copy LVM partition to new disk

Question

I have a question about making copy of LVM partition to new disk. I want co copy not to move data.

My operating system is Debian. On LVM partition I have running Xen virtual systems.

Information about my disk with LVM (/dev/sdb):

root@server:/# fdisk -l /dev/sdb
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000015e9

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *        2048      194559       96256   83  Linux
/dev/sdb2          194560    39256063    19530752   83  Linux
/dev/sdb3        39258110  1953523711   957132801    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5        39258112    78317567    19529728   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6        78319616   117379071    19529728   83  Linux
/dev/sdb7       117381120   840898559   361758720   83  Linux
/dev/sdb8       840900608  1953523711   556311552   83  Linux


root@server:/# pvs
PV         VG   Fmt  Attr PSize   PFree  
/dev/sdb8  VG   lvm2 a--  530.54g 438.54g


root@server:/# lvs
LV    VG   Attr     LSize  Pool Origin Data%  Move Log Copy%  Convert
lvol1 VG   -wi-ao--  2.00g                                           
lvol2 VG   -wi-ao-- 15.00g                                           
lvol3 VG   -wi-a---  2.00g                                           
lvol4 VG   -wi-a--- 15.00g                                           
lvol5 VG   -wi-ao--  2.00g                                           
lvol6 VG   -wi-ao-- 16.00g                                           
lvol7 VG   -wi-ao-- 32.00g                                           
swap  VG   -wi-ao--  8.00g 

root@server:/# fdisk -l  | grep vd 
Disk /dev/mapper/VG-lvol1 doesn't contain a valid partition table
Disk /dev/mapper/VG-lvol2 doesn't contain a valid partition table
Disk /dev/mapper/VG-lvol3 doesn't contain a valid partition table
Disk /dev/mapper/VG-lvol4 doesn't contain a valid partition table
Disk /dev/mapper/VG-lvol5 doesn't contain a valid partition table
Disk /dev/mapper/VG-lvol6 doesn't contain a valid partition table
Disk /dev/mapper/VG-lvol7 doesn't contain a valid partition table
Disk /dev/mapper/VG-swap doesn't contain a valid partition table

At the moment I made copy of all non LVM partitions to new drive (dev/sda):

root@server:/# fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048      194559       96256   83  Linux
/dev/sda2          194560    39256063    19530752   83  Linux
/dev/sda3        39258110  1953523711   957132801    5  Extended
Partition 3 does not start on physical sector boundary.
/dev/sda5        39258112    78317567    19529728   83  Linux
/dev/sda6        78319616   117379071    19529728   83  Linux
/dev/sda7       117381120   840898559   361758720   83  Linux
/dev/sda8       840900608  1953523711   556311552   83  Linux

Correct me if I'm wrong but should I follow these steps:

1. Change partition type to LVM on /dev/sda8
2. pvcreate /dev/sda8
3. vgextend VG /dev/sda8
4. lvconvert -m 1 --mirrorlog corelog VG/lvol1 /dev/sda8 - for all logical volumes.
5. To see the progress lvs -a -o+devices
6. lvconvert -m 0 VG/lvol1 /dev/sda8 - for all logical volumes.

Solution

Since the two disks are exactly the same size and need to contain exactly the same data, you could use dd:

dd if=/dev/sdb of=/dev/sda bs=16M

You'll need to boot from a live use though. Please check the if(in file) and of(out file) statements from the live usb. Once you start dd(disk destroyer), there's no going back.

Comments

[Dr I]

You should probably rather use the LVM Snapshotting features.