Extending LVM Volumes and Filesystems

File Systems / Guide 40 of 67 / Intermediate

• OSRHEL 10.0
• Kernel6.12.0-55.9.1.el10_0
• dnf4.20.0
• Flatpak1.16.0
• TimeAbout 13 min

lvextend -r resizes the filesystem as well, calling xfs_growfs or resize2fs as appropriate. It is the form to memorise: it works while mounted, it cannot be done in the wrong order, and it removes the need to remember which tool goes with which filesystem.

This guide includes

Use this because the mistake here is close to universal. This matters because growing the logical volume does not grow the filesystem sitting on it - df is unchanged until you grow the second thing too.

• starting from a filesystem that has genuinely run out
• growing the volume alone, and finding that nothing changed
• growing the filesystem afterwards
• using the one command that does both at once
• filling the group, and finding that ext4 needs a different tool from XFS

Before you start

• A volume group with free space - guide 33 builds one.
• The session creates a volume, fills it, grows it and removes it.

1. 1

   A filesystem that has run out

2. 2

   Growing the volume alone changes nothing

3. 3

   Growing the filesystem

4. 4

   The one command that does both

5. 5

   Filling the group, and what happens then

6. 6

   ext4 uses a different tool

Official sources

• lvextend(8)
• xfs_growfs(8)