pvcreate(1M) pvcreate(1M)
NAME
pvcreate - create physical volume for use in LVM volume group
SYNOPSIS
soft_defects] disk_size] disk_type] pv_path
DESCRIPTION
The 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 option is not specified, asks for confirmation. The request for confirmation avoids accidentally
deleting a file system.
Furthermore, when the option is not specified, the operation is denied if pv_path already belongs to another LVM volume group, or the
pv_path refers to a disk device under the control of the VERITAS or Oracle ASM Volume Manager.
After using to create a physical volume, use to add it to a new volume group or 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
pv_path can be made into a bootable disk by specifying the 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
recognizes the following options and arguments:
pv_path The character (raw) device path name of a physical volume.
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 nota-
tion, with numbers separated by newline, tab, or formfeed characters. If this option is not used, assumes that
the physical volume contains no bad blocks.
This option is being retained solely for backward compatibility reasons and is currently ignored. It will be
obsoleted in the next HP-UX release.
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 (see model(1), getconf(1)).
Booting from a volume group version 2.0 or higher is not supported. Therefore,a physical volume initialized
with the option cannot be added to a volume group version 2.0 or higher.
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.
This option is being retained solely for backward compatibility reasons and is currently ignored. It will be
obsoleted in the next HP-UX release.
Effective size of the physical volume to be created,
specified in kilobytes (KB).
This option is only supported on version 1.0 volume groups. When a physical volume is added to a volume group
version 2.0 or higher any value set using the option is replaced with the full size of the disk (up to the maxi-
mum physical volume size).
Force the creation of a physical volume
(thus deleting any file system or volume manager information present) without first requesting confirmation.
Warning: The 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 the command
does minimal verification, so care should be taken to assure that the disk is not already in use prior to invok-
ing the command.
Retrieve configuration information about the physical volume from the file
disk_type specifies the device (for example, hp7959S).
The disk_type only needs to be specified when 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
The user data size of the same physical volume may differ, when initialized by command under different releases of HP-UX.
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Environment Variables
determines the language in which messages are displayed.
If 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 and force the creation without confirmation:
Create a bootable physical volume for an Itanium-based system on raw device and force the creation without confirmation:
WARNINGS
If you are using command on an Itanium-based system boot disk, ensure that the specified device special file correspond to the HP-UX parti-
tion. For example,
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
Disk geometry and disk partition characteristics
for all disk devices on the system
SEE ALSO
getconf(1), model(1), idisk(1M), mkboot(1M), vgcreate(1M), vgextend(1M), lif(4), intro(7), lvm(7).
pvcreate(1M)