How to find the physical volume(s) that hold a logical volume in LVM

Question

I have a volume group (VG) that contains two physical volumes (PV). Several logical volumes (LV) in the VG are likely to use extents on both PVs.

Is there a way to tell which LVs occupy space on which PVs?

Here are all the commands you'll need to start with lvm : lvdisplay, pvdisplay, vgdisplay — , Dec 28 '12 at 10:09

score 94 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 28 '12 at 10:17

The pvdisplay command has a -m option to show the mapping of physical extents to logical volumes and logical extents.

I have set up the following situation on a test machine:

3 disks of 1GB each added to the system and used as physical volumes for vg_test
6 logical volumes made with various sizes (ranging from 300M to 1.1G) so that they are spread over the physical volumes

Running pvdisplay -m on this machine results in the following output:

[root@centos6 ~]# pvdisplay -m
  --- Physical volume ---
  PV Name               /dev/sdb
  VG Name               vg_test
  PV Size               1.00 GiB / not usable 4.00 MiB
  Allocatable           yes 
  PE Size               4.00 MiB
  Total PE              255
  Free PE               5
  Allocated PE          250
  PV UUID               eR2ko2-aKRf-uCfq-O2L0-z6em-ZYT5-23YhKb

  --- Physical Segments ---
  Physical extent 0 to 74:
    Logical volume  /dev/vg_test/one
    Logical extents 0 to 74
  Physical extent 75 to 149:
    Logical volume  /dev/vg_test/two
    Logical extents 0 to 74
  Physical extent 150 to 249:
    Logical volume  /dev/vg_test/four
    Logical extents 0 to 99
  Physical extent 250 to 254:
    FREE

  --- Physical volume ---
  PV Name               /dev/sdc
  VG Name               vg_test
  PV Size               1.00 GiB / not usable 4.00 MiB
  Allocatable           yes 
  PE Size               4.00 MiB
  Total PE              255
  Free PE               10
  Allocated PE          245
  PV UUID               rByjXK-NA6D-ifnY-lKdF-eFWg-Ndou-psGJUq

  --- Physical Segments ---
  Physical extent 0 to 124:
    Logical volume  /dev/vg_test/three
    Logical extents 0 to 124
  Physical extent 125 to 224:
    Logical volume  /dev/vg_test/five
    Logical extents 0 to 99
  Physical extent 225 to 244:
    Logical volume  /dev/vg_test/six
    Logical extents 255 to 274
  Physical extent 245 to 254:
    FREE

  --- Physical volume ---
  PV Name               /dev/sdd
  VG Name               vg_test
  PV Size               1.00 GiB / not usable 4.00 MiB
  Allocatable           yes (but full)
  PE Size               4.00 MiB
  Total PE              255
  Free PE               0
  Allocated PE          255
  PV UUID               TCJnZM-0ss9-o5gY-lgD3-7Kq6-18IH-sN04To

  --- Physical Segments ---
  Physical extent 0 to 254:
    Logical volume  /dev/vg_test/six
    Logical extents 0 to 254

As you can see, You get a nice overview of where the extents for each of the 6 logical volumes are.

Wow, I have been using LVM for years and were completely unaware of the `-m` switch. Thanks! — Paul, Dec 28 '12 at 10:32
NB: it does not show the device mapper placement of segments when striping is used. It looks like `dmsetup table ` could help with that. — eckes, May 10 '17 at 11:20

score 56 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 07 '14 at 20:16

56

I use:

lvs -o +devices

...which I find a little easier to interpret.

answered Sep 07 '14 at 20:16

backseat

661
5
2

6

One thing, it doesn't work with lvm mirrors enabled. There it'll just show "lvname_rimage0,lvname_rimage1" instead of the underlying disks. (not your fault, the command and the mirroring itself is badly designed). Even then it's still good to spot unmirrored lv's. Just be careful not to fully rely on the output because the above. – Florian Heigl Jan 07 '15 at 12:56
3

I'd recommend `lvs --segments -o +devices` also/instead, that way you can see what segments are on what PVs, if you have an LV that spans multiple PVs – kbolino Aug 21 '18 at 18:20
1

This suggestion is the one that did the trick for me :D thanks!! – BanjoFox Nov 08 '19 at 14:46
1

`lsblk` also provides a nice overview of what LV is where. – Dan Keder Sep 25 '21 at 08:33

score 29 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 30 '17 at 12:16

LVM is a flexible abstraction layer between physical disk up to the filesystem (disk ⇒ partition ⇒ LVM's physical volume [PV] ⇒ LVM's volume group [VG] ⇒ LVM logical volume [LV] ⇒ filesystem).

Due to some LVM features (aggregation, mirror, stripes, snapshot...), the physical layout can become complex... thus some caveats:

Use lvs manpage about --all to view internal details (of mirrored volumes), if wanted.
Obviously, when you run a command for a given objet, only that object's parents and children are show (which may be incomplete, if LV is spanning on multiple PV for example)

For a quick overview, I recommend lsblk (which is a standard tool, not LVM specific).

