PVCREATE(8)		    System Manager's Manual		   PVCREATE(8)



NAME
       pvcreate -- initialize a disk or partition for use by LVM

SYNOPSIS
       pvcreate	  [--commandprofile   ProfileName]   [-d|--debug]  [-h|--help]
       [-t|--test]  [-v|--verbose]   [--version]   [-f[f]|--force   [--force]]
       [-y|--yes]   [--labelsector]  [--bootloaderareasize  size]  [-M|--meta-
       datatype type]  [--[pv]metadatacopies  NumberOfCopies]  [--metadatasize
       size]	 [--metadataignore    {y|n}]	[--dataalignment    alignment]
       [--dataalignmentoffset alignment_offset] [--restorefile file]  [--nore-
       storefile] [--reportformat {basic|json}] [--setphysicalvolumesize size]
       [-u|--uuid uuid] [-Z|--zero {y|n}] PhysicalVolume [PhysicalVolume...]

DESCRIPTION
       pvcreate initializes PhysicalVolume for later use by the Logical Volume
       Manager	(LVM).	 Each  PhysicalVolume  can  be a disk partition, whole
       disk, meta device, or loopback file.  For DOS disk partitions, the par-
       tition id should be set to 0x8e using fdisk(8), cfdisk(8), or a equiva-
       lent.	For    GUID    Partition    Table    (GPT),    the    id    is
       E6D6D379-F507-44C2-A23C-238F2A3DF928.  For  whole disk devices only the
       partition table must be erased, which will effectively destroy all data
       on that disk.  This can be done by zeroing the first sector with:

       dd if=/dev/zero of=PhysicalVolume bs=512 count=1

       Continue	 with vgcreate(8) to create a new volume group on PhysicalVol-
       ume, or vgextend(8) to add PhysicalVolume to an existing volume group.

OPTIONS
       See lvm(8) for common options.

       -f, --force
	      Force the creation without any confirmation.  You can not recre-
	      ate  (reinitialize)  a  physical volume belonging to an existing
	      volume group.  In an emergency you can override  this  behaviour
	      with -ff.

       -u, --uuid uuid
	      Specify  the  uuid  for the device.  Without this option, pvcre-
	      ate(8) generates a random uuid.  All of  your  physical  volumes
	      must  have  unique  uuids.   You	need to use this option before
	      restoring a backup of LVM metadata onto a replacement  device  -
	      see  vgcfgrestore(8).   As such, use of --restorefile is compul-
	      sory unless the --norestorefile is used.

       -y, --yes
	      Answer yes to all questions.

       -Z, --zero {y|n}
	      Whether or not the first 4 sectors (2048 bytes)  of  the	device
	      should be wiped.	If this option is not given, the default is to
	      wipe these sectors unless either or both of the --restorefile or
	      --uuid options were specified.

NEW METADATA OPTIONS
       LVM2  introduces	 a  new format for storing metadata on disk.  This new
       format is more efficient and resilient than  the	 format	 the  original
       version	of  LVM	 used and offers the advanced user greater flexibility
       and control.

       The new format may be selected on the command line with -M2 or by  set-
       ting format = "lvm2" in the global section of lvm.conf(5).  Each physi-
       cal volume in the same volume group must use the same format, but  dif-
       ferent  volume groups on a machine may use different formats simultane-
       ously: the tools can handle both formats.  Additional  formats  can  be
       added as shared libraries.

       Additional  tools  for manipulating the locations and sizes of metadata
       areas will be written in due course.  Use the verbose/debug options  on
       the tools to see where the metadata areas are placed.

       --metadatasize size
	      The  approximate	amount of space to be set aside for each meta-
	      data area.  (The size you specify may get rounded.)

       --dataalignment alignment
	      Align the start of the data to a multiple of this	 number.   You
	      should  also specify an appropriate PhysicalExtentSize when cre-
	      ating the Volume Group with vgcreate.

