man > lvconvert(8)

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

NAME
       lvconvert — Change logical volume layout

SYNOPSIS
       lvconvert option_args position_args
           [ option_args ]
           [ position_args ]

           --alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|inherit
        -b|--background
        -H|--cache
           --cachedevice PV
           --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2
           --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough
           --cachepolicy String
           --cachepool LV
           --cachesettings String
           --cachesize Size[m|UNIT]
           --cachevol LV
        -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT]
           --commandprofile String
           --compression y|n
           --config String
        -d|--debug
           --deduplication y|n
           --devices PV
           --devicesfile String
           --discards passdown|nopassdown|ignore
           --driverloaded y|n
           --errorwhenfull y|n
        -f|--force
        -h|--help
        -i|--interval Number
           --journal String
           --lockopt String
           --longhelp
           --merge
           --mergemirrors
           --mergesnapshot
           --mergethin
           --metadataprofile String
           --mirrorlog core|disk
        -m|--mirrors [+|-]Number
        -n|--name String
           --nohints
           --nolocking
           --noudevsync
           --originname LV
           --poolmetadata LV
           --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT]
           --poolmetadataspare y|n
           --profile String
        -q|--quiet
           --raidintegrity y|n
           --raidintegrityblocksize Number
           --raidintegritymode String
        -r|--readahead auto|none|Number
        -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT]
           --repair
           --replace PV
        -s|--snapshot
           --splitcache
           --splitmirrors Number
           --splitsnapshot
           --startpoll
           --stripes Number
        -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT]
           --swapmetadata
        -t|--test
        -T|--thin
           --thinpool LV
           --trackchanges
           --type linear|striped|snapshot|raid|mirror|thin|thin-pool|vdo|vdo-pool|cache|cache-pool|
       writecache
           --uncache
           --usepolicies
           --vdopool LV
           --vdosettings String
        -v|--verbose
           --version
        -V|--virtualsize Size[m|UNIT]
        -y|--yes
        -Z|--zero y|n

DESCRIPTION
       lvconvert  changes  the  LV  type and includes utilities for LV data maintenance. The LV type
       controls data layout and redundancy.  The LV type is also called the segment type or segtype.

       To display the current LV type, run the command:

       lvs -o name,segtype LV

       In some cases, an LV is a single device mapper (dm) layer above physical devices.   In  other
       cases,  hidden LVs (dm devices) are layered between the visible LV and physical devices.  LVs
       in the middle layers are called sub LVs.  A command run on a visible LV sometimes operates on
       a sub LV rather than the specified LV.  In other cases, a sub LV must be  specified  directly
       on the command line.

       Sub LVs can be displayed with the command:

       lvs -a

       The  linear type is equivalent to the striped type when one stripe exists.  In that case, the
       types can sometimes be used interchangably.

       In most cases, the mirror type is deprecated and the raid1 type should  be  used.   They  are
       both implementations of mirroring.

       Striped  raid  types are raid0/raid0_meta, raid5 (an alias for raid5_ls), raid6 (an alias for
       raid6_zr) and raid10 (an alias for raid10_near).

       As opposed to mirroring, raid5 and raid6 stripe data and calculate parity blocks. The  parity
       blocks  can be used for data block recovery in case devices fail. A maximum number of one de‐
       vice in a raid5 LV may fail, and two in case of raid6. Striped raid  types  typically  rotate
       the  parity and data blocks for performance reasons, thus avoiding contention on a single de‐
       vice. Specific arrangements of parity and data blocks (layouts) can be used to  optimize  I/O
       performance, or to convert between raid levels.  See lvmraid(7) for more information.

       Layouts  of  raid5  rotating parity blocks can be: left-asymmetric (raid5_la), left-symmetric
       (raid5_ls with alias raid5),  right-asymmetric  (raid5_ra),  right-symmetric  (raid5_rs)  and
       raid5_n,  which  doesn't  rotate  parity blocks. Layouts of raid6 are: zero-restart (raid6_zr
       with alias raid6), next-restart (raid6_nr), and next-continue (raid6_nc).

       Layouts including _n allow for conversion between raid levels (raid5_n to raid6 or raid5_n to
       striped/raid0/raid0_meta). Additionally, special raid6 layouts for raid level conversions be‐
       tween raid5 and raid6 are: raid6_ls_6, raid6_rs_6, raid6_la_6 and  raid6_ra_6.  Those  corre‐
       spond  to their raid5 counterparts (e.g. raid5_rs can be directly converted to raid6_rs_6 and
       vice-versa).

       raid10 (an alias for raid10_near) is currently limited to one data copy and  even  number  of
       sub  LVs. This is a mirror group layout, thus a single sub LV may fail per mirror group with‐
       out data loss.

