hesela.devPhysical volume (LVM)
In Linux LVM, a physical volume is a block device initialized for LVM use whose allocatable extents can supply a volume group.
A PV can use a whole device or a partition. pvcreate writes an LVM label and configures metadata areas; it does not create a filesystem. The name therefore does not imply an entire physical disk. [1]
A PV may be configured with zero VG metadata copies. Its allocatable data area and its metadata configuration are separate properties; do not assume every PV carries a copy of the group's configuration. [1]
Resizing the underlying device does not by itself update LVM's recorded PV size. pvresize changes that size and refuses a shrink if allocated extents remain beyond the proposed end. Filesystem free space alone does not establish that those physical extents are unallocated. [2]
Relations
Limitations
- Initializing a PV writes to the selected device; it is not a read-only discovery operation. [1]