lvs

Overview

lvs reports LVM logical volumes (LVs) — the block devices you usually format and mount (/dev/VG/LV or /dev/mapper/VG-LV). Check size, attributes (thin, cache, snapshot), and path before growing filesystems.

Syntax

lvs [options] [LV...]

Common Options

Option	Description
-o fields	Custom columns (lv_path, lv_size, lv_attr, …)
-a	All LVs including internal
--units h	Human sizes
-v	Verbose

Examples with Explanations

List LVs

sudo lvs
sudo lvs -o lv_name,vg_name,lv_size,lv_path,lv_attr

Create and format an LV (workflow)

sudo lvcreate -n data -L 100G vg_data
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/vg_data/data
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/data
sudo mount /dev/vg_data/data /mnt/data

Grow an LV (then filesystem)

sudo lvextend -L +50G /dev/vg_data/data
sudo resize2fs /dev/vg_data/data      # ext*
# sudo xfs_growfs /mnt/data          # xfs, grow while mounted

Snapshots (classic thick)

sudo lvcreate -s -n data_snap -L 10G /dev/vg_data/data
sudo lvs

Understanding Output

lv_attr is a multi-character state field (open/mounted, snapshot, thin, …). Paths under /dev/mapper/ are commonly used in fstab via UUID of the filesystem, not the LV name alone.

Related Commands

• lvcreate / lvextend / lvremove / lvrename
  
• pvs / vgs
  
• resize2fs / xfs_growfs
  
• findmnt

Additional Resources

• man lvs
  
• man lvcreate