BLKDEACTIVATE(8)

💅 BLKDEACTIVATE 💅

okay so bestie, this is a page from the System Manager's Manual — it's the blkdeactivate manual, section 8. she's a little utility but she's literally the cleanup crew of your block device world, no cap. let's get into it ✨

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

blkdeactivate — the utility that deactivates block devices. yes she's that girl, and yes she says bye to your devices so they don't linger like an unread group chat 💀

---

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

blkdeactivate [-d|--dmoptions dm_options] [-e|--errors] [-h|--help]
              [-l|--lvmoptions lvm_options]
              [-r|--mdraidoptions mdraid_options]
              [-m|--mpathoptions mpath_options] [-u|--umount]
              [-o|--vdooptions vdo_options] [-v|--verbose] [device]

like, that's the whole vibe. one utility, a bunch of optional flags, and optionally one [device] to target 👑

---

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so the blkdeactivate utility deactivates block devices. periodt.

for mounted block devices, she attempts to unmount them automatically before she tries to deactivate them — she's polite like that, she doesn't just yank the cord 🫶

here's who she currently supports:

• device-mapper devices (DM), including LVM volumes 💜
• software RAID MD devices 🌈

and here's the backstage crew handling the actual drama:

• LVM volumes are handled directly using the lvm(8) command
• the rest of device-mapper based devices are handled using the dmsetup(8) command
• MD devices are handled using the mdadm(8) command

iykyk. she's basically the manager directing the talent ✨

---

✨ OPTIONS ✨

• -d|--dmoptions dm_options — a comma separated list of device-mapper specific options. the accepted dmsetup(8) options are:
  • retry — retry removal several times in case of failure. she's persistent fr fr 💪
  • force — force device removal. no more negotiating 😤
• -e|--errors — show errors reported from tools called by blkdeactivate. without this option, any error messages from these external tools are suppressed and blkdeactivate itself provides only a summary message to indicate the device was skipped. so like, silent treatment mode is the default 🙈
• -h|--help — display the help text. classic.
• -l|--lvmoptions lvm_options — comma-separated list of LVM specific options:
  • retry — retry removal several times in case of failure.
  • wholevg — deactivate the whole LVM Volume Group when processing a Logical Volume. deactivating the Volume Group as a whole is quicker than deactivating each Logical Volume separately. efficiency queen 👑
• -r|--mdraidoptions mdraid_options — comma-separated list of MD RAID specific options:
  • wait — wait for MD device's resync, recovery or reshape action to complete before deactivation. sit still and let her cook 🍓
• -m|--mpathoptions mpath_options — comma-separated list of device-mapper multipath specific options:
  • disablequeueing — disable queueing on all multipath devices before deactivation. this avoids a situation where blkdeactivate may end up waiting if all the paths are unavailable for any underlying device-mapper multipath device. lowkey a lifesaver 🧚
• -u|--umount — unmount a mounted device before trying to deactivate it. without this option, a device that is mounted is not deactivated. so if you want the unmount energy, you gotta ask for it 💅
• -o|--vdooptions vdo_options — comma-separated list of VDO specific options:
  • configfile=file — use specified VDO configuration file. bring your own config, main character move 📁
• -v|--verbose — run in verbose mode. use -vv for even more verbose mode. she will tell you everything 🌟

---

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

deactivate all supported block devices found in the system, skipping mounted devices.

blkdeactivate

deactivate all supported block devices found in the system, unmounting any mounted devices first, if possible.

blkdeactivate -u

deactivate the device /dev/vg/lvol0 together with all its holders, unmounting any mounted devices first, if possible.

blkdeactivate -u /dev/vg/lvol0

deactivate all supported block devices found in the system. if the deactivation of a device-mapper device fails, retry it. deactivate the whole Volume Group at once when processing an LVM Logical Volume.

blkdeactivate -u -d retry -l wholevg

deactivate all supported block devices found in the system. if the deactivation of a device-mapper device fails, retry it and force removal.

blkdeactivate -d force,retry

---

💖 SEE ALSO 💖

lvm(8),

dmsetup(8),

lsblk(8), mdadm(8), multipathd(8), vdo(8), umount(8)

---

bestie reminder: this page is brought to you by Red Hat, Inc. — LVM TOOLS 2.03.44(2) dated 2026-10-27. she's been around, she's iconic, and she's got the receipts 💜✨ slay, go deactivate responsibly 🎀