$ Linux Command

Disk

pvs

Report information about LVM physical volumes.

lvmphysical volumereportpvsummary

Additional Notes

pvs displays a concise summary of all LVM (Logical Volume Manager) physical volumes on the system. It shows each PV device, its volume group membership, format version, attributes, size, physical extent information, and free/total space.

Unlike pvdisplay which shows detailed per-PV output, pvs provides a formatted table view with customizable columns. It is the preferred tool for getting a quick overview of LVM storage layout and availability. Administrators use pvs to check how much free space remains, verify PVs are active, and confirm VG membership.

Syntax

pvs [options] [physical-volume...]

Parameters

  • physical-volume: Optional device path to show only a specific PV.

Common Options

  • -a, --all: Show all devices, including those not identifiable as PVs.
  • -o, -o+, -o-: Specify output columns. Use pvs -o pv_name,pv_free,pv_used.
  • -O, --sort: Sort output by specified columns.
  • -S, --select: Select PVs based on criteria. Example: pvs -S "pv_free > 0".
  • --segments: Show physical extent segment information.
  • --units units: Set display units: h (human-readable), b, k, m, g, t, p, e.
  • --aligned: Align output columns for readability.
  • -v, --verbose: Verbose output.
  • --noheadings: Suppress column headers (useful for scripting).
  • --nosuffix: Suppress size unit suffixes.
  • --rows: Output in rows (each field on its own line).
  • --separator string: Use a custom column separator.
  • --reportformat basic|json: Output format.
  • -P, --partial: Allow display of PVs from partial volume groups.

Examples

pvs

Show a brief table of all physical volumes.

pvs /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1

Show specific physical volumes.

pvs -o pv_name,pv_size,pv_free

Show only the name, total size, and free space of each PV.

pvs --noheadings -o pv_name,pv_free

Script-friendly output with only device name and free space.

pvs --units g

Display sizes in gigabytes.

pvs -S "pv_free > 0"

Show only physical volumes that have free (unallocated) space.

pvs -O -pv_size

Sort by physical volume size, largest first.

pvs -a

Show all devices, including those not identified as PVs.

pvs --reportformat json

Output PV data in JSON format for programmatic use.

pvs --segments

Show physical extent segment details.

Practical Notes

  • The #PV column in vgs and lvs output shows the number of PVs in each VG, which corresponds to pvs output.
  • Common column names: pv_name, pv_size, pv_free, pv_used, vg_name, pv_fmt, pv_attr, pv_uuid.
  • The attributes column (pv_attr) shows flags: a (allocatable), x (exported), etc.
  • Use pvs -o pv_name,pv_free --noheadings --separator ' ' in scripts to get clean output for processing.
  • For JSON output, pvs --reportformat json provides structured data ideal for monitoring and automation.
  • pvs -a can help find devices that have multiple PV labels or stale metadata.