LVRESIZE(8)

📦
version 2.03.44 · 14 versions
, in arch rolling

💖 lvresize(8) 💖

System Manager's Manual · the one, the only, the LV resizer 🎀

okay bestie, pull up a chair, grab your boba 🧋, because we're about to resize some logical volumes and honestly? it's giving main character energy.

🌸 NAME 🌸

lvresize — resize a logical volume. yep. that's the whole job. slay. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

lvresize option_args position_args
       [ option_args ]
       [ position_args ]

        --alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|inherit
     -A|--autobackup y|n
        --commandprofile String
        --config String
     -d|--debug ...
        --devices PV
        --devicesfile String
        --driverloaded y|n
     -l|--extents [+|-]Number[PERCENT]
     -f|--force ...
        --fs String
        --fsmode String
     -h|--help
        --journal String
        --lockopt String
        --longhelp
     -n|--nofsck
        --nohints
        --nolocking
        --nosync
        --noudevsync
        --poolmetadatasize [+]Size[m|UNIT]
        --profile String
     -q|--quiet ...
        --reportformat basic|json|json_std
     -r|--resizefs
     -L|--size [+|-]Size[m|UNIT]
     -i|--stripes Number
     -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT]
     -t|--test
        --type linear|striped|snapshot|raid|mirror|thin|thin-pool|vdo|
     vdo-pool|cache|cache-pool|writecache
     -v|--verbose ...
        --version
     -y|--yes

that's the whole menu of glow-ups available. don't worry, we go through every single one below bestie 🫶

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

okay so lvresize resizes an LV in the same way as lvextend and lvreduce. like, it IS them, merged into one icon. see lvextend(8) and lvreduce(8) for more info if you wanna go deeper.

In the usage section below, --size Size can be swapped for --extents Number. both descriptions live in the options section, so peek at both 👀

🎀 USAGE 🎀

🌈 Resize an LV by a specified size.

lvresize -L|--size [+|-]Size[m|UNIT] LV
       [ -l|--extents [+|-]Number[PERCENT] ]
       [ -r|--resizefs ]
       [ --fs String ]
       [ --fsmode String ]
       [ --poolmetadatasize [+]Size[m|UNIT] ]
       [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
       [ PV ... ]

🌈 Resize an LV by specified PV extents.

lvresize LV PV ...
       [ -r|--resizefs ]
       [ --fs String ]
       [ --fsmode String ]
       [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

🌈 Resize a pool metadata SubLV by a specified size.

lvresize --poolmetadatasize [+]Size[m|UNIT] LV1
       [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
       [ PV ... ]

       LV1 types: linear thinpool

🌈 Common options for command:

[ -A|--autobackup y|n ]
[ -f|--force ... ]
[ -n|--nofsck ]
[ -i|--stripes Number ]
[ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
[ --alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|inherit
]
[ --nosync ]
[ --noudevsync ]
[ --reportformat basic|json|json_std ]
[ --type linear|striped|snapshot|raid|mirror|thin|thin-pool|vdo|
vdo-pool|cache|cache-pool|writecache ]

🌈 Common options for lvm:

[ -d|--debug ... ]
[ -h|--help ]
[ -q|--quiet ... ]
[ -t|--test ]
[ -v|--verbose ... ]
[ -y|--yes ]
[ --commandprofile String ]
[ --config String ]
[ --devices PV ]
[ --devicesfile String ]
[ --driverloaded y|n ]
[ --journal String ]
[ --lockopt String ]
[ --longhelp ]
[ --nohints ]
[ --nolocking ]
[ --profile String ]
[ --version ]

