (raid6_nr),
and next-continue (raid6_nc).
Layouts including _n allow for conversion between raid levels (raid5_n to raid6 or raid5_n to
striped/raid0/raid0_meta). Additionally, special raid6 layouts for raid level conversions between raid5
and raid6 are: raid6_ls_6, raid6_rs_6, raid6_la_6 and raid6_ra_6. Those correspond to their raid5
counterparts (e.g. raid5_rs can be directly converted to raid6_rs_6 and vice-versa).
raid10 (an alias for raid10_near) is currently limited to one data copy and even number of sub LVs. This
is a mirror group layout, thus a single sub LV may fail per mirror group without data loss.
Striped raid types support converting the layout, their stripesize and their number of stripes.
The striped raid types combined with raid1 allow for conversion from linear-> striped/raid0/raid0_meta
and vice-versa by e.g. linear <-> raid1 <-> raid5_n (then adding stripes) <-> striped/raid0/raid0_meta.
USAGE
Convert LV to linear.
lvconvert --type linear LV
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Convert LV to striped.
lvconvert --type striped LV
[ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ -i|--interval Number ]
[ --stripes Number ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Convert LV to type mirror (also see type raid1),
lvconvert --type mirror LV
[ -m|--mirrors [+|-]Number ]
[ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ -i|--interval Number ]
[ --stripes Number ]
[ --mirrorlog core|disk ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Convert LV to raid or change raid layout
(a specific raid level must be used, e.g. raid1).
lvconvert --type raid LV
[ -m|--mirrors [+|-]Number ]
[ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ -i|--interval Number ]
[ --stripes Number ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Convert LV to raid1 or mirror, or change number of mirror images.
lvconvert -m|--mirrors [+|-]Number LV
[ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ -i|--interval Number ]
[ --mirrorlog core|disk ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Convert raid LV to change number of stripe images.
lvconvert --stripes Number LV_raid
[ -i|--interval Number ]
[ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Convert raid LV to change the stripe size.
lvconvert -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] LV_raid
[ -i|--interval Number ]
[ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Split images from a raid1 or mirror LV and use them to create a new LV.
lvconvert --splitmirrors Number -n|--name LV_new LV_cache_mirror_raid1
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Split images from a raid1 LV and track changes to origin for later merge.
lvconvert --splitmirrors Number --trackchanges LV_cache_raid1
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Merge LV images that were split from a raid1 LV.
lvconvert --mergemirrors VG|LV_linear_raid|Tag ...
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Convert LV to a thin LV, using the original LV as an external origin.
lvconvert --type thin --thinpool LV LV_linear_striped_thin_cache_raid
[ -T|--thin ]
[ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ --originname LV_new ]
[ --poolmetadata LV ]
[ --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
[ --metadataprofile String ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Attach a cache pool to an LV, converts the LV to type cache.
lvconvert --type cache --cachepool LV LV_linear_striped_thinpool_vdo_vdopool_vdopooldata_raid
[ -H|--cache ]
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2 ]
[ --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough ]
[ --cachepolicy String ]
[ --cachesettings String ]
[ --poolmetadata LV ]
[ --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
[ --metadataprofile String ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Attach a writecache to an LV, converts the LV to type writecache.
lvconvert --type writecache --cachevol LV LV_linear_striped_raid
[ --cachesettings String ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Attach a cache to an LV, converts the LV to type cache.
lvconvert --type cache --cachevol LV LV_linear_striped_thinpool_raid
[ -H|--cache ]
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2 ]
[ --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough ]
[ --cachepolicy String ]
[ --cachesettings String ]
[ --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Convert LV to type thin-pool.
lvconvert --type thin-pool LV_linear_striped_cache_raid
[ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ --stripes Number ]
[ --discards passdown|nopassdown|ignore ]
[ --poolmetadata LV ]
[ --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
[ --metadataprofile String ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Convert LV to type cache-pool.
lvconvert --type cache-pool LV_linear_striped_raid
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2 ]
[ --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough ]
[ --cachepolicy String ]
[ --cachesettings String ]
[ --poolmetadata LV ]
[ --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
[ --metadataprofile String ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Convert LV to type vdopool.
lvconvert --type vdo-pool LV_linear_striped_cache_raid
[ -n|--name LV_new ]
[ -V|--virtualsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --compression y|n ]
[ --deduplication y|n ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Detach a cache from an LV.
lvconvert --splitcache LV_thinpool_cache_cachepool_vdopool_writecache
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Merge thin LV into its origin LV.
lvconvert --mergethin LV_thin ...