$ lsblk
NAME                     MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda                        8:0    0 223,6G  0 disk 
├─sda1                     8:1    0   350M  0 part 
├─sda2                     8:2    0    29G  0 part 
├─sda3                     8:3    0   488M  0 part /boot
├─sda4                     8:4    0     1K  0 part 
└─sda5                     8:5    0 193,8G  0 part 
  ├─vg_ssd-lv_root_solid 254:0    0  13,3G  0 lvm  /
  ├─vg_ssd-lv_srv_solid  254:2    0  46,6G  0 lvm  /srv
  └─vg_ssd-lv_home_solid 254:3    0   107G  0 lvm  /home
sdb                        8:16   0  74,5G  0 disk 
└─sdb1                     8:17   0  74,5G  0 part 
  ├─vg_ssd-lv_swap_solid 254:1    0   3,7G  0 lvm  [SWAP]
  └─vg_ssd-lv_videos     254:4    0    28G  0 lvm  /mnt/videos

LVM specific tools

To get LVM's internal view and details, use LVM commands:

Lists : use the lvs and pvs commands with option --segments
Detailed view: use the lvdisplay and pvdisplay commands with option -m

LVM tools exmples

List the physical segments used by a logical volume :

$ lvs --segments /dev/vg_ssd/lv_videos
LV        VG     Attr       #Str Type   SSize 
lv_videos vg_ssd -wi-ao----    1 linear 20,95g
lv_videos vg_ssd -wi-ao----    1 linear  7,05g

same with more details:

$ lvs --segments /dev/vg_ssd/lv_videos -o +lv_size,devices
  LV        VG     Attr       #Str Type   SSize  LSize  Devices         
  lv_videos vg_ssd -wi-ao----    1 linear 20,95g 28,00g /dev/sdb1(12729)
  lv_videos vg_ssd -wi-ao----    1 linear  7,05g 28,00g /dev/sdb1(3534)

List the physical extents of a given LV. Useful to move those segments (using pvmove):

$ lvs  /dev/vg_ssd/lv_videos -o seg_pe_ranges
  PE Ranges
  /dev/sdb1:12729-18090
  /dev/sdb1:3534-5339

The opposite way, list the logical volume (segments) inside a given Physical Volume:

$ pvs  /dev/sdb1  --segments  -o +lv_name,lv_size
  PV         VG     Fmt  Attr PSize  PFree  Start SSize LV            LSize 
  /dev/sdb1  vg_ssd lvm2 a--  74,53g 22,80g     0  3534                   0 
  /dev/sdb1  vg_ssd lvm2 a--  74,53g 22,80g  3534  1806 lv_videos     28,00g
  /dev/sdb1  vg_ssd lvm2 a--  74,53g 22,80g  5340  1316                   0 
  /dev/sdb1  vg_ssd lvm2 a--  74,53g 22,80g 11776   953 lv_swap_solid  3,72g
  /dev/sdb1  vg_ssd lvm2 a--  74,53g 22,80g 12729  5362 lv_videos     28,00g
  /dev/sdb1  vg_ssd lvm2 a--  74,53g 22,80g 18091   988                   0

List the physical segments of a given logical volume, among other information:

$ lvdisplay -m /dev/vg_ssd/lv_videos
[..]
  --- Segments ---
  Logical extents 0 to 5361:
    Type        linear
    Physical volume /dev/sdb1
    Physical extents    12729 to 18090

  Logical extents 5362 to 7167:
    Type        linear
    Physical volume /dev/sdb1
    Physical extents    3534 to 5339

Display the Logical volume associated with a given physical volume , among other information:

$ pvdisplay -m /dev/sdb1
[..]
  --- Physical Segments ---
  Physical extent 0 to 3533:
    FREE
  Physical extent 0 to 5339:
    Logical volume  /dev/vg_ssd/lv_videos
    Logical extents 5362 to 7167
  Physical extent 5340 to 11775:
    FREE
  Physical extent 11776 to 12728:
    Logical volume  /dev/vg_ssd/lv_swap_solid
    Logical extents 0 to 952
  Physical extent 12729 to 18090:
    Logical volume  /dev/vg_ssd/lv_videos
    Logical extents 0 to 5361
  Physical extent 18091 to 19078:
    FREE

Complex command, but full list :