🦋 OPTIONS 🦋

Time for the main event, bestie. every flag, every value, nothing skipped 💖

  • --alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|inherit — picks the allocation policy for when a command needs to grab Physical Extents (PEs) out of the VG. every VG and LV has its own allocation policy, and you can change it with vgchange/lvchange, or override it right here on the command line. normal uses common sense rules, like NOT putting parallel stripes on the same PV. inherit hands the VG policy down to an LV. contiguous demands that new PEs sit adjacent to existing PEs. cling puts new PEs on the same PV as the existing PEs in the same stripe of the LV. and if there are enough PEs for an allocation but normal refuses to use them, anywhere will use them anyway — even if it tanks performance, e.g. by placing two stripes on the same PV 😬. optional positional PV args on the command line also let you limit which PVs the command will use for allocation. see lvm(8) for more on allocation.
  • -A, --autobackup y|n — controls whether metadata gets backed up automatically after a change. turning this ON is strongly advised bestie, don't be reckless! 🙏 see vgcfgbackup(8) for more.
  • --commandprofile String — the command profile to use for command configuration. see lvm.conf(5) for more about profiles.
  • --config String — config settings for the command. these override lvm.conf(5) settings. the String arg uses the same format as lvm.conf(5), or it can use section/field syntax. see lvm.conf(5) for more about config.
  • -d, --debug ... — set the debug level. repeat it from 1 to 6 times to crank up the detail of messages sent to the log file and/or syslog (if configured). the more -ds, the more tea ☕
  • --devices PV — restricts which devices are visible and accessible to the command. devices that aren't listed will look like they're missing. this option can be repeated, or it accepts a comma-separated list of devices. this overrides the devices file.
  • --devicesfile String — a file listing devices that LVM should use. the file must exist in /etc/lvm/devices/ and is managed with the lvmdevices(8) command. this overrides the lvm.conf(5) devices/devicesfile and devices/use_devicesfile settings.
  • --driverloaded y|n — if set to no, the command won't even attempt to use device-mapper. this one's for testing and debugging.
  • -l, --extents [+|-]Number[PERCENT] — sets the new size of the LV in logical extents. --size and --extents are alternate ways of specifying size. heads up: the total number of physical extents used will be greater when redundant data is needed for RAID levels. there's also an alternate syntax that figures the size indirectly as a percentage of a related VG, LV, or set of PVs, like so:
    • suffix %VG = the total size of the VG
    • suffix %FREE = the remaining free space in the VG
    • suffix %PVS = the free space in the specified PVs
    • for a snapshot, size can be a percentage of the total size of the origin LV with suffix %ORIGIN (and 100%ORIGIN gives you room for the whole origin 💖)

when expressed as a percentage, the size defines an upper limit for the number of logical extents in the new LV. the precise number of logical extents in the new LV isn't locked in until the command finishes. and when the + or - prefix is used, the value isn't absolute — it's relative, added to or subtracted from the current size. math but make it cute ✨

  • -f, --force ... — overrides various checks, confirmations and protections. use with extreme caution ⚠️ like, for real, this one does not play.
  • --fs String — controls file system resizing when you resize an LV. the options:
    • checksize: checks the fs size and reduces the LV if the fs isn't using the reduced space (fs reduce is not needed). if the reduced space IS used by the fs, then don't resize the fs or the LV, and return an error. (this only applies when reducing, and does nothing for extend.)
    • resize: resizes the fs by calling the fs-specific resize command. this may also include mounting, unmounting, or running fsck. see --fsmode to control mounting behavior, and --nofsck to disable fsck.
    • resize_fsadm: use the old method of calling fsadm to handle the fs (deprecated.) ⚠️ Warning: this option does not prevent lvreduce from destroying file systems that are unmounted (or mounted if prompts are skipped.) 💀
    • ignore: resize the LV without checking for or handling a file system. ⚠️ Warning: using ignore when reducing the LV size may destroy the file system. like, gone-gone.