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Merge COW snapshot LV into its origin.
lvconvert --mergesnapshot LV_snapshot ...
[ -i|--interval Number ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Combine a former COW snapshot (second arg) with a former
origin LV (first arg) to reverse a splitsnapshot command.
lvconvert --type snapshot LV LV_linear_striped
[ -s|--snapshot ]
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Replace failed PVs in a raid or mirror LV.
Repair a thin pool.
Repair a cache pool.
lvconvert --repair LV_thinpool_cache_cachepool_mirror_raid
[ -i|--interval Number ]
[ --usepolicies ]
[ --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Replace specific PV(s) in a raid LV with another PV.
lvconvert --replace PV LV_raid
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Poll LV to continue conversion.
lvconvert --startpoll LV_mirror_raid
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Common options for command:
[ -b|--background ]
[ -f|--force ]
[ --alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|inherit ]
[ --noudevsync ]
Common options for lvm:
[ -d|--debug ]
[ -h|--help ]
[ -q|--quiet ]
[ -t|--test ]
[ -v|--verbose ]
[ -y|--yes ]
[ --commandprofile String ]
[ --config String ]
[ --driverloaded y|n ]
[ --lockopt String ]
[ --longhelp ]
[ --nolocking ]
[ --profile String ]
[ --version ]
OPTIONS
--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
overriden on the command line. normal 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 existing PEs in the same
stripe of the LV. If there are sufficient PEs for an allocation, but normal does not use them,
anywhere will use them even if it reduces performance, e.g. by placing two stripes on the same PV.
Optional 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.
-b|--background
If the operation requires polling, this option causes the command to return before the operation
is complete, and polling is done in the background.
-H|--cache
Specifies the command is handling a cache LV or cache pool. See --type cache and --type
cache-pool. See lvmcache(7) for more information about LVM caching.
--cachemetadataformat auto|1|2
Specifies the cache metadata format used by cache target.
--cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough
Specifies when writes to a cache LV should be considered complete. writeback considers a write
complete as soon as it is stored in the cache pool. writethough considers a write complete only
when it has been stored in both the cache pool and on the origin LV. While writethrough may be
slower for writes, it is more resilient if something should happen to a device associated with the
cache pool LV. With passthrough, all reads are served from the origin LV (all reads miss the
cache) and all writes are forwarded to the origin LV; additionally, write hits cause cache block
invalidates. See lvmcache(7) for more information.
--cachepolicy String
Specifies the cache policy for a cache LV. See lvmcache(7) for more information.
--cachepool LV
The name of a cache pool.
--cachesettings String
Specifies tunable values for a cache LV in "Key = Value" form. Repeat this option to specify
multiple values. (The default values should usually be adequate.) The special string value
default switches settings back to their default kernel values and removes them from the list of
settings stored in LVM metadata. See lvmcache(7) for more information.
--cachevol LV
The name of a cache volume.
-c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT]
The size of chunks in a snapshot, cache pool or thin pool. For snapshots, the value must be a
power of 2 between 4KiB and 512KiB and the default value is 4. For a cache pool the value must be
between 32KiB and 1GiB and the default value is 64. For a thin pool the value must be between
64KiB and 1GiB and the default value starts with 64 and scales up to fit the pool metadata size
within 128MiB, if the pool metadata size is not specified. The value must be a multiple of 64KiB.
See lvmthin(7) and lvmcache(7) for more information.
--commandprofile String
The command profile to use for command configuration. See lvm.conf(5) for more information about
profiles.
--compression y|n
Controls whether compression is enabled or disable for VDO volume. See lvmvdo(7) for more
information about VDO usage.
