PVCK(8) System Manager's Manual PVCK(8)
NAME
pvck - Check metadata on physical volumes
SYNOPSIS
pvck option_args position_args
[ option_args ]
--commandprofile String
--config String
-d|--debug
--driverloaded y|n
--dump String
-f|--file String
-h|--help
--labelsector Number
--lockopt String
--longhelp
--nolocking
--profile String
--[pv]metadatacopies 0|1|2
-q|--quiet
--repair
--repairtype pv_header|metadata|label_header
--settings String
-t|--test
-v|--verbose
--version
-y|--yes
DESCRIPTION
pvck checks and repairs LVM metadata on PVs.
Dump
headers
Print header values and warn if any values are incorrect. Checks the
label_header, pv_header, mda_header(s), and metadata text.
metadata
Print or save the current metadata text, using headers to locate the
metadata. If headers are damaged, the metadata may not be found. Use
--settings "mda_num=2" to look in mda2 (the second mda at the end of
the device (if used). The metadata text is printed to stdout. With
--file, the metadata text is saved to a file.
metadata_all
List or save all versions of metadata found in the metadata area, using
headers to locate the metadata. If headers are damaged, the metadata
may not be found. Use --settings "mda_num=2" as above. All metadata
versions are listed (add -v to include descriptions and dates in the
listing.) With -file, all versions are written to a file.
metadata_search
Search for all versions of metadata in the common locations. This does
not use headers, so it can find metadata even when headers are damaged.
Use --settings "mda_num=2" as above. All metadata versions are listed
(add -v to include descriptions and dates in the listing.) With
--file, all versions are written to a file. To save one copy of meta-
data, use --settings "metadata_offset=<offset>", where the offset is
taken from the dump listing.
metadata_area
Save the entire text metadata area to a file without processing.
Repair
--repair
Repair headers and metadata on a PV. This uses a metadata input file
that was extracted by --dump, or a backup file (from /etc/lvm/backup).
When possible, use metadata saved by --dump from another PV in the same
VG (or from a second metadata area on the PV).
There are cases where the PV UUID needs to be specified for the PV be-
ing repaired. It is specified using --settings "pv_uuid=<UUID>". In
particular, if the device name for the PV being repaired does not match
the previous device name of the PV, then LVM may not be able to deter-
mine the correct PV UUID. When headers are damaged on more than one PV
in a VG, it is important for the user to determine the correct PV UUID
and specify it in --settings. Otherwise, the wrong PV UUID could be
used if device names have been swapped since the metadata was last
written.
If a PV had no metadata areas and the pv_header is damaged, then the
repair will not know to create no metadata areas during repair. It
will by default repair metadata in mda1. To repair with no metadata
areas, use --settings "mda_offset=0 mda_size=0".
There are cases where repair should be run on all PVs in the VG (using
the same metadata file): if all PVs in the VG are damaged, if using an
old metadata version, or if a backup file is used instead of raw meta-
data.
Using --repair is equivalent to running --repairtype pv_header followed
by --repairtype metadata.
--repairtype pv_header
Repairs the header sector, containing the pv_header and label_header.
--repairtype metadata
Repairs the mda_header and metadata text. It requires the headers to
be correct (having been undamaged or already repaired).
--repairtype label_header
Repairs label_header fields, leaving the pv_header (in the same sector)
unchanged. (repairtype pv_header should usually be used instead.)
USAGE
Check for metadata on a device
pvck PV ...
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Check and print LVM headers and metadata on a device
pvck --dump String PV
[ -f|--file String ]
[ --settings String ]
[ --[pv]metadatacopies 0|1|2 ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Repair LVM headers or metadata on a device
pvck --repairtype pv_header|metadata|label_header PV
[ -f|--file String ]
[ --settings String ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Repair LVM headers and metadata on a device
pvck --repair -f|--file String PV
[ --settings String ]
[ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
-
Common options for command:
[ --labelsector Number ]
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 ]
OPTIONS
--commandprofile String
The command profile to use for command configuration. See
lvm.conf(5) for more information about profiles.
