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


pvcreate - Initialize physical volume(s) for use by LVM


pvcreate position_args [ option_args ]


pvcreate initializes a PV so that it is recognized as belonging to LVM, and allows the PV to be used in a VG. A PV can be a disk partition, whole disk, meta device, or loopback file.

For DOS disk partitions, the partition id should be set to 0x8e using fdisk(8), cfdisk(8), or a equivalent. For GUID Partition Table (GPT), the id is E6D6D379-F507-44C2-A23C-238F2A3DF928. 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:


Use vgcreate(8) to create a new VG on the PV, or vgextend(8) to add the PV to existing VG.

The force option will create a PV without confirmation. Repeating the force option (-ff) will forcibly create a PV, overriding checks that normally prevent it, e.g. if the PV is already in a VG.


pvcreate PV ...
[ -f|--force ]
[ -M|--metadatatype lvm2 ]
[ -u|--uuid String ]
[ -Z|--zero y|n ]
[ --dataalignment Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ --dataalignmentoffset Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ --bootloaderareasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --labelsector Number ]
[ --[pv]metadatacopies 0|1|2 ]
[ --metadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --metadataignore y|n ]
[ --norestorefile ]
[ --setphysicalvolumesize Size[m|UNIT] ]
[ --reportformat basic|json ]
[ --restorefile String ]

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 ]


--bootloaderareasize Size[m|UNIT]
Create a separate bootloader area of specified size besides PV's data area. The bootloader area is an area of reserved space on the PV from which LVM will not allocate any extents and it's kept untouched. This is primarily aimed for use with bootloaders to embed their own data or metadata. The start of the bootloader area is always aligned, see also --dataalignment and --dataalignmentoffset. The bootloader area size may eventually end up increased due to the alignment, but it's never less than the size that is requested. To see the bootloader area start and size of an existing PV use pvs -o +pv_ba_start,pv_ba_size.

--commandprofile String

--config String

--dataalignment Size[k|UNIT]
Align the start of the data to a multiple of this number. Also specify an appropriate Physical Extent size when creating a VG. To see the location of the first Physical Extent of an existing PV, use pvs -o +pe_start. In addition, it may be shifted by an alignment offset. See lvm.conf/data_alignment_offset_detection and --dataalignmentoffset.

--dataalignmentoffset Size[k|UNIT]
Shift the start of the data area by this additional offset.

-d|--debug ...

--driverloaded y|n

-f|--force ...

Display help text.

--labelsector Number
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.

--lockopt String

Display long help text.

--metadataignore y|n
Specifies the metadataignore property of a PV. If yes, metadata areas on the PV are ignored, and lvm will not store metadata in the metadata areas of the PV. If no, lvm will store metadata on the PV.

--metadatasize Size[m|UNIT]
The approximate amount of space used for each VG metadata area. The size may be rounded.

-M|--metadatatype lvm2
Specifies the type of on-disk metadata to use. lvm2 (or just 2) is the current, standard format. lvm1 (or just 1) is no longer used.

Disable locking.

In conjunction with --uuid, this allows a uuid to be specified without also requiring that a backup of the metadata be provided.

--profile String

--[pv]metadatacopies 0|1|2
The number of metadata areas to set aside on a PV for storing VG metadata. When 2, one copy of the VG metadata is stored at the front of the PV and a second copy is stored at the end. When 1, one copy of the VG metadata is stored at the front of the PV (starting in the 5th sector). When 0, no copies of the VG metadata are stored on the given PV. This may be useful in VGs containing many PVs (this places limitations on the ability to use vgsplit later.)

-q|--quiet ...

--reportformat basic|json

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

--setphysicalvolumesize Size[m|UNIT]
Overrides the automatically detected size of the PV. Use with care, or prior to reducing the physical size of the device.


-u|--uuid String
Specify a UUID for the device. Without this option, a random UUID is generated. This option is needed before restoring a backup of LVM metadata onto a replacement device; see vgcfgrestore(8). As such, use of --restorefile is compulsory unless the --norestorefile is used. All PVs must have unique UUIDs, and LVM will prevent certain operations if multiple devices are seen with the same UUID. See vgimportclone(8) for more information.

-v|--verbose ...

Display version information.


-Z|--zero y|n
Controls if the first 4 sectors (2048 bytes) of the device are wiped. The default is to wipe these sectors unless either or both of --restorefile or --uuid are specified.


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]...

See the option description for information about the string content.





Initialize a partition and a full device.
pvcreate /dev/sdc4 /dev/sde

If a device is a 4KiB sector drive that compensates for windows partitioning (sector 7 is the lowest aligned logical block, the 4KiB sectors start at LBA -1, and consequently sector 63 is aligned on a 4KiB boundary) manually account for this when initializing for use by LVM.
pvcreate --dataalignmentoffset 7s /dev/sdb


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)

LVM TOOLS 2.03.02(2) (2018-12-18) Red Hat, Inc.