       Striped raid types support converting the  layout,  their  stripesize  and  their  number  of
       stripes.

       The   striped   raid   types   combined  with  raid1  allow  for  conversion  from  linear  →
       striped/raid0/raid0_meta and vice-versa by  e.g.  linear  ↔  raid1  ↔  raid5_n  (then  adding
       stripes) ↔ striped/raid0/raid0_meta.

USAGE
       Convert LV to linear.

       lvconvert --type linear LV
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

       —

       Convert LV to striped.

       lvconvert --type striped LV
           [ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [ -i|--interval Number ]
           [    --stripes Number ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

       —

       Convert LV to type mirror (also see type raid1),

       lvconvert --type mirror LV
           [ -m|--mirrors [+|-]Number ]
           [ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [ -i|--interval Number ]
           [    --stripes Number ]
           [    --mirrorlog core|disk ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

       —

       Convert LV to raid or change raid layout
       (a specific raid level must be used, e.g. raid1).

       lvconvert --type raid LV
           [ -m|--mirrors [+|-]Number ]
           [ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [ -i|--interval Number ]
           [    --stripes Number ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

       —

       Convert LV to raid1 or mirror, or change number of mirror images.

       lvconvert -m|--mirrors [+|-]Number LV
           [ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [ -i|--interval Number ]
           [    --mirrorlog core|disk ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

       —

       Convert raid LV to change number of stripe images.

       lvconvert --stripes Number LV1
           [ -i|--interval Number ]
           [ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: raid

       —

       Convert raid LV to change the stripe size.

       lvconvert -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] LV1
           [ -i|--interval Number ]
           [ -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: raid

       —

       Split images from a raid1 or mirror LV and use them to create a new LV.

       lvconvert --splitmirrors Number -n|--name LV_new LV1
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: cache mirror raid1

       —

       Split images from a raid1 LV and track changes to origin for later merge.

       lvconvert --splitmirrors Number --trackchanges LV1
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: cache raid1

       —

       Merge LV images that were split from a raid1 LV.

       lvconvert --mergemirrors VG|LV1|Tag ...
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear raid

       —

       Convert LV to a thin LV, using the original LV as an external origin.

       lvconvert --type thin --thinpool LV LV1
           [ -T|--thin ]
           [ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [    --originname LV_new ]
           [    --poolmetadata LV ]
           [    --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [    --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
           [    --metadataprofile String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped thin cache raid error zero

       —

       Attach a cache pool to an LV, converts the LV to type cache.

       lvconvert --type cache --cachepool LV LV1
           [ -H|--cache ]
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [    --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2 ]
           [    --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough ]
           [    --cachepolicy String ]
           [    --cachesettings String ]
           [    --poolmetadata LV ]
           [    --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [    --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
           [    --metadataprofile String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped thinpool vdo vdopool vdopooldata raid

       —

       Attach a writecache to an LV, converts the LV to type writecache.

       lvconvert --type writecache --cachevol LV LV1
           [    --cachesettings String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped thinpool raid

       —

       Attach a cache to an LV, converts the LV to type cache.

       lvconvert --type cache --cachevol LV LV1
           [ -H|--cache ]
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [    --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2 ]
           [    --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough ]
           [    --cachepolicy String ]
           [    --cachesettings String ]
           [    --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped thinpool raid

       —

       Add a writecache to an LV, using a specified cache device.

       lvconvert --type writecache --cachedevice PV LV1
           [    --cachesize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [    --cachesettings String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped thinpool raid

       —

       Add a cache to an LV, using a specified cache device.

       lvconvert --type cache --cachedevice PV LV1
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [    --cachesize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [    --cachesettings String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped thinpool raid

       —

       Convert LV to type thin-pool.

       lvconvert --type thin-pool LV1
           [ -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [    --stripes Number ]
           [    --discards passdown|nopassdown|ignore ]
           [    --errorwhenfull y|n ]
           [    --poolmetadata LV ]
           [    --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [    --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
           [    --metadataprofile String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: linear striped cache raid error zero writecache

       —

       Convert LV to type cache-pool.

       lvconvert --type cache-pool LV1
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [    --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2 ]
           [    --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough ]
           [    --cachepolicy String ]
           [    --cachesettings String ]
           [    --poolmetadata LV ]
           [    --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [    --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
           [    --metadataprofile String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: linear striped raid

       —

       Convert LV to type vdopool.