--config String
Config settings for the command. These override lvm.conf settings. The String arg uses the same
format as lvm.conf, 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).
--deduplication y|n
Controls whether deduplication is enabled or disable for VDO volume. See lvmvdo(7) for more
information about VDO usage.
--discards passdown|nopassdown|ignore
Specifies how the device-mapper thin pool layer in the kernel should handle discards. ignore
causes the thin pool to ignore discards. nopassdown causes the thin pool to process discards
itself to allow reuse of unneeded extents in the thin pool. passdown causes the thin pool to
process discards itself (like nopassdown) and pass the discards to the underlying device. See
lvmthin(7) for more information.
--driverloaded y|n
If set to no, the command will not attempt to use device-mapper. For testing and debugging.
-f|--force ...
Override various checks, confirmations and protections. Use with extreme caution.
-h|--help
Display help text.
-i|--interval Number
Report progress at regular intervals.
--lockopt String
Used to pass options for special cases to lvmlockd. See lvmlockd(8) for more information.
--longhelp
Display long help text.
--merge
An alias for --mergethin, --mergemirrors, or --mergesnapshot, depending on the type of LV.
--mergemirrors
Merge LV images that were split from a raid1 LV. See --splitmirrors with --trackchanges.
--mergesnapshot
Merge COW snapshot LV into its origin. When merging a snapshot, if both the origin and snapshot
LVs are not open, the merge will start immediately. Otherwise, the merge will start the first time
either the origin or snapshot LV are activated and both are closed. Merging a snapshot into an
origin that cannot be closed, for example a root filesystem, is deferred until the next time the
origin volume is activated. When merging starts, the resulting LV will have the origin's name,
minor number and UUID. While the merge is in progress, reads or writes to the origin appear as
being directed to the snapshot being merged. When the merge finishes, the merged snapshot is
removed. Multiple snapshots may be specified on the command line or a @tag may be used to specify
multiple snapshots be merged to their respective origin.
--mergethin
Merge thin LV into its origin LV. The origin thin LV takes the content of the thin snapshot, and
the thin snapshot LV is removed. See lvmthin(7) for more information.
--metadataprofile String
The metadata profile to use for command configuration. See lvm.conf(5) for more information about
profiles.
--mirrorlog core|disk
Specifies the type of mirror log for LVs with the "mirror" type (does not apply to the "raid1"
type.) disk is a persistent log and requires a small amount of storage space, usually on a
separate device from the data being mirrored. core is not persistent; the log is kept only in
memory. In this case, the mirror must be synchronized (by copying LV data from the first device
to others) each time the LV is activated, e.g. after reboot. mirrored is a persistent log that is
itself mirrored, but should be avoided. Instead, use the raid1 type for log redundancy.
-m|--mirrors [+|-]Number
Specifies the number of mirror images in addition to the original LV image, e.g. --mirrors 1 means
there are two images of the data, the original and one mirror image. Optional positional PV args
on the command line can specify the devices the images should be placed on. There are two
mirroring implementations: "raid1" and "mirror". These are the names of the corresponding LV
types, or "segment types". Use the --type option to specify which to use (raid1 is default, and
mirror is legacy) Use lvm.conf global/mirror_segtype_default and global/raid10_segtype_default to
configure the default types. The plus prefix + can be used, in which case the number is added to
the current number of images, or the minus prefix - can be used, in which case the number is
subtracted from the current number of images. See lvmraid(7) for more information.
-n|--name String
Specifies the name of a new LV. When unspecified, a default name of "lvol#" is generated, where #
is a number generated by LVM.
--nolocking
Disable locking.
--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.
--originname LV
Specifies the name to use for the external origin LV when converting an LV to a thin LV. The LV
being converted becomes a read-only external origin with this name.
--poolmetadata LV
The name of a an LV to use for storing pool metadata.
--poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT]
Specifies the size of the new pool metadata LV.
--poolmetadataspare y|n
Enable or disable the automatic creation and management of a spare pool metadata LV in the VG. A
spare metadata LV is reserved space that can be used when repairing a pool.
