pvcreate(1M)

NAME

pvcreate — create physical volume for use in LVM volume group

SYNOPSIS

/usr/sbin/pvcreate [-b] [-B] [-d soft_defects] [-s disk_size] [-f] [-t disk_type] pv_path

DESCRIPTION

The pvcreate command initializes a direct access storage device (a raw disk device) for use as a physical volume in a volume group.

If pv_path contains a file system and the -f option is not specified, pvcreate asks for confirmation. The request for confirmation avoids accidentally deleting a file system.

Furthermore, when the -f option is not specified, the operation is denied if pv_path already belongs to another volume group, or the pv_path refers to a disk device under the control of the VERITAS Volume Manager.

After using pvcreate to create a physical volume, use vgcreate to add it to a new volume group or vgextend to add it to an existing volume group (see vgcreate(1M) and vgextend(1M)).

Disks cannot be added to a volume group until they are properly initialized by pvcreate.

pv_path can be made into a bootable disk by specifying the -B option, which reserves space on the physical volume for boot-related data. This is a prerequisite for creating root volumes on logical volumes. Refer to mkboot(1M) and lif(4) for more information.

Options and Arguments

pvcreate recognizes the following options and arguments:

pv_path

The character (raw) device path name of a physical volume.

-b

Read from standard input the numbers that correspond to the indexes of all known bad blocks on the physical volume, pv_path, that is being created. Specify the indexes using decimal, octal, or hexadecimal numbers in standard C-language notation, with numbers separated by newline, tab, or formfeed characters. If this option is not used, pvcreate assumes that the physical volume contains no bad blocks.

-B

Make a bootable physical volume (that is, a system disk). On PA-RISC systems, pv_path should be the path name for the whole disk. On Itanium(R)-based systems, pv_path should be the path name for the disk section containing the HP-UX partition.

-d soft_defects

Specify the minimum number of bad blocks that LVM should reserve in order to perform software bad block relocation. This number can be no larger than 7039. If not specified, one block is reserved for each 8K of data blocks.

-s disk_size

Effective size of the physical volume to be created, specified in kilobytes (KB).

-f

Force the creation of a physical volume (thus deleting any file system or volume manager information present) without first requesting confirmation.

Warning: The -f option should only be used as a last resort to over write file system or volume manager information that cannot properly be removed using the commands designed for that purpose. When invoked with -f, the command does minimal verification, so care should be taken to assure that the disk is not already in use prior to invoking the command.

-t disk_type

Retrieve configuration information about the physical volume from the file /etc/disktab. disk_type specifies the device (for example, hp7959S).

The disk_type only needs to be specified when pvcreate fails to get the size from the underlying disk driver. If the driver successfully returns the size of the device, disk_type is ignored.

Note

A physical volume created under HP-UX 11.0 or later versions of HP-UX may have a different user data size than the same disk would have had under HP-UX 10.20 or earlier versions.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Environment Variables

LANG determines the language in which messages are displayed.

If LANG is not specified or is null, it defaults to "C" (see lang(5)).

If any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, all internationalization variables default to "C" (see environ(5)).

EXAMPLES

Create a physical volume on raw device /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0, and force the creation without confirmation:

pvcreate -f /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0 

Create a bootable physical volume for an Itanium-based system on raw device /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0s2, and force the creation without confirmation:

pvcreate -fB /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0s2 

Create a physical volume on raw device /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0, specifying that a bad blocks list (7, 13, 95, and 133) must be read from standard input:

echo 7 13 95 133 | pvcreate -b /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0 

WARNINGS

Check the manufacturer's listing or run diagnostics testing for bad blocks on the device prior to creating a physical volume. If bad blocks are present, use the -b option when creating the physical volume.

Itanium(R)-based System Warning

If you are using pvcreate on an Itanium-based system boot disk, ensure that the device file specifies the EFI partition number. For example,

pvcreate /dev/rdsk/c1t1d0s1 

pvcreate initializes only the first 2,147,483,647 Kilobytes (2TB - 1KB) of disk space when the disk size exceeds this value. Disk space beyond this point will not be used by LVM.

FILES

/etc/disktab: Disk geometry and disk partition characteristics for all disk devices on the system