pvdisplay

Display information about all physical volumes

$ sudo pvdisplay

$ sudo pvdisplay [/dev/sdXY]

pvdisplay [options] [PhysicalVolumePath | PhysicalVolumeUUID ...]
Common usage examples:
    pvdisplay
    pvdisplay /dev/sdb1
    pvdisplay -C -o pv_name,vg_name,pv_size

-a, --all
    Displays information for all physical volumes present on the system.

-C, --reportmode
    Generates output in a columnar report format, similar to 'pvs', which is useful for scripting or concise viewing.

-m, --maps
    Shows a detailed physical-to-logical extent map for each physical volume, illustrating how PEs are mapped to LVs.

-o, --options
    Specifies custom output fields to display when using --reportmode. Common fields include 'pv_name', 'vg_name', 'pv_size', 'pv_uuid', 'pv_free', 'pv_attr'.

-s, --short
    Displays only the size of the physical volume(s) in a concise format.

--units
    Specifies the units for size reporting (e.g., 's' for sectors, 'k' for kilobytes, 'm' for megabytes, 'g' for gigabytes, 't' for terabytes).

-v, --verbose
    Increases the verbosity of the command's output, showing more runtime information.

-h, --help
    Displays a help message and exits.

-V, --version
    Displays the version of the LVM utilities and exits.

pvdisplay is a fundamental command within the LVM2 (Logical Volume Manager) suite in Linux, designed to
display detailed information about physical volumes (PVs). PVs are the foundational storage components
—typically disk partitions or entire disk devices—that LVM uses to construct volume groups. This command
provides a comprehensive, human-readable overview of each PV, including its unique identifier (UUID),
device path, overall size, the volume group it belongs to (if any), and crucial statistics like
total and free Physical Extents (PEs).

Administrators frequently use pvdisplay to quickly ascertain the status, capacity, and allocation of
physical storage resources managed by LVM. Its output is invaluable for tasks such as monitoring disk
space, verifying LVM configurations, and diagnosing storage-related issues. While pvs offers a more
concise, script-friendly columnar output, pvdisplay's default detailed view is preferred for
in-depth human inspection and troubleshooting. It provides a deeper insight into the physical layer
of an LVM setup.

Running pvdisplay typically requires root privileges to access and interpret LVM metadata.
The command is strictly for displaying information and cannot modify any aspects of physical volumes or LVM configurations.
While its default output is highly detailed, it can be extensive, making it less ideal for automated
script parsing compared to the more succinct pvs or pvdisplay -C.

The default output of pvdisplay presents each physical volume in a block format, including fields like PV Name, VG Name, PV Size, Allocatable (yes/no), Free PE, and Total PE. These fields provide a comprehensive view of the PV's state and its contribution to the LVM storage pool. The PV UUID (Universal Unique Identifier) ensures each physical volume is uniquely identifiable across reboots or system changes.

You can specify one or more physical volume paths (e.g., /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1) or UUIDs as arguments to pvdisplay to limit the output to specific PVs. If no arguments are provided, pvdisplay will display information for all known physical volumes on the system.

pvdisplay is an integral component of the LVM2 (Logical Volume Manager version 2) project,
a sophisticated disk management system for Linux. LVM, first introduced in Linux around 1998,
revolutionized storage abstraction by allowing administrators to manage disk space more flexibly
than traditional partitioning schemes. LVM2, a complete rewrite, emerged in the early 2000s,
bringing significant improvements in performance, stability, and feature set.
pvdisplay has consistently been a core utility within both LVM1 and LVM2, providing system
administrators with critical insights into the physical storage layer managed by LVM.

pvs(8), vgdisplay(8), lvdisplay(8), pvcreate(8), pvremove(8), vgextend(8), vgreduce(8)