18. How to Configure and Use LVM on Ubuntu Server: A Comprehensive Guide

LVM on Ubuntu is a powerful tool that simplifies disk management by providing flexible and dynamic storage allocation. Whether you’re expanding storage, creating snapshots, or managing multiple file systems, Logical Volume Manager (LVM) offers advanced capabilities that make it easier to adapt to changing storage needs.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of configuring LVM on Ubuntu Server, even if you’re new to Linux administration. By the end, you’ll have a solid understanding of how to set up and manage LVM to optimize your server’s storage infrastructure.

Previous articles:

01. Introduction to Ubuntu Server – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

02. How to Setup Your First Ubuntu Server: A Beginner’s Guide – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

03.Mastering the Linux Command Line for Ubuntu Server – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

04. Managing Users and Permissions on Ubuntu Server: A Comprehensive Guide – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

05. Networking Basics for Ubuntu Server: A Comprehensive Guide – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

06. Installing and Managing Software on Ubuntu Server: A Complete Guide – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

07.Patching and Updating Ubuntu Server: A Comprehensive Guide – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

08. Securing Your Ubuntu Server: Practical Steps for Hardening and Protection – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

09. Ubuntu server auditing and logging

10. System Monitoring Tools for Ubuntu Server: A Comprehensive Guide – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

11. Centralized Logging for ubuntu server: a must read guide – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

12. Audit and Compliance for Ubuntu Server: Best Practices – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

13.Setting Up Your Ubuntu Server for Hosting and Web Applications: Ultimate Guide – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

14. Host Multiple Websites on a single Ubuntu Server: Useful tips – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

15. Managing Storage and Disks on Ubuntu Server: Simple Guide – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

16. Setting Up File Sharing Services on Ubuntu Server: a complete guide – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

17. Setting Up a Secure Database Server on Ubuntu: MySQL vs. MariaDB – SysOSX: AI & Cloud

Table of Contents

• What is LVM?
• Step 1: Install LVM Tools
• Step 2: Prepare Physical Volumes
• Step 3: Create a Volume Group
• Step 4: Create Logical Volumes
• Step 5: Format and Mount the Volume
• Step 6: Extend a Logical Volume
• Key Commands Cheat Sheet
• Best Practices
• References
• What’s Next?

What is LVM?

LVM abstracts physical storage into logical units, allowing you to:

• Combine multiple disks into a single storage pool.
• Resize volumes without downtime.
• Create snapshots for backups.
• Manage storage flexibly across physical and cloud environments.

Step 1: Install LVM Tools

Ensure LVM utilities are installed:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install lvm2 -y

Step 2: Prepare Physical Volumes

• Identify disks using lsblk:

lsblk

• Example output:

NAME   MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT  
sda      8:0    0  20G  0 disk  
sdb      8:16   0  10G  0 disk  

• Initialize disks as LVM physical volumes (replace sdb with your disk):

sudo pvcreate /dev/sdb

• Verify with:

sudo pvs

Step 3: Create a Volume Group

Pool physical volumes into a volume group (vg01 in this example):

sudo vgcreate vg01 /dev/sdb

Check the group:

sudo vgs

Step 4: Create Logical Volumes

• Allocate space from the volume group. To create a 5GB volume named data_vol:

sudo lvcreate -L 5G -n data_vol vg01

• Verify the logical volume:

sudo lvs

Step 5: Format and Mount the Volume

• Create a filesystem (e.g., ext4):

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/vg01/data_vol

• Mount the volume:

sudo mkdir /mnt/data 
sudo mount /dev/vg01/data_vol /mnt/data

• Add to /etc/fstab for automatic mounting:

echo '/dev/vg01/data_vol /mnt/data ext4 defaults 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

• Note: In cloud environment, it’s suggested to use uuid to mount the disk, as the device name might get dynamically changed after stop and start.

Step 6: Extend a Logical Volume

• Expand the volume group (if needed):

sudo vgextend vg01 /dev/sdc  # Add a new disk

• Resize the logical volume (e.g., add 2GB):

sudo lvextend -L +2G /dev/vg01/data_vol

• Resize the filesystem (for ext4):

sudo resize2fs /dev/vg01/data_vol

Key Commands Cheat Sheet

Best Practices

• Always back up data before modifying volumes.
• Use xfs_growfs for XFS filesystems instead of resize2fs.
• Monitor free space with vgs and lvs.

References

• Ubuntu LVM Documentation
• man lvm for command details

By following this guide, you’ve learned to configure LVM on Ubuntu Server for scalable storage. Whether managing on-premises hardware or cloud instances, LVM provides the flexibility to adapt to changing storage needs.

What’s Next?

Ready to expand your Ubuntu Server expertise? In our upcoming guide, we’ll dive into containerization and virtualization, where you’ll learn:

• Introduction to Virtualization with KVM
  Learn how to set up and use KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) to create virtual machines on your Ubuntu Server.
• Containerization with Docker
  A beginner’s guide to installing and using Docker for running containerized applications on Ubuntu Server.
• Introduction to LXD for Linux Containers
  Explore LXD, a container management tool for running Linux system containers.

Stay tuned to streamline modern infrastructure management!