Note: if you resize an LV without a file system and the new LV size matches the existing size, the command returns a non-zero status code (failure). but if a file system resize is also requested along with the LV resize, and the sizes already match, the command returns a zero status code (success). this happens because the external commands called to resize the file system return success even when the new and old file system sizes are identical. LVM follows the command status code behavior in this scenario. (yes it's a little chaotic. no we don't make the rules 📋)

  • --fsmode String — controls file system mounting behavior for fs resize:
    • manage: mount or unmount the fs as needed to resize the fs, and attempt to restore the original mount state at the end.
    • nochange: do not mount or unmount the fs. if mounting or unmounting is required to resize the fs, then do not resize the fs or the LV, and fail the command.
    • offline: unmount the fs if it's mounted, and resize the fs while it's unmounted. if mounting is required to resize the fs, then do not resize the fs or the LV, and fail the command.
  • -h, --help — display help text. short and sweet 🫶
  • --journal String — record info in the systemd journal. this is in ADDITION to whatever info the lvm.conf log/journal setting already enables:
    • command: record information about the command.
    • output: record the default command output.
    • debug: record full command debugging.
  • --lockopt String — used to pass options for special cases to lvmlockd. see lvmlockd(8) for more.
  • --longhelp — display long help text. the deluxe edition 👑
  • -n, --nofsck — do not perform fsck when resizing the file system with --resizefs. sometimes you just don't wanna, and that's valid.
  • --nohints — do not use the hints file to locate devices for PVs. a command may read more devices to find PVs when hints aren't used. the command will still perform standard hint file invalidation where appropriate. so like, it's not fully off the grid, just not leaning on the hints file 🦋
  • --nolocking — disable locking. use with caution, because concurrent commands may produce incorrect results ⚠️ this is a "trust me bro" flag and bro might be wrong.
  • --nosync — okay so this one skips the whole initial synchronization when you're creating a mirror, raid1, raid4, raid5 or raid10. With mirror, raid1 and raid10, anything you write afterwards still gets mirrored, but the original contents do not get copied. With raid4 and raid5, no parity blocks get written, though any data written afterwards will cause parity blocks to be stored. It's a glow-up for skipping a potentially long and resource-intensive initial sync of an empty mirror/raid1/raid4/raid5 and raid10 LV. But bestie, heads up: this option is not valid for raid6, because raid6 relies on proper parity (P and Q Syndromes) being created during initial synchronization in order to reconstruct proper user data in case of device failures. And raid0 and raid0_meta don't provide any data copies or parity support and thus don't support initial synchronization. Periodt.
  • --noudevsync — turns off udev synchronization. The process will not wait for notification from udev, and it'll keep going regardless of any possible udev processing happening in the background. Only use this if udev isn't running or has rules that ignore the devices LVM creates. Fr fr, only then.
  • --poolmetadatasize [+]Size[m|UNIT] — sets the new size of the pool metadata LV. The plus prefix + can be used, and in that case the value is added to the current size. Cute little relative glow-up.
  • --profile String — an alias for --commandprofile or --metadataprofile, depending on the command. iykyk.
  • -q, --quiet ... — suppresses output and log messages, and it overrides --debug and --verbose. Repeat it once to also suppress any prompts with answer 'no'. 🤫
  • --reportformat basic|json|json_std — overrides the current output format for reports, which is normally defined globally by the report/output_format setting in lvm.conf(5). basic is the original format with columns and rows — if there's more than one report per command, each report is prefixed with the report name so you can tell them apart. json produces report output in JSON format. json_std produces report output in JSON format which is more compliant with the JSON standard. See lvmreport(7) for more info. ✨
  • -r, --resizefs — resize the fs using the fs-specific resize command (See: resize2fs(8), xfs_growfs(8), btrfs(8)). May include mounting, unmounting, or running fsck. Use --fsmode to control mounting behavior, and --nofsck to disable fsck. See --fs for more options (--resizefs is equivalent to --fs resize). Two commands, one vibe.
  • -L, --size [+|-]Size[m|UNIT] — specifies the new size of the LV. The --size and --extents options are alternate methods of specifying size. The total number of physical extents used will be greater when redundant data is needed for RAID levels. When the plus + or minus - prefix is used, the value is not an absolute size, but is relative and added or subtracted from the current size. 💅
  • -i, --stripes Number — specifies the number of stripes in a striped LV. This is the number of PVs (devices) that a striped LV is spread across. Data that appears sequential in the LV is spread across multiple devices in units of the stripe size (see --stripesize). This does not change existing allocated space — it only applies to space being allocated by the command. When creating a RAID 4/5/6 LV, this number does not include the extra devices that are required for parity. The largest number depends on the RAID type (raid0: 64, raid10: 32, raid4/5: 63, raid6: 62), and when unspecified, the default depends on the RAID type (raid0: 2, raid10: 2, raid4/5: 3, raid6: 5.) To stripe a new raid LV across all PVs by default, see lvm.conf(5) allocation/raid_stripe_all_devices. Numbers everywhere, but we move.
  • -I, --stripesize Size[k|UNIT] — the amount of data that is written to one device before moving to the next in a striped LV. Simple as that, bestie.
  • -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. Warning, this one's sneaky: it may lead to unusual error messages in multi-stage operations if a tool relies on reading back metadata it believes has changed but hasn't. 🙈
  • --type linear|striped|snapshot|raid|mirror|thin|thin-pool|vdo|vdo-pool|cache|cache-pool|writecache — the LV type, also known as "segment type" or "segtype". See usage descriptions for the specific ways to use these types. For more information about redundancy and performance (raid<N>, mirror, striped, linear) see lvmraid(7). For thin provisioning (thin, thin-pool) see lvmthin(7). For performance caching (cache, cache-pool) see lvmcache(7). For copy-on-write snapshots (snapshot) see usage definitions. For VDO (vdo) see lvmvdo(7). Several commands omit an explicit type option because the type is inferred from other options or shortcuts (e.g. --stripes, --mirrors, --snapshot, --virtualsize, --thin, --cache, --vdo). Use inferred types with care because it can lead to unexpected results. 👑
  • -v, --verbose ... — set verbose level. Repeat from 1 to 4 times to increase the detail of messages sent to stdout and stderr. 🗣️
  • --version — display version information. Short and sweet.
  • -y, --yes — do not prompt for confirmation interactively, but always assume the answer yes. Use with extreme caution. (For automatic no, see -qq.) 💀