       lvconvert --type vdo-pool LV1
           [ -n|--name LV_new ]
           [ -V|--virtualsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [    --metadataprofile String ]
           [    --compression y|n ]
           [    --deduplication y|n ]
           [    --vdosettings String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped cache raid

       —

       Detach a cache from an LV.

       lvconvert --splitcache LV1
           [    --cachesettings String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: thinpool cache cachepool vdopool writecache

       —

       Merge thin LV into its origin LV.

       lvconvert --mergethin LV1 ...
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: thin

       —

       Merge COW snapshot LV into its origin.

       lvconvert --mergesnapshot LV1 ...
           [ -i|--interval Number ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: snapshot

       —

       Combine a former COW snapshot (second arg) with a former
       origin LV (first arg) to reverse a splitsnapshot command.

       lvconvert --type snapshot LV LV1
           [ -s|--snapshot ]
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped

       —

       Replace failed PVs in a raid or mirror LV.
       Repair a thin pool.
       Repair a cache pool.

       lvconvert --repair LV1
           [ -i|--interval Number ]
           [    --usepolicies ]
           [    --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: thinpool cache cachepool mirror raid

       —

       Replace specific PV(s) in a raid LV with another PV.

       lvconvert --replace PV LV1
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: raid

       —

       Poll LV to continue conversion.

       lvconvert --startpoll LV1
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: mirror raid

       —

       Add or remove data integrity checksums to raid images.

       lvconvert --raidintegrity y|n LV1
           [    --raidintegritymode String ]
           [    --raidintegrityblocksize Number ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: raid

       —

       Common options for command:
           [ -b|--background ]
           [ -f|--force ]
           [    --alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|inherit ]
           [    --noudevsync ]

       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


       --alloc contiguous|cling|cling_by_tags|normal|anywhere|inherit
              Determines  the  allocation  policy  when a command needs to allocate Physical Extents
              (PEs) from the VG. Each VG and LV has an allocation policy which can be  changed  with
              vgchange/lvchange,  or  overridden  on  the command line.  normal applies common sense
              rules such as not placing parallel stripes on the same PV.   inherit  applies  the  VG
              policy  to  an  LV.   contiguous  requires new PEs be placed adjacent to existing PEs.
              cling places new PEs on the same PV as existing PEs in the same stripe of the LV.   If
              there  are  sufficient  PEs  for an allocation, but normal does not use them, anywhere
              will use them even if it reduces performance, e.g. by placing two stripes on the  same
              PV.   Optional  positional PV args on the command line can also be used to limit which
              PVs the command will use for allocation.  See lvm(8) for more information about  allo‐
              cation.

       -b|--background
              If the operation requires polling, this option causes the command to return before the
              operation is complete, and polling is done in the background.

       -H|--cache
              Specifies  the  command  is  handling  a cache LV or cache pool.  See --type cache and
              --type cache-pool.  See lvmcache(7) for more information about LVM caching.

       --cachedevice PV
              The name of a device to use for a cache.

       --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2
              Specifies the cache metadata format used by cache target.

       --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough
              Specifies when writes to a cache LV should be considered complete.  writeback  consid‐
              ers a write complete as soon as it is stored in the cache pool.  writethough considers
              a write complete only when it has been stored in both the cache pool and on the origin
              LV.   While  writethrough  may be slower for writes, it is more resilient if something
              should happen to a device associated with the cache pool  LV.  With  passthrough,  all
              reads are served from the origin LV (all reads miss the cache) and all writes are for‐
              warded  to  the origin LV; additionally, write hits cause cache block invalidates. See
              lvmcache(7) for more information.

       --cachepolicy String
              Specifies the cache policy for a cache LV.  See lvmcache(7) for more information.

       --cachepool LV
              The name of a cache pool.

       --cachesettings String
              Specifies tunable kernel options for dm-cache or dm-writecache LVs.  Use the form 'op‐
              tion=value' or 'option1=value option2=value', or repeat --cachesettings for  each  op‐
              tion being set.  These settings override the default kernel behaviors which are usual‐
              ly  adequate.  To remove cachesettings and revert to the default kernel behaviors, use
              --cachesettings 'default' for dm-cache or an empty string --cachesettings ''  for  dm-
              writecache.  See lvmcache(7) for more information.

       --cachesize Size[m|UNIT]
              The size of cache to use.

       --cachevol LV
              The name of a cache volume.