--profile String
An alias for --commandprofile or --metadataprofile, depending on the command.
-q|--quiet ...
Suppress output and log messages. Overrides --debug and --verbose. Repeat once to also suppress
any prompts with answer 'no'.
-r|--readahead auto|none|Number
Sets read ahead sector count of an LV. auto is the default which allows the kernel to choose a
suitable value automatically. none is equivalent to zero.
-R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT]
Size of each raid or mirror synchronization region. lvm.conf activation/raid_region_size can be
used to configure a default.
--repair
Replace failed PVs in a raid or mirror LV, or run a repair utility on a thin pool. See lvmraid(7)
and lvmthin(7) for more information.
--replace PV
Replace a specific PV in a raid LV with another PV. The new PV to use can be optionally specified
after the LV. Multiple PVs can be replaced by repeating this option. See lvmraid(7) for more
information.
-s|--snapshot
Combine a former COW snapshot LV with a former origin LV to reverse a previous --splitsnapshot
command.
--splitcache
Separates a cache pool from a cache LV, and keeps the unused cache pool LV. Before the
separation, the cache is flushed. Also see --uncache.
--splitmirrors Number
Splits the specified number of images from a raid1 or mirror LV and uses them to create a new LV.
If --trackchanges is also specified, changes to the raid1 LV are tracked while the split LV
remains detached. If --name is specified, then the images are permanently split from the original
LV and changes are not tracked.
--splitsnapshot
Separates a COW snapshot from its origin LV. The LV that is split off contains the chunks that
differ from the origin LV along with metadata describing them. This LV can be wiped and then
destroyed with lvremove.
--startpoll
Start polling an LV to continue processing a conversion.
--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 apply to existing allocated
space, only newly allocated space can be striped.
-I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT]
The amount of data that is written to one device before moving to the next in a striped LV.
--swapmetadata
Extracts the metadata LV from a pool and replaces it with another specified LV. The extracted LV
is preserved and given the name of the LV that replaced it. Use for repair only. When the
metadata LV is swapped out of the pool, it can be activated directly and used with thin
provisioning tools: cache_dump(8), cache_repair(8), cache_restore(8), thin_dump(8),
thin_repair(8), thin_restore(8).
-t|--test
Run in test mode. Commands will not update metadata. This is implemented by disabling all
metadata writing but nevertheless 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.
-T|--thin
Specifies the command is handling a thin LV or thin pool. See --type thin, --type thin-pool, and
--virtualsize. See lvmthin(7) for more information about LVM thin provisioning.
--thinpool LV
The name of a thin pool LV.
--trackchanges
Can be used with --splitmirrors on a raid1 LV. This causes changes to the original raid1 LV to be
tracked while the split images remain detached. This is a temporary state that allows the read-
only detached image to be merged efficiently back into the raid1 LV later. Only the regions with
changed data are resynchronized during merge. While a raid1 LV is tracking changes, operations on
it are limited to merging the split image (see --mergemirrors) or permanently splitting the image
(see --splitmirrors with --name.
--type linear|striped|snapshot|mirror|raid|thin|cache|vdo|thin-pool|cache-pool|vdo-pool
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 performance (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.
--uncache
Separates a cache pool from a cache LV, and deletes the unused cache pool LV. Before the
separation, the cache is flushed. Also see --splitcache.
--usepolicies
Perform an operation according to the policy configured in lvm.conf or a profile.
--vdopool LV
The name of a VDO pool LV. See lvmvdo(7) for more information about VDO usage.
-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.
-V|--virtualsize Size[m|UNIT]
The virtual size of a new thin LV. See lvmthin(7) for more information about LVM thin
provisioning. Using virtual size (-V) and actual size (-L) together creates a sparse LV.
lvm.conf global/sparse_segtype_default determines the default segment type used to create a sparse
LV. Anything written to a sparse LV will be returned when reading from it. Reading from other
areas of the LV will return blocks of zeros. When using a snapshot to create a sparse LV, a
hidden virtual device is created using the zero target, and the LV has the suffix _vorigin.
