lvmdump

lvmdump [-h|-V] [-m mirror_file] [-o file] [--all | VolumeGroupName]

-h
    Display help text and exit.

-V
    Display version information and exit.

-m mirror_file
    Use mirror_file instead of /etc/lvm/.cache for mirror locations.

-o file
    Write the output to file instead of standard output.

--all
    Dump metadata for all volume groups.

VolumeGroupName
    Dump metadata for the specified volume group only.

lvmdump is a utility used to examine and display the metadata associated with Logical Volume Manager (LVM) objects. It provides a human-readable representation of the LVM configuration, including details about physical volumes (PVs), volume groups (VGs), and logical volumes (LVs). This command is primarily intended for diagnostic and troubleshooting purposes. It allows administrators to inspect the structure and contents of LVM metadata without directly modifying the LVM configuration.

The output from lvmdump can be used to understand the current LVM setup, identify potential problems, or assist in recovering from LVM configuration errors. It is a read-only tool, meaning it doesn't make any changes to the LVM configuration itself. It is useful for debugging tools like `vgcfgrestore`. The command can also be used to analyze LVM metadata in a non-active environment. It can read a specific volume group.

The output of lvmdump is extensive and can be difficult to interpret directly. Familiarity with LVM metadata structures is helpful for understanding the output.

The output of lvmdump is primarily designed to be machine-readable, for debugging purpose. It uses a structured format to represent the different LVM objects and their attributes. This is same format as the one used by vgcfgbackup and vgcfgrestore.

lvmdump has been part of the LVM2 suite of tools since its inception. It provides a crucial tool for viewing and diagnosing LVM configuration information. It is used in many scripts for automatic LVM administration.

lvm(8), pvcreate(8), vgcreate(8), lvcreate(8), vgcfgrestore(8)