       -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT]
              The  size  of chunks in a snapshot, cache pool or thin pool.  For snapshots, the value
              must be a power of 2 between 4KiB and 512KiB and the default value is 4.  For a  cache
              pool the value must be between 32KiB and 1GiB and the default value is 64.  For a thin
              pool the value must be between 64KiB and 1GiB and the default value starts with 64 and
              scales  up  to  fit the pool metadata size within 128MiB, if the pool metadata size is
              not specified.  The value must be a multiple of 64KiB.  See lvmthin(7) and lvmcache(7)
              for more information.

       --commandprofile String
              The command profile to use for command configuration.  See lvm.conf(5) for more infor‐
              mation about profiles.

       --compression y|n
              Controls whether compression is enabled or disable for VDO volume.  See lvmvdo(7)  for
              more information about VDO usage.

       --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 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).

       --deduplication y|n
              Controls  whether  deduplication  is enabled or disable for VDO volume.  See lvmvdo(7)
              for more information about VDO usage.

       --devices PV
              Restricts the devices that are visible and accessible to  the  command.   Devices  not
              listed will appear to be missing. This option can be repeated, or accepts a comma sep‐
              arated 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)  de‐
              vices/devicesfile and devices/use_devicesfile settings.

       --discards passdown|nopassdown|ignore
              Specifies  how the device-mapper thin pool layer in the kernel should handle discards.
              ignore causes the thin pool to ignore discards.  nopassdown causes the  thin  pool  to
              process discards itself to allow reuse of unneeded extents in the thin pool.  passdown
              causes  the  thin  pool to process discards itself (like nopassdown) and pass the dis‐
              cards to the underlying device.  See lvmthin(7) for more information.

       --driverloaded y|n
              If set to no, the command will not attempt to use device-mapper.  For testing and  de‐
              bugging.

       --errorwhenfull y|n
              Specifies  thin  pool  behavior when data space is exhausted.  When yes, device-mapper
              will immediately return an error when a thin pool is full and an I/O request  requires
              space.   When  no, device-mapper will queue these I/O requests for a period of time to
              allow the thin pool to be extended.  Errors are returned if no space is available  af‐
              ter  the timeout.  (Also see dm-thin-pool kernel module option no_space_timeout.)  See
              lvmthin(7) for more information.

       -f|--force ...
              Override various checks, confirmations and protections.  Use with extreme caution.

       -h|--help
              Display help text.

       -i|--interval Number
              Report progress at regular intervals.

       --journal String
              Record information in the systemd journal.  This information is in addition to  infor‐
              mation enabled by the lvm.conf log/journal setting.  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 informa‐
              tion.

       --longhelp
              Display long help text.

       --merge
              An alias for --mergethin, --mergemirrors, or --mergesnapshot, depending on the type of
              LV.

       --mergemirrors
              Merge  LV  images  that  were  split  from  a  raid1  LV.   See  --splitmirrors   with
              --trackchanges.

       --mergesnapshot
              Merge  COW  snapshot  LV into its origin.  When merging a snapshot, if both the origin
              and snapshot LVs are not open, the merge will start immediately. Otherwise, the  merge
              will  start the first time either the origin or snapshot LV are activated and both are
              closed. Merging a snapshot into an origin that cannot be closed, for  example  a  root
              filesystem, is deferred until the next time the origin volume is activated. When merg‐
              ing starts, the resulting LV will have the origin's name, minor number and UUID. While
              the  merge  is  in progress, reads or writes to the origin appear as being directed to
              the snapshot being merged. When the merge finishes, the merged  snapshot  is  removed.
              Multiple snapshots may be specified on the command line or a @tag may be used to spec‐
              ify multiple snapshots be merged to their respective origin.

       --mergethin
              Merge  thin  LV  into its origin LV.  The origin thin LV takes the content of the thin
              snapshot, and the thin snapshot LV is removed.  See lvmthin(7) for more information.

       --metadataprofile String
              The metadata profile to use for command configuration.  See lvm.conf(5) for  more  in‐
              formation about profiles.

       --mirrorlog core|disk
              Specifies the type of mirror log for LVs with the "mirror" type (does not apply to the
              "raid1" type.)  disk is a persistent log and requires a small amount of storage space,
              usually  on  a  separate device from the data being mirrored.  core is not persistent;
              the log is kept only in memory.  In this case, the mirror  must  be  synchronized  (by
              copying  LV  data from the first device to others) each time the LV is activated, e.g.
              after reboot.  mirrored is a persistent log that is itself  mirrored,  but  should  be
              avoided. Instead, use the raid1 type for log redundancy.