--config String
Config settings for the command. These override lvm.conf set-
tings. The String arg uses the same format as lvm.conf, or may
use section/field syntax. See lvm.conf(5) for more information
about config.
-d|--debug ...
Set debug level. Repeat from 1 to 6 times to increase the detail
of messages sent to the log file and/or syslog (if configured).
--driverloaded y|n
If set to no, the command will not attempt to use device-mapper.
For testing and debugging.
--dump String
Dump headers and metadata from a PV for debugging and repair.
Option values include: headers to print and check LVM headers,
metadata to print or save the current text metadata, meta-
data_all to list or save all versions of metadata, meta-
data_search to list or save all versions of metadata, searching
standard locations in case of damaged headers, metadata_area to
save an entire text metadata area to a file.
-f|--file String
Metadata file to read or write.
-h|--help
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 LA-
BEL_SCAN_SECTORS in the source). Use with care.
--lockopt String
Used to pass options for special cases to lvmlockd. See lvm-
lockd(8) for more information.
--longhelp
Display long help text.
--nolocking
Disable locking.
--profile String
An alias for --commandprofile or --metadataprofile, depending on
the command.
--[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.
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 limi-
tations on the ability to use vgsplit later.)
-q|--quiet ...
Suppress output and log messages. Overrides --debug and --ver-
bose. Repeat once to also suppress any prompts with answer
'no'.
--repair
Repair headers and metadata on a PV.
--repairtype pv_header|metadata|label_header
Repair headers and metadata on a PV. See command description.
--settings String
Specifies command specific settings in "Key = Value" form. Re-
peat this option to specify multiple values.
-t|--test
Run in test mode. Commands will not update metadata. This is
implemented by disabling all metadata writing but nevertheless
returning success to the calling function. This may lead to un-
usual error messages in multi-stage operations if a tool relies
on reading back metadata it believes has changed but hasn't.
-v|--verbose ...
Set verbose level. Repeat from 1 to 4 times to increase the de-
tail of messages sent to stdout and stderr.
--version
Display version information.
-y|--yes
Do not prompt for confirmation interactively but always assume
the answer yes. Use with extreme caution. (For automatic no,
see -qq.)
VARIABLES
PV
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 ex-
tents (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]...
String
See the option description for information about the string con-
tent.
Size[UNIT]
Size is an input number that accepts an optional unit. Input
units are always treated as base two values, regardless of capi-
talization, e.g. 'k' and 'K' both refer to 1024. The default
input unit is specified by letter, followed by |UNIT. UNIT rep-
resents other possible input units: bBsSkKmMgGtTpPeE. b|B is
bytes, s|S is sectors of 512 bytes, k|K is kilobytes, m|M is
megabytes, g|G is gigabytes, t|T is terabytes, p|P is petabytes,
e|E is exabytes. (This should not be confused with the output
control --units, where capital letters mean multiple of 1000.)
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See lvm(8) for information about environment variables used by lvm.
For example, LVM_VG_NAME can generally be substituted for a required VG
parameter.
EXAMPLES
If the partition table is corrupted or lost on /dev/sda, and you sus-
pect there was an LVM partition at approximately 100 MiB, then this
area of the disk can be scanned using the --labelsector parameter with
a value of 204800 (100 * 1024 * 1024 / 512 = 204800).
pvck --labelsector 204800 /dev/sda
SEE ALSO
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) vgcon-
vert(8)vgdisplay(8)vgexport(8)vgextend(8)vgimport(8) vgimport-
clone(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) lvre-
duce(8)lvremove(8)lvrename(8)lvresize(8)lvs(8)lvscan(8)lvm-fullreport(8)lvm-lvpoll(8)lvm2-activation-generator(8) blkdeacti-
vate(8)lvmdump(8)dmeventd(8)lvmpolld(8)lvmlockd(8)lvmlockctl(8)cmirrord(8) lvmd-
busd(8)lvmsystemid(7)lvmreport(7)lvmraid(7)lvmthin(7)lvmcache(7)
Red Hat, Inc. LVM TOOLS 2.03.07(2) (2019-11-30) PVCK(8)