Complete workflow for disk initialization, volume management, and permanent fstab configuration.
LVM allows you to treat physical disks as flexible pools of storage rather than fixed partitions.
sudo pvcreate /dev/xvdb
sudo vgcreate vg_data /dev/xvdb
sudo lvcreate -l 100%FREE -n lv_storage vg_data
Choose XFS for modern RHEL/Rocky systems, or ext4 for legacy compatibility.
# For XFS (Recommended)
sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/vg_data/lv_storage
# For ext4
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/vg_data/lv_storage
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/data
/etc/fstab, use :r !blkid /dev/vg_data/lv_storage to pull the UUID directly into the file without typos.
| Filesystem | fstab Entry Example |
|---|---|
| XFS | UUID=[ID] /mnt/data xfs defaults 0 0 |
| ext4 | UUID=[ID] /mnt/data ext4 defaults 0 2 |
Never reboot without testing. A typo in fstab can prevent the system from booting into the UI/Shell.
# Attempt to mount all filesystems in fstab
sudo mount -a
# If no errors appear, verify with:
df -hT | grep data
| Action | XFS Command | ext4 Command |
|---|---|---|
| Format | mkfs.xfs |
mkfs.ext4 |
| Resize | xfs_growfs |
resize2fs |
| Check | xfs_repair |
fsck.ext4 |