       -m|--mirrors [+|-]Number
              Specifies  the  number  of  mirror  images  in addition to the original LV image, e.g.
              --mirrors 1 means there are two images of the data, the original and one mirror image.
              Optional positional PV args on the command line can specify  the  devices  the  images
              should  be  placed on.  There are two mirroring implementations: "raid1" and "mirror".
              These are the names of the corresponding LV types, or "segment types".  Use the --type
              option to specify  which  to  use  (raid1  is  default,  and  mirror  is  legacy)  Use
              lvm.conf(5) global/mirror_segtype_default and global/raid10_segtype_default to config‐
              ure  the  default  types.   The plus prefix + can be used, in which case the number is
              added to the current number of images, or the minus prefix - can  be  used,  in  which
              case  the  number is subtracted from the current number of images.  See lvmraid(7) for
              more information.

       -n|--name String
              Specifies the name of a new LV.  When unspecified, a default name of "lvol#" is gener‐
              ated, where # is a number generated by LVM.

       --nohints
              Do not use the hints file to locate devices for PVs. A command may read  more  devices
              to find PVs when hints are not used. The command will still perform standard hint file
              invalidation where appropriate.

       --nolocking
              Disable  locking. Use with caution, concurrent commands may produce incorrect results.


       --noudevsync
              Disables udev synchronisation. The process will not wait for notification  from  udev.
              It  will continue irrespective of any possible udev processing in the background. Only
              use this if udev is not running or has rules that ignore the devices LVM creates.

       --originname LV
              Specifies the name to use for the external origin LV when converting an LV to  a  thin
              LV. The LV being converted becomes a read-only external origin with this name.

       --poolmetadata LV
              The name of a an LV to use for storing pool metadata.

       --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT]
              Specifies the size of the new pool metadata LV.

       --poolmetadataspare y|n
              Enable or disable the automatic creation and management of a spare pool metadata LV in
              the  VG. A spare metadata LV is reserved space that can be used when repairing a pool.


       --profile String
              An alias for --commandprofile or --metadataprofile, depending on the command.

       -q|--quiet ...
              Suppress output and log messages. Overrides --debug and --verbose.  Repeat once to al‐
              so suppress any prompts with answer 'no'.

       --raidintegrity y|n
              Enable or disable data integrity checksums for raid images.

       --raidintegrityblocksize Number
              The block size to use for dm-integrity on  raid  images.   The  integrity  block  size
              should usually match the device logical block size, or the file system block size.  It
              may  be  less  than  the  file system block size, but not less than the device logical
              block size.  Possible values: 512, 1024, 2048, 4096.

       --raidintegritymode String
              Use a journal (default) or bitmap for keeping integrity checksums consistent  in  case
              of  a  crash.  The bitmap areas are recalculated after a crash, so corruption in those
              areas would not be detected. A journal does not have this problem.  The  journal  mode
              doubles writes to storage, but can improve performance for scattered writes packed in‐
              to a single journal write.  bitmap mode can in theory achieve full write throughput of
              the device, but would not benefit from the potential scattered write optimization.

       -r|--readahead auto|none|Number
              Sets read ahead sector count of an LV.  auto is the default which allows the kernel to
              choose a suitable value automatically.  none is equivalent to zero.

       -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT]
              Size  of  each raid or mirror synchronization region.  lvm.conf(5) activation/raid_re‐
              gion_size can be used to configure a default.

       --repair
              Replace failed PVs in a raid or mirror LV, or run a repair utility on a thin pool. See
              lvmraid(7) and lvmthin(7) for more information.

       --replace PV
              Replace a specific PV in a raid LV with another PV.  The new PV to use can be  option‐
              ally  specified  after the LV.  Multiple PVs can be replaced by repeating this option.
              See lvmraid(7) for more information.

       -s|--snapshot
              Combine a former COW snapshot LV with  a  former  origin  LV  to  reverse  a  previous
              --splitsnapshot command.

       --splitcache
              Separates  a  cache  pool from a cache LV, and keeps the unused cache pool LV.  Before
              the separation, the cache is flushed. Also see --uncache.

       --splitmirrors Number
              Splits the specified number of images from a raid1 or mirror LV and uses them to  cre‐
              ate a new LV. If --trackchanges is also specified, changes to the raid1 LV are tracked
              while the split LV remains detached.  If --name is specified, then the images are per‐
              manently split from the original LV and changes are not tracked.

       --splitsnapshot
              Separates  a  COW  snapshot  from its origin LV. The LV that is split off contains the
              chunks that differ from the origin LV along with metadata describing them. This LV can
              be wiped and then destroyed with lvremove.

       --startpoll
              Start polling an LV to continue processing a conversion.

       --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
              apply to existing allocated space, only newly allocated space can be striped.

