Can I mount an LVM under Windows?

Question

I have a dual-boot PC running Fedora and Windows 10. I would like to access the Fedora filesystem when the box is running Windows.

This answer makes me think the answer is "no" but it is a slightly different scenario and I wanted to be sure.

Solution

I'm the author of the answer you linked to. It seems that not much has changed since my answer.

The FreeOTFE project was forked into LibreCrypt, but the last update dates from 2016. It most likely does not support LVM2 and is no longer supported.

Another old project is Virtual Volumes, dating from 2015.

I wouldn't advise using such software. Even if it somewhat works, I wouldn't use it on Windows for anything else than read-only.

I would suggest trying out Ubuntu from the Microsoft Store, to see if it supports mounting these partitions. But even if it works, I don't think Windows has any means of accessing them, so you will need to only use WSL, or to use WSL for the copying back and forth of files to Windows folders.

Comments

[Admin]

No, not recommended at all even if possible with the utility mentioned in your link. It tends to corrupt EXT4 which would be catastrophic in your case.

[John]

If you need to do this, run the Linux machine as a guest under VMware (or like). Then you can share files. I have done this with Windows and Ubuntu

[Brain2000]

I was curious because I use mdadm/lvm to expose iSCSI targets to Windows machines. It would be nice if I could mount these disks on windows directly, since the LV is formatted as NTFS.

[Ilia w495 Nikitin]

"But even if it works, I don't think Windows has any means of accessing them" -- It is not true. You can access WSL2-frolder folders from Windows. Just run explorer.exe . from WSL console. But how to get access from WSL to physical LVM -- unfortunately I have no ideas.

[harrymc]

@Iliaw495Nikitin: Thanks for the update.