pvscan

List all physical volumes

$ sudo pvscan

$ sudo pvscan --cache --listvg [/dev/sdX]

$ sudo pvscan --cache --listlvs [/dev/sdX]

$ sudo pvscan --reportformat json

pvscan [--cache] [--listvg] [--listlvs] [--reportformat format] [device...]

pvscan scans for LVM physical volumes and lists them. It can update the LVM metadata cache and report which volume groups and logical volumes are present on specific devices.
The command is useful for discovering physical volumes after adding new disks and for troubleshooting LVM configuration issues.

--cache

Update LVM metadata cache

List volume group of specified device

List logical volumes on specified device

Output format (basic, json)

Verbose output

Requires root privileges. Results depend on device availability. Cache updates may be needed after hardware changes. Use with --cache for udev integration.

pvscan is part of LVM2 (Logical Volume Manager). It provides physical volume discovery functionality essential for dynamic LVM management.

pvs(8), pvdisplay(8), vgscan(8), lvscan(8)