🧾 VARIABLES 🧾

  • LV — Logical Volume name. See lvm(8) for valid names. An LV positional arg generally includes the VG name and LV name, e.g. VG/LV. LV1 indicates the LV must have a specific type, where the accepted LV types are listed. (raid represents raid<N> type).
  • 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 extents (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 the 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 content.
  • Size[UNIT] — Size is an input number that accepts an optional unit. Input units are always treated as base two values, regardless of capitalization, e.g. 'k' and 'K' both refer to 1024. The default input unit is specified by letter, followed by |UNIT. UNIT represents other possible input units: b|B is bytes, s|S is sectors of 512 bytes, k|K is KiB, m|M is MiB, g|G is GiB, t|T is TiB, p|P is PiB, e|E is EiB. (This should not be confused with the output control --units, where capital letters mean multiple of 1000.) Yes, that's a real gotcha, no cap.

🌸 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 ✨

Extend an LV by 16MB using specific physical extents.

lvresize -L+16M vg1/lv1 /dev/sda:0-1 /dev/sdb:0-1

Resize an LV to use 50% of the size of the volume group.

lvresize -l50%VG vg1/lv1

Look at you go. Iconic behavior. 🦋

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

lvm(8), lvm.conf(5), lvmconfig(8), lvmdevices(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), vgconvert(8), vgdisplay(8), vgexport(8), vgextend(8), vgimport(8), vgimportclone(8), vgimportdevices(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), lvreduce(8), lvremove(8), lvrename(8), lvresize(8), lvs(8), lvscan(8),

lvm-fullreport(8), lvm-lvpoll(8), blkdeactivate(8), lvmdump(8),

dmeventd(8), lvmpolld(8), lvmlockd(8), lvmlockctl(8), lvmdbusd(8), fsadm(8),

lvmsystemid(7), lvmreport(7), lvmcache(7), lvmraid(7), lvmthin(7), lvmvdo(7), lvmautoactivation(7)

And that's the whole page, bestie!! 💖 This icon of a manpage was brought to you by Red Hat, Inc., running LVM TOOLS 2.03.44(2), dated 2026-10-27. Go resize something responsibly, you absolute main character. 🎀👑🌈

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