Manage logical volumes with GUI tools
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blivet-gui
As of Fedora 25, blivet-gui [5] replaces the previously used LVM as the default program for managing LVM installations. Earlier versions of blivet-gui are available in the repositories for the older versions of Fedora. The software is available from a separate PPA [5] for Ubuntu and its derivatives. Blivet-gui requires the Python blivet module, which uses Anaconda, the default installer on Fedora and Red Hat. The tool is visually based on GParted [6]. The functions are also similar to those of GParted: Before blivet-gui makes changes to the mass storage system, it collects them in a queue and then presents them to you for the OK to go ahead.
After a successful installation, a launcher can be found in the System submenu. As with LVM GUI, you call blivet-gui with administrator rights; after a short system scan, you are taken to a three-part interface (Figure 5).
Unlike its role model GParted, blivet-gui does not provide a menubar. You can control the program completely with the buttons at the top right in the program window and in the appropriate right-click context menus.
Interface
The left window segment shows a vertical list view of the physical and logical volumes in the system. The logical volumes are under Disks , and the block devices fall under LVM . The program window visualizes volumes as a horizontal bar, depending on the view selected on the left. Blivet users can switch the respective view using the Logical View and Physical View tabs (Figure 6).
Below the horizontal bar under Logical View , the individual volumes, