pvs

Overview

pvs reports LVM physical volumes (PVs) — disks or partitions initialized with pvcreate and used by volume groups. Part of the LVM reporting trio with vgs and lvs.

sudo apt install lvm2

Syntax

pvs [options] [PV...]

Common Options

Option	Description
-o fields	Custom columns
-v	Verbose
--units h	Human units
-a	All devices (incl. empty)
--reportformat json	JSON (newer)

Examples with Explanations

List physical volumes

sudo pvs
sudo pvs -o+pv_used,pv_free,dev_size

Initialize a new PV (related workflow)

sudo wipefs -a /dev/sdb1          # if reusing a disk — careful
sudo pvcreate /dev/sdb1
sudo pvs

Free space across PVs

sudo pvs --units g -o pv_name,vg_name,pv_size,pv_free

Notes & Pitfalls

• Whole-disk vs partition PVs: prefer a partition or carefully documented whole-disk use.
  
• Removing a PV requires migrating extents (pvmove) first if the VG has data there.

Related Commands

• pvcreate / pvremove / pvresize
  
• vgs / lvs — VG and LV reports
  
• lsblk — block layer view

Additional Resources

• man pvs
  
• man lvm