Snapshots are less efficient than thin provisioning when creating large sparse LVs (GiB).
-y|--yes
Do not prompt for confirmation interactively but always assume the answer yes. Use with extreme
caution. (For automatic no, see -qq.)
-Z|--zero y|n
For snapshots, this controls zeroing of the first 4KiB of data in the snapshot. If the LV is read-
only, the snapshot will not be zeroed. For thin pools, this controls zeroing of provisioned
blocks. Provisioning of large zeroed chunks negatively impacts performance.
VARIABLES
VG
Volume Group name. See lvm(8) for valid names.
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. LV followed by _<type> indicates that an LV of the given type is
required. (raid represents raid<N> type)
PV
Physical Volume name, a device path under /dev. For commands managing physical extents, a PV
positional arg generally 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]...
Tag
Tag name. See lvm(8) for information about tag names and using tags in place of a VG, LV or PV.
String
See the option description for information about the string content.
Size[UNIT]
Size is an input number that accepts an optional unit. Input 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:
bBsSkKmMgGtTpPeE. b|B is bytes, s|S is sectors of 512 bytes, k|K is kilobytes, m|M is megabytes,
g|G is gigabytes, t|T is terabytes, p|P is petabytes, e|E is exabytes. (This should not be
confused with the output control --units, where capital letters mean multiple of 1000.)
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
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.
ADVANCED USAGE
Alternate command forms, advanced command usage, and listing of all valid syntax for completeness.
Change the region size of an LV.
lvconvert -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] LV_raid
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Change the type of mirror log used by a mirror LV.
lvconvert --mirrorlog core|disk LV_mirror
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
[ PV ... ]
-
Convert LV to a thin LV, using the original LV as an external origin
(infers --type thin).
lvconvert -T|--thin --thinpool LV LV_linear_striped_thin_cache_raid
[ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ --type thin ]
[ --originname LV_new ]
[ --poolmetadata LV ]
[ --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
[ --metadataprofile String ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Attach a cache pool to an LV (infers --type cache).
lvconvert -H|--cache --cachepool LV LV_linear_striped_thinpool_vdo_vdopool_vdopooldata_raid
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ --type cache ]
[ --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2 ]
[ --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough ]
[ --cachepolicy String ]
[ --cachesettings String ]
[ --poolmetadata LV ]
[ --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
[ --metadataprofile String ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Attach a cache to an LV, converts the LV to type cache.
lvconvert -H|--cache --cachevol LV LV_linear_striped_thinpool_raid
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2 ]
[ --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough ]
[ --cachepolicy String ]
[ --cachesettings String ]
[ --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Convert LV to type vdopool.
lvconvert --vdopool LV_linear_striped_cache_raid
[ -n|--name LV_new ]
[ -V|--virtualsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --type vdo-pool ]
[ --compression y|n ]
[ --deduplication y|n ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Detach and delete a cache from an LV.
lvconvert --uncache LV_thinpool_cache_vdopool_writecache
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Swap metadata LV in a thin pool or cache pool (for repair only).
lvconvert --swapmetadata --poolmetadata LV LV_thinpool_cachepool
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Merge LV that was split from a mirror (variant, use --mergemirrors).
Merge thin LV into its origin LV (variant, use --mergethin).
Merge COW snapshot LV into its origin (variant, use --mergesnapshot).
lvconvert --merge VG|LV_linear_striped_snapshot_thin_raid|Tag ...
[ -i|--interval Number ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Separate a COW snapshot from its origin LV.
lvconvert --splitsnapshot LV_snapshot
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Combine a former COW snapshot (second arg) with a former
origin LV (first arg) to reverse a splitsnapshot command.
lvconvert -s|--snapshot LV LV_linear_striped
[ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ --type snapshot ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Poll LV to continue conversion (also see --startpoll)
or waits till conversion/mirror syncing is finished
lvconvert LV_mirror_raid
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
NOTES
This previous command syntax would perform two different operations:
lvconvert --thinpool LV1 --poolmetadata LV2
If LV1 was not a thin pool, the command would convert LV1 to a thin pool, optionally using a specified LV
for metadata. But, if LV1 was already a thin pool, the command would swap the current metadata LV with
LV2 (for repair purposes.)