       -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT]
              The  amount  of  data  that  is  written  to one device before moving to the next in a
              striped LV.

       --swapmetadata
              Extracts the metadata LV from a pool and replaces it with another specified  LV.   The
              extracted  LV is preserved and given the name of the LV that replaced it.  Use for re‐
              pair only. When the metadata LV is swapped out of the pool, it can  be  activated  di‐
              rectly   and  used  with  thin  provisioning  tools:  cache_dump(8),  cache_repair(8),
              cache_restore(8), thin_dump(8), thin_repair(8), thin_restore(8).

       -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 unusual error messages in multi-stage operations if a tool relies on read‐
              ing back metadata it believes has changed but hasn't.

       -T|--thin
              Specifies  the  command  is  handling a thin LV or thin pool.  See --type thin, --type
              thin-pool, and --virtualsize.  See lvmthin(7) for more information about LVM thin pro‐
              visioning.

       --thinpool LV
              The name of a thin pool LV.

       --trackchanges
              Can be used with --splitmirrors on a raid1 LV. This causes  changes  to  the  original
              raid1  LV  to  be  tracked while the split images remain detached. This is a temporary
              state that allows the read-only detached image to be merged efficiently back into  the
              raid1  LV  later.  Only the regions with changed data are resynchronized during merge.
              While a raid1 LV is tracking changes, operations on it  are  limited  to  merging  the
              split  image  (see --mergemirrors) or permanently splitting the image (see --splitmir‐
              rors with --name.

       --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 per‐
              formance (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.

       --uncache
              Separates a cache pool from a cache LV, and deletes the unused cache pool LV.   Before
              the separation, the cache is flushed. Also see --splitcache.

       --usepolicies
              Perform an operation according to the policy configured in lvm.conf(5) or a profile.

       --vdopool LV
              The name of a VDO pool LV.  See lvmvdo(7) for more information about VDO usage.

       --vdosettings String
              Specifies  tunable  VDO  options  for  VDO  LVs.   Use the form 'option=value' or 'op‐
              tion1=value option2=value', or repeat --vdosettings for each option being set.   These
              settings  override the default VDO behaviors.  To remove vdosettings and revert to the
              default VDO behaviors, use --vdosettings 'default'.  See lvmvdo(7) for  more  informa‐
              tion.

       -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.

       -V|--virtualsize Size[m|UNIT]
              The virtual size of a new thin LV.  See lvmthin(7) for more information about LVM thin
              provisioning.   Using virtual size (-V) and actual size (-L) together creates a sparse
              LV.  lvm.conf(5) global/sparse_segtype_default determines  the  default  segment  type
              used  to  create  a  sparse LV.  Anything written to a sparse LV will be returned when
              reading from it.  Reading from other areas of the LV  will  return  blocks  of  zeros.
              When  using a snapshot to create a sparse LV, a hidden virtual device is created using
              the zero target, and the LV has the suffix _vorigin.   Snapshots  are  less  efficient
              than thin provisioning when creating large sparse LVs (GiB).

       -y|--yes
              Do  not  prompt  for  confirmation interactively but always assume the answer yes. Use
              with extreme caution.  (For automatic no, see -qq.)

       -Z|--zero y|n
              For snapshots, this controls zeroing of the first 4KiB of data in the snapshot. If the
              LV is read-only, the snapshot will not be zeroed.  For thin pools, this controls zero‐
              ing of provisioned blocks.  Provisioning of large  zeroed  chunks  negatively  impacts
              performance.

VARIABLES
       VG     Volume Group name.  See lvm(8) for valid names.

       LV     Logical  Volume name.  See lvm(8) for valid names.  An LV positional arg generally in‐
              cludes 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  ex‐
              tents,  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 end.  Start and
              end range (inclusive): PV[:PE-PE]...   Start  and  length  range  (counting  from  0):
              PV[:PE+PE]...

       Tag    Tag name.  See lvm(8) for information about tag names and using tags in place of a VG,
              LV or PV.

       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.)

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.

ADVANCED USAGE
       Alternate  command  forms,  advanced  command usage, and listing of all valid syntax for com‐
       pleteness.

