lvscan

Additional Notes

lvscan scans all available block devices on the system for LVM logical volumes and displays a list of those found. It activates LVM devices if needed and shows the status (active or inactive) of each volume.

It is useful after adding new disks, moving storage between systems, or when LVM volumes do not appear after a reboot. It provides a quick overview of all logical volumes available on the system.

Syntax

lvscan [options]

Parameters

• options: Flags that change how lvscan behaves.
• target: Optional file, device, interface, user, service, or command target when the command supports one.

Common Options

• -a, --all: Show all volumes, including internal volumes.
• -b, --blockdevice: Show the block device major and minor numbers.
• -i, --cache: Scan the LVM cache only instead of full device scanning.
• -n, --novolumegroup: Show only volumes that are not part of any volume group.

Examples

lvscan

Scan all devices and list all logical volumes.

lvscan -a

Show all volumes, including internal LVM volumes.

lvscan -b

Show block device numbers alongside volume information.

Practical Notes

• lvscan is often run automatically by the LVM system at boot via the lvm2 service.
• If a logical volume does not appear, run pvscan and vgscan first to ensure physical volumes and volume groups are detected.
• The output indicates whether a volume is ACTIVE or INACTIVE. Inactive volumes must be activated with lvchange -ay before use.