---
name: "lvmdump"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "lvm2"
version: "2.03.44-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/lvmdump"
---

# lvmdump(8)

Create lvm2 information dumps for diagnostic purposes

## NAME

lvmdump — Create lvm2 information dumps for diagnostic purposes

## SYNOPSIS

- **lvmdump**

  \[**-A**\] \[**-a**\] \[**-c**\] \[**-d** *directory*\] \[**-h**\] \[**-m**\] \[**-p**\] \[**-s**\] \[**-u**\]

## DESCRIPTION

lvmdump is a tool to dump various information concerning LVM2. By default, it creates a tarball suitable for submission along with a problem report.

The content of the tarball is as follows:

- •

  dmsetup info

- •

  table of currently running processes

- •

  recent entries from */var/log/messages* (containing system messages)

- •

  complete lvm configuration and cache (content of */etc/lvm*)

- •

  list of device nodes present under */dev*

- •

  list of files present in */sys/block*

- •

  list of files present in */sys/devices/virtual/block*

- •

  if enabled with -m, metadata dump will also be included

- •

  if enabled with -a, debug output of vgscan, pvscan and list of all available volume groups, physical volumes and logical volumes will be included

- •

  if enabled with -c, lvmlockd state and DLM info if running

- •

  if enabled with -p, lvmpolld state if running

- •

  if enabled with -s, system info and context

- •

  if enabled with -u, udev info and context

## OPTIONS

- **-A**

  Collect everything. Enables all optional collection flags (**-a**, **-c**, **-m**, **-p**, **-s**, **-u**).\
   **WARNING**: This includes advanced collection (**-a**) which issues LVM commands that may hang or deadlock if LVM is already unresponsive. The metadata dump (**-m**) reads raw disk headers from all physical volumes, which can hang on unreachable or failing storage and can also significantly increase the dump size. Use this option only when a comprehensive dump is specifically needed for diagnosis and the system is in a state where issuing LVM commands and disk I/O is considered safe.

- **-a**

  Advanced collection.\
   **WARNING**: if lvm is already hung, then this script may hang as well if **-a** is used.

- **-c**

  Gather [**lvmlockd**(8)](/lvmlockd/8.md) state and DLM info if running.

- **-d** *directory*

  Dump into a directory instead of a tarball By default, lvmdump will produce a single compressed tarball containing all the information. Using this option, it can be instructed to only produce the raw dump tree, rooted in *directory*.

- **-h**

  Print help message

- **-m**

  Gather LVM metadata from the PVs This option generates a 1:1 dump of the metadata area from all PVs visible to the system, which can cause the dump to increase in size considerably. However, the metadata dump may represent a valuable diagnostic resource.

- **-p**

  Include [**lvmpolld**(8)](/lvmpolld/8.md) daemon dump if it is running. The dump contains all in-progress operations currently monitored by the daemon and partial history for all yet uncollected results of polling operations already finished, including the reason for finishing.

- **-s**

  Gather system info and context. Currently, this encompasses info gathered by calling lsblk command and various systemd info and context: overall state of systemd units present in the system, more detailed status of units controlling LVM functionality and the content of systemd journal for current boot.

- **-u**

  Gather udev info and context: */etc/udev/udev.conf* file, udev daemon version (output of 'udevadm info --version' command), udev rules currently used in the system (content of */lib/udev/rules.d* and */etc/udev/rules.d* directory), list of files in /lib/udev directory and dump of current udev database content (the output of 'udevadm info --export-db' command).

## ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

- **LVM\_BINARY**

  The LVM2 binary to use. Defaults to "**lvm**". Sometimes you might need to set this to "*/usr/bin/lvm.static*", for example.

- **DMSETUP\_BINARY**

  The dmsetup binary to use. Defaults to "**dmsetup**".

- **LVMLOCKCTL\_BINARY**

  The lvmlockctl binary to use. Defaults to "**lvmlockctl**".

- **LVM\_LVMPOLLD\_SOCKET**

  The lvmpolld socket path to use. Defaults to "*/var/run/lvm/lvmpolld.socket*".

## SEE ALSO

[**lvm**(8)](/lvm/8.md), [**lvmpolld**(8)](/lvmpolld/8.md), [**dmsetup**(8)](/dmsetup/8.md),

[**udev**(8)](/udev/8.md), [**udevadm**(8)](/udevadm/8.md)