       Change the region size of an LV.

       lvconvert -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] LV1
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: raid

       —

       Change the type of mirror log used by a mirror LV.

       lvconvert --mirrorlog core|disk LV1
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]
           [ PV ... ]

           LV1 types: mirror

       —

       Convert LV to a thin LV, using the original LV as an external origin.

       lvconvert -T|--thin --thinpool LV LV1
           [ --type thin ] (implied)
           [ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [    --originname LV_new ]
           [    --poolmetadata LV ]
           [    --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [    --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
           [    --metadataprofile String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped thin cache raid error zero

       —

       Attach a cache pool to an LV.

       lvconvert -H|--cache --cachepool LV LV1
           [ --type cache ] (implied)
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [    --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2 ]
           [    --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough ]
           [    --cachepolicy String ]
           [    --cachesettings String ]
           [    --poolmetadata LV ]
           [    --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [    --poolmetadataspare y|n ]
           [    --metadataprofile String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped thinpool vdo vdopool vdopooldata raid

       —

       Attach a cache to an LV, converts the LV to type cache.

       lvconvert -H|--cache --cachevol LV LV1
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [    --cachemetadataformat auto|1|2 ]
           [    --cachemode writethrough|writeback|passthrough ]
           [    --cachepolicy String ]
           [    --cachesettings String ]
           [    --poolmetadatasize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped thinpool raid

       —

       Convert LV to type vdopool.

       lvconvert --vdopool LV
           [ --type vdo-pool ] (implied)
           [ -r|--readahead auto|none|Number ]
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [ -n|--name LV_new ]
           [ -V|--virtualsize Size[m|UNIT] ]
           [    --metadataprofile String ]
           [    --compression y|n ]
           [    --deduplication y|n ]
           [    --vdosettings String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

       —

       Detach and delete a cache from an LV.

       lvconvert --uncache LV1
           [    --cachesettings String ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: thinpool cache vdopool writecache

       —

       Swap metadata LV in a thin pool or cache pool (for repair only).

       lvconvert --swapmetadata --poolmetadata LV LV1
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: thinpool cachepool

       —

       Merge LV that was split from a mirror (variant, use --mergemirrors).
       Merge thin LV into its origin LV (variant, use --mergethin).
       Merge COW snapshot LV into its origin (variant, use --mergesnapshot).

       lvconvert --merge VG|LV1|Tag ...
           [ -i|--interval Number ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped snapshot thin raid

       —

       Separate a COW snapshot from its origin LV.

       lvconvert --splitsnapshot LV1
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: snapshot

       —

       Combine a former COW snapshot (second arg) with a former
       origin LV (first arg) to reverse a splitsnapshot command.

       lvconvert -s|--snapshot LV LV1
           [ --type snapshot ] (implied)
           [ -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] ]
           [ -Z|--zero y|n ]
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: linear striped

       —

       Poll LV to continue conversion (also see --startpoll)
       or waits till conversion/mirror syncing is finished

       lvconvert LV1
           [ COMMON_OPTIONS ]

           LV1 types: mirror raid

       —

NOTES
       This previous command syntax would perform two different operations:
       lvconvert --thinpool LV1 --poolmetadata LV2
       If LV1 was not a thin pool, the command would convert LV1 to a thin pool, optionally using  a
       specified  LV  for metadata.  But, if LV1 was already a thin pool, the command would swap the
       current metadata LV with LV2 (for repair purposes.)

       In the same way, this previous command syntax would perform two different operations:
       lvconvert --cachepool LV1 --poolmetadata LV2
       If LV1 was not a cache pool, the command would convert LV1 to a cache pool, optionally  using
       a  specified  LV  for metadata.  But, if LV1 was already a cache pool, the command would swap
       the current metadata LV with LV2 (for repair purposes.)

EXAMPLES
       Convert a linear LV to a two-way mirror LV.
       lvconvert --type mirror --mirrors 1 vg/lvol1

       Convert a linear LV to a two-way RAID1 LV.
       lvconvert --type raid1 --mirrors 1 vg/lvol1

       Convert a mirror LV to use an in-memory log.
       lvconvert --mirrorlog core vg/lvol1

       Convert a mirror LV to use a disk log.
       lvconvert --mirrorlog disk vg/lvol1

       Convert a mirror or raid1 LV to a linear LV.
       lvconvert --type linear vg/lvol1

       Convert a mirror LV to a raid1 LV with the same number of images.
       lvconvert --type raid1 vg/lvol1

       Convert a linear LV to a two-way mirror LV, allocating new extents from specific PV ranges.
       lvconvert --mirrors 1 vg/lvol1 /dev/sda:0-15 /dev/sdb:0-15

       Convert a mirror LV to a linear LV, freeing physical extents from a specific PV.
       lvconvert --type linear vg/lvol1 /dev/sda

       Split one image from a mirror or raid1 LV, making it a new LV.
       lvconvert --splitmirrors 1 --name lv_split vg/lvol1

       Split one image from a raid1 LV, and track changes made to the raid1 LV while the split image
       remains detached.
       lvconvert --splitmirrors 1 --trackchanges vg/lvol1

