LVM.CONF(5) File Formats Manual LVM.CONF(5)
NAME
lvm.conf — Configuration file for LVM2
SYNOPSIS
/etc/lvm/lvm.conf
DESCRIPTION
lvm.conf is loaded during the initialisation phase of lvm(8). This file
can in turn lead to other files being loaded - settings read in later
override earlier settings. File timestamps are checked between commands
and if any have changed, all the files are reloaded.
For a description of each lvm.conf(5) setting, run:
lvmconfig --typeconfig default --withcomments --withspaces
The settings defined in lvm.conf can be overridden by any of these ex-
tended configuration methods:
direct config override on command line
The --config ConfigurationString command line option takes the
ConfigurationString as direct string representation of the con-
figuration to override the existing configuration. The Configura-
tionString is of exactly the same format as used in any LVM con-
figuration file.
profile config
A profile is a set of selected customizable configuration set-
tings that are aimed to achieve a certain characteristics in var-
ious environments or uses. It's used to override existing config-
uration. Normally, the name of the profile should reflect that
environment or use.
There are two groups of profiles recognised: command profiles and meta-
data profiles.
The command profile is used to override selected configuration settings
at global LVM command level - it is applied at the very beginning of LVM
command execution and it is used throughout the whole time of LVM com-
mand execution. The command profile is applied by using the --command-
profile ProfileName command line option that is recognised by all LVM2
commands.
The metadata profile is used to override selected configuration settings
at Volume Group/Logical Volume level - it is applied independently for
each Volume Group/Logical Volume that is being processed. As such, each
Volume Group/Logical Volume can store the profile name used in its meta-
data so next time the Volume Group/Logical Volume is processed, the pro-
file is applied automatically. If Volume Group and any of its Logical
Volumes have different profiles defined, the profile defined for the
Logical Volume is preferred. The metadata profile can be attached/de-
tached by using the lvchange and vgchange commands and their --metadat-
aprofile ProfileName and --detachprofile options or the --metadatapro-
file option during creation when using vgcreate or lvcreate command.
The vgs and lvs reporting commands provide -o vg_profile and -o lv_pro-
file output options to show the metadata profile currently attached to a
Volume Group or a Logical Volume.
The set of options allowed for command profiles is mutually exclusive
when compared to the set of options allowed for metadata profiles. The
settings that belong to either of these two sets can't be mixed together
and LVM tools will reject such profiles.
LVM itself provides a few predefined configuration profiles. Users are
allowed to add more profiles with different values if needed. For this
purpose, there's the command_profile_template.profile (for command pro-
files) and metadata_profile_template.profile (for metadata profiles)
which contain all settings that are customizable by profiles of certain
type. Users are encouraged to copy these template profiles and edit them
as needed. Alternatively, the lvmconfig --file <ProfileName.profile>
--type profilable-command <section> or lvmconfig --file <Profile-
Name.profile> --type profilable-metadata <section> can be used to gener-
ate a configuration with profilable settings in either of the type for
given section and save it to new ProfileName.profile (if the section is
not specified, all profilable settings are reported).
The profiles are stored in /etc/lvm/profile directory by default. This
location can be changed by using the config/profile_dir setting. Each
profile configuration is stored in ProfileName.profile file in the pro-
file directory. When referencing the profile, the .profile suffix is
left out.
tag config
See tags configuration setting description below.
When several configuration methods are used at the same time and when
LVM looks for the value of a particular setting, it traverses this con-
fig cascade from left to right:
direct config override on command line → command profile config → meta-
data profile config → tag config → lvmlocal.conf → lvm.conf
No part of this cascade is compulsory. If there's no setting value found
at the end of the cascade, a default value is used for that setting.
Use lvmconfig to check what settings are in use and what the default
values are.
SYNTAX
This section describes the configuration file syntax.
Whitespace is not significant unless it is within quotes. This provides
a wide choice of acceptable indentation styles. Comments begin with #
and continue to the end of the line. They are treated as whitespace.
Here is an informal grammar:
file = value*
A configuration file consists of a set of values.
value = section | assignment
A value can either be a new section, or an assignment.
section = identifier '{' value* '}'
A section groups associated values together. If the same section
is encountered multiple times, the contents of all instances are
concatenated together in the order of appearance.
It is denoted by a name and delimited by curly brackets.
e.g. backup {
...
}
assignment = identifier '=' ( array | type )
An assignment associates a type with an identifier. If the iden-
tifier contains forward slashes, those are interpreted as path
delimiters. The statement section/key = value is equivalent to
section { key = value }. If multiple instances of the same key
are encountered, only the last value is used (and a warning is
issued).
e.g. level = 7
array = '[' ( type ',')* type ']' | '[' ']'
Inhomogeneous arrays are supported.
Elements must be separated by commas.
An empty array is acceptable.
An array with one element will be correctly interpreted if the
array brackets are missing.
type = integer|float|string
integer = [0-9]*
float = [0-9]*'.'[0-9]*
string = '"' .* '"'
Strings with spaces must be enclosed in double quotes, single
words that start with a letter can be left unquoted.
SETTINGS
The lvmconfig command prints the LVM configuration settings in various
ways. See the man page lvmconfig(8).
Command to print a list of all possible config settings, with their de-
fault values:
lvmconfig --type default
Command to print a list of all possible config settings, with their de-
fault values, and a full description of each as a comment:
lvmconfig --type default --withcomments
Command to print a list of all possible config settings, with their cur-
rent values (configured, non-default values are shown):
lvmconfig --type current
Command to print all config settings that have been configured with a
different value than the default (configured, non-default values are
shown):
lvmconfig --type diff
Command to print a single config setting, with its default value, and a
full description, where "Section" refers to the config section, e.g.
global, and "Setting" refers to the name of the specific setting, e.g.
umask:
lvmconfig --type default --withcomments Section/Setting
FILES
/etc/lvm/lvm.conf
/etc/lvm/lvmlocal.conf
/etc/lvm/archive
/etc/lvm/backup
/etc/lvm/cache/.cache
/etc/lvm/profile
/run/lock/lvm
SEE ALSO
lvm(8), lvmconfig(8)
Red Hat, Inc. LVM TOOLS 2.03.31(2) (2025-02-27) LVM.CONF(5)
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