table of a hard disk when any partition on this disk is in use. However, if you alreadyhave a functioning LVM configuration on your system, physical repartitioning shouldnot be necessary. Instead, change the configuration of the logical volumes.At the beginning of the physical volumes (PVs), information about the volume is writtento the partition. To reuse such a partition for other non-LVM purposes, it is advisableto delete the beginning of this volume. For example, in the VG system and PV /dev/sda2, do this with the command dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda2 bs=512count=1.WARNING: File System for BootingThe file system used for booting (the root file system or /boot) must not bestored on an LVM logical volume. Instead, store it on a normal physical partition.For more details about LVM, see the Storage Administration Guide.15.2 LVM ConfigurationThis section briefly describes the principles behind the Logical Volume Manager (LVM)and its basic features that make it useful under many circumstances. In Section 15.2.2,“LVM Configuration with YaST” (page 237), learn how to set up LVM with YaST.WARNINGUsing LVM might be associated with increased risk, such as data loss. Risks alsoinclude application crashes, power failures, and faulty commands. Save yourdata before implementing LVM or reconfiguring volumes. Never work withouta backup.15.2.1 The Logical Volume ManagerThe LVM enables flexible distribution of hard disk space over several file systems. Itwas developed because sometimes the need to change the segmentation of hard diskspace arises only after the initial partitioning during installation has already been done.Because it is difficult to modify partitions on a running system, LVM provides a virtualpool (volume group, VG for short) of memory space from which logical volumes (LVs)Advanced Disk Setup 235