	      To see the location of the first Physical Extent of an  existing
	      Physical Volume use pvs -o +pe_start .  It will be a multiple of
	      the requested alignment.	In  addition  it  may  be  shifted  by
	      alignment_offset	  from	 data_alignment_offset_detection   (if
	      enabled in lvm.conf(5)) or --dataalignmentoffset.

       --dataalignmentoffset alignment_offset
	      Shift the start of the  data  area  by  this  additional	align-
	      ment_offset.

       --[pv]metadatacopies NumberOfCopies
	      The number of metadata areas to set aside on each PV.  Currently
	      this can be 0, 1 or 2.  If set to 2, two copies  of  the	volume
	      group  metadata  are  held on the PV, one at the front of the PV
	      and one at the end.  If set to 1 (the default), one copy is kept
	      at  the front of the PV (starting in the 5th sector).  If set to
	      0, no copies are kept on this PV - you might wish	 to  use  this
	      with  VGs	 containing  large numbers of PVs.  But if you do this
	      and then later use vgsplit(8) you must ensure that  each	VG  is
	      still  going to have a suitable number of copies of the metadata
	      after the split!

       --metadataignore {y|n}
	      Ignore or un-ignore metadata areas on this physical volume.  The
	      default  is "n".	This setting can be changed with pvchange.  If
	      metadata areas on a physical volume are ignored,	LVM  will  not
	      store  metadata  in  the metadata areas present on this Physical
	      Volume.  Metadata areas cannot be created or extended after Log-
	      ical  Volumes  have  been allocated on the device. If you do not
	      want to store metadata on this device, it is still  wise	always
	      to  allocate  a  metadata area in case you need it in the future
	      and to use this option to instruct LVM2 to ignore it.

       --restorefile file
	      In conjunction with --uuid, this extracts the location and  size
	      of  the  data  on the PV from the file (produced by vgcfgbackup)
	      and ensures that the metadata that the program produces is  con-
	      sistent  with the contents of the file i.e. the physical extents
	      will be in the same place and not get overwritten by  new	 meta-
	      data.   This provides a mechanism to upgrade the metadata format
	      or to add/remove metadata areas. Use with care. See also	vgcon-
	      vert(8).

       --norestorefile
	      In  conjunction  with --uuid, this allows a uuid to be specified
	      without also requiring that a backup of  the  metadata  be  pro-
	      vided.

       --labelsector sector
	      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
	      LABEL_SCAN_SECTORS in the source).  Use with care.

       --bootloaderareasize size
	      Create a separate bootloader area of specified size besides PV's
	      data  area.  The bootloader area is an area of reserved space on
	      the PV from which LVM2 will not allocate any  extents  and  it's
	      kept untouched. This is primarily aimed for use with bootloaders
	      to embed their own data or metadata.  The	 start	of  the	 boot-
	      loader  area  is	always	aligned,  see also --dataalignment and
	      --dataalignmentoffset. The bootloader area size  may  eventually
	      end  up increased due to the alignment, but it's never less than
	      the size that is requested. To see the bootloader area start and
	      size    of    an	 existing   Physical   Volume	use   pvs   -o
	      +pv_ba_start,pv_ba_size.

       --setphysicalvolumesize size
	      Overrides the automatically-detected size of the PV.   Use  with
	      care.

Examples
       Initialize  partition  #4  on  the third SCSI disk and the entire fifth
       SCSI disk for later use by LVM:

       pvcreate /dev/sdc4 /dev/sde

       If the 2nd SCSI disk is a 4KiB sector drive that compensates  for  win-
       dows  partitioning  (sector  7 is the lowest aligned logical block, the
       4KiB sectors start at LBA -1, and consequently sector 63 is aligned  on
       a 4KiB boundary) manually account for this when initializing for use by
       LVM:

       pvcreate --dataalignmentoffset 7s /dev/sdb


SEE ALSO
       lvm.conf(5), lvm(8), vgcreate(8), vgextend(8), lvcreate(8),  cfdisk(8),
       fdisk(8), losetup(8), mdadm(8), vgcfgrestore(8), vgconvert(8)



Sistina Software UKLVM TOOLS 2.02.166(2)-RHEL7 (2016-11-16)	   PVCREATE(8)