       Merge an image (that was previously created with --splitmirrors and --trackchanges) back into
       the original raid1 LV.
       lvconvert --mergemirrors vg/lvol1_rimage_1

       Replace PV /dev/sdb1 with PV /dev/sdf1 in a raid1/4/5/6/10 LV.
       lvconvert --replace /dev/sdb1 vg/lvol1 /dev/sdf1

       Replace 3 PVs /dev/sd[b-d]1 with PVs /dev/sd[f-h]1 in a raid1 LV.
       lvconvert --replace /dev/sdb1 --replace /dev/sdc1 --replace /dev/sdd1
              vg/lvol1 /dev/sd[fgh]1

       Replace the maximum of 2 PVs /dev/sd[bc]1 with PVs /dev/sd[gh]1 in a raid6 LV.
       lvconvert --replace /dev/sdb1 --replace /dev/sdc1 vg/lvol1 /dev/sd[gh]1

       Convert an LV into a thin LV in the specified thin pool.  The existing LV is used as  an  ex‐
       ternal read-only origin for the new thin LV.
       lvconvert --type thin --thinpool vg/tpool1 vg/lvol1

       Convert  an  LV into a thin LV in the specified thin pool.  The existing LV is used as an ex‐
       ternal read-only origin for the new thin LV, and is renamed "external".
       lvconvert --type thin --thinpool vg/tpool1
              --originname external vg/lvol1

       Convert an LV to a cache pool LV using another specified LV for cache pool metadata.
       lvconvert --type cache-pool --poolmetadata vg/poolmeta1 vg/lvol1

       Convert an LV to a cache LV using the specified cache pool and chunk size.
       lvconvert --type cache --cachepool vg/cpool1 -c 128 vg/lvol1

       Detach and keep the cache pool from a cache LV.
       lvconvert --splitcache vg/lvol1

       Detach and remove the cache pool from a cache LV.
       lvconvert --uncache vg/lvol1

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), cmirrord(8), lvmdbusd(8), fsadm(8),

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

Red Hat, Inc.                     LVM TOOLS 2.03.16(2) (2022-05-18)                     LVCONVERT(8)
lvconvert(8)
NAME SYNOPSIS
writecache
DESCRIPTION
lvs -a
USAGE OPTIONS
-b|--background -H|--cache -c|--chunksize Size[k|UNIT] -d|--debug ... -f|--force ... -h|--help -i|--interval Number --longhelp --merge --mergemirrors --mergesnapshot --mergethin -m|--mirrors [+|-]Number -n|--name String --nohints --nolocking --noudevsync -q|--quiet ... -r|--readahead auto|none|Number -R|--regionsize Size[m|UNIT] --repair -s|--snapshot --splitcache --splitsnapshot --startpoll -I|--stripesize Size[k|UNIT] --swapmetadata -t|--test -T|--thin --trackchanges --uncache --usepolicies -v|--verbose ... --version -V|--virtualsize Size[m|UNIT] -y|--yes -Z|--zero y|n
VARIABLES ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES ADVANCED USAGE NOTES EXAMPLES
lvconvert --type mirror --mirrors 1 vg/lvol1 lvconvert --type raid1 --mirrors 1 vg/lvol1 lvconvert --mirrorlog core vg/lvol1 lvconvert --mirrorlog disk vg/lvol1 lvconvert --type linear vg/lvol1 lvconvert --type raid1 vg/lvol1 lvconvert --mirrors 1 vg/lvol1 /dev/sda:0-15 /dev/sdb:0-15 lvconvert --type linear vg/lvol1 /dev/sda lvconvert --splitmirrors 1 --name lv_split vg/lvol1 lvconvert --splitmirrors 1 --trackchanges vg/lvol1 lvconvert --mergemirrors vg/lvol1_rimage_1 lvconvert --replace /dev/sdb1 vg/lvol1 /dev/sdf1 lvconvert --replace /dev/sdb1 --replace /dev/sdc1 --replace /dev/sdd1 lvconvert --replace /dev/sdb1 --replace /dev/sdc1 vg/lvol1 /dev/sd[gh]1 lvconvert --type thin --thinpool vg/tpool1 vg/lvol1 lvconvert --type thin --thinpool vg/tpool1 lvconvert --type cache-pool --poolmetadata vg/poolmeta1 vg/lvol1 lvconvert --type cache --cachepool vg/cpool1 -c 128 vg/lvol1 lvconvert --splitcache vg/lvol1 lvconvert --uncache vg/lvol1
SEE ALSO

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