$ pvs   --segments  -o pv_name,pv_size,seg_size,vg_name,lv_name,lv_size,seg_pe_ranges
  PV         PSize   SSize   VG     LV            LSize   PE Ranges            
  /dev/sda5  193,79g   9,31g vg_ssd lv_root_solid  13,31g /dev/sda5:0-2383     
  /dev/sda5  193,79g   3,72g vg_ssd lv_home_solid 107,00g /dev/sda5:2384-3336  
  /dev/sda5  193,79g  46,56g vg_ssd lv_srv_solid   46,56g /dev/sda5:3337-15256 
  /dev/sda5  193,79g  60,00g vg_ssd lv_home_solid 107,00g /dev/sda5:15257-30616
  /dev/sda5  193,79g 200,00m vg_ssd lv_home_solid 107,00g /dev/sda5:30617-30666
  /dev/sda5  193,79g   1,05g vg_ssd                    0                       
  /dev/sda5  193,79g   8,00g vg_ssd lv_home_solid 107,00g /dev/sda5:30937-32984
  /dev/sda5  193,79g   4,00g vg_ssd lv_root_solid  13,31g /dev/sda5:32985-34008
  /dev/sda5  193,79g  20,00g vg_ssd lv_home_solid 107,00g /dev/sda5:34009-39128
  /dev/sda5  193,79g   9,80g vg_ssd lv_home_solid 107,00g /dev/sda5:41689-44198
  /dev/sda5  193,79g   1,28g vg_ssd lv_home_solid 107,00g /dev/sda5:44199-44525
  /dev/sda5  193,79g  15,86g vg_ssd                    0                       
  /dev/sda5  193,79g   4,00g vg_ssd lv_home_solid 107,00g /dev/sda5:48587-49610
  /dev/sdb1   74,53g  13,80g vg_ssd                    0                       
  /dev/sdb1   74,53g   7,05g vg_ssd lv_videos      28,00g /dev/sdb1:3534-5339  
  /dev/sdb1   74,53g   5,14g vg_ssd                    0                       
  /dev/sdb1   74,53g   3,72g vg_ssd lv_swap_solid   3,72g /dev/sdb1:11776-12728
  /dev/sdb1   74,53g  20,95g vg_ssd lv_videos      28,00g /dev/sdb1:12729-18090
  /dev/sdb1   74,53g   3,86g vg_ssd                    0

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 06 '16 at 13:29

lvdisplay -m will list its physical segments:

# lvdisplay -m
  --- Logical volume ---
  LV Path                /dev/vg/swap
  LV Name                swap
  VG Name                vg
  LV UUID                TlxZzz-11Z3-u3K3-0ULD-AZV6-c4ug-jp7YVP
  LV Write Access        read/write
  LV Creation host, time edeltraud, 2015-03-12 12:43:09 +0100
  LV Status              available
  # open                 0
  LV Size                2.00 GiB
  Current LE             512
  Segments               1
  Allocation             inherit
  Read ahead sectors     auto
  - currently set to     512
  Block device           254:21

  --- Segments ---
  Logical extents 0 to 511:
    Type                striped
    Stripes             2
    Stripe size         64.00 KiB
    Stripe 0:
      Physical volume   /dev/sdc1
      Physical extents  2561 to 2816
    Stripe 1:
      Physical volume   /dev/sda1
      Physical extents  241027 to 241282

By adding the -a option, you can also see the volumes that are set up by raid1-mirrored volumes:

# lvdisplay -am
  --- Logical volume ---
  Internal LV Name       srv_rimage_0
  VG Name                vg
  LV UUID                IJTT9w-2aX5-aqR5-VY4Z-Lqtp-L3cP-jkzNnx
  LV Write Access        read/write
  LV Creation host, time edeltraud, 2015-12-13 00:10:03 +0100
  LV Status              available
  # open                 1
  LV Size                50.00 GiB
  Current LE             12800
  Segments               1
  Allocation             inherit
  Read ahead sectors     auto
  - currently set to     256
  Block device           254:39

  --- Segments ---
  Logical extents 0 to 12799:
    Type                linear
    Physical volume     /dev/sdb4
    Physical extents    7683 to 20482


  --- Logical volume ---
  Internal LV Name       srv_rmeta_0
  VG Name                vg
  LV UUID                YyyVAa-dab7-8Jxg-JzpS-Yf3k-4SDH-654cqf
  LV Write Access        read/write
  LV Creation host, time edeltraud, 2015-12-13 00:10:03 +0100
  LV Status              available
  # open                 1
  LV Size                4.00 MiB
  Current LE             1
  Segments               1
  Allocation             inherit
  Read ahead sectors     auto
  - currently set to     256
  Block device           254:38

  --- Segments ---
  Logical extents 0 to 0:
    Type                linear
    Physical volume     /dev/sdb4
    Physical extents    7682 to 7682

For each mirror, you will see two volumes, {volume_name}_rmeta_{n} (containing the raid meta data) and {volume_name}_rimage_{n} (containing the actual data), where {volume_name} is the name of the logical volume and {n} is the number of the mirror (starting at 0).

And the drill down into the segments with `dmsetup table /dev/vg/swap` — eckes, May 10 '17 at 16:33
`sudo lvdisplay -am` it let me determine the precise major:minor of the backup mirror leg to throttle writes in cgroup, now lets test it, thx! https://unix.stackexchange.com/q/306827/30352 — Aquarius Power, Jul 15 '17 at 01:54

How to find the physical volume(s) that hold a logical volume in LVM

4 Answers4

LVM specific tools

LVM tools exmples