In the same way, this previous command syntax would perform two different operations:
lvconvert --cachepool LV1 --poolmetadata LV2
If LV1 was not a cache pool, the command would convert LV1 to a cache pool, optionally using a specified
LV for metadata. But, if LV1 was already a cache pool, the command would swap the current metadata LV
with LV2 (for repair purposes.)
EXAMPLES
Convert a linear LV to a two-way mirror LV.
lvconvert --type mirror --mirrors 1 vg/lvol1
Convert a linear LV to a two-way RAID1 LV.
lvconvert --type raid1 --mirrors 1 vg/lvol1
Convert a mirror LV to use an in-memory log.
lvconvert --mirrorlog core vg/lvol1
Convert a mirror LV to use a disk log.
lvconvert --mirrorlog disk vg/lvol1
Convert a mirror or raid1 LV to a linear LV.
lvconvert --type linear vg/lvol1
Convert a mirror LV to a raid1 LV with the same number of images.
lvconvert --type raid1 vg/lvol1
Convert a linear LV to a two-way mirror LV, allocating new extents from specific PV ranges.
lvconvert --mirrors 1 vg/lvol1 /dev/sda:0-15 /dev/sdb:0-15
Convert a mirror LV to a linear LV, freeing physical extents from a specific PV.
lvconvert --type linear vg/lvol1 /dev/sda
Split one image from a mirror or raid1 LV, making it a new LV.
lvconvert --splitmirrors 1 --name lv_split vg/lvol1
Split one image from a raid1 LV, and track changes made to the raid1 LV while the split image remains
detached.
lvconvert --splitmirrors 1 --trackchanges vg/lvol1
Merge an image (that was previously created with --splitmirrors and --trackchanges) back into the
original raid1 LV.
lvconvert --mergemirrors vg/lvol1_rimage_1
Replace PV /dev/sdb1 with PV /dev/sdf1 in a raid1/4/5/6/10 LV.
lvconvert --replace /dev/sdb1 vg/lvol1 /dev/sdf1
Replace 3 PVs /dev/sd[b-d]1 with PVs /dev/sd[f-h]1 in a raid1 LV.
lvconvert --replace /dev/sdb1 --replace /dev/sdc1 --replace /dev/sdd1
vg/lvol1 /dev/sd[fgh]1
Replace the maximum of 2 PVs /dev/sd[bc]1 with PVs /dev/sd[gh]1 in a raid6 LV.
lvconvert --replace /dev/sdb1 --replace /dev/sdc1 vg/lvol1 /dev/sd[gh]1
Convert an LV into a thin LV in the specified thin pool. The existing LV is used as an external read-
only origin for the new thin LV.
lvconvert --type thin --thinpool vg/tpool1 vg/lvol1
Convert an LV into a thin LV in the specified thin pool. The existing LV is used as an external read-
only origin for the new thin LV, and is renamed "external".
lvconvert --type thin --thinpool vg/tpool1
--originname external vg/lvol1
Convert an LV to a cache pool LV using another specified LV for cache pool metadata.
lvconvert --type cache-pool --poolmetadata vg/poolmeta1 vg/lvol1
Convert an LV to a cache LV using the specified cache pool and chunk size.
lvconvert --type cache --cachepool vg/cpool1 -c 128 vg/lvol1
Detach and keep the cache pool from a cache LV.
lvconvert --splitcache vg/lvol1
Detach and remove the cache pool from a cache LV.
lvconvert --uncache vg/lvol1
SEE ALSO
lvm(8) lvm.conf(5) lvmconfig(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) 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) lvm2-activation-generator(8) blkdeactivate(8) lvmdump(8)
dmeventd(8) lvmpolld(8) lvmlockd(8) lvmlockctl(8) cmirrord(8) lvmdbusd(8)
lvmsystemid(7) lvmreport(7) lvmraid(7) lvmthin(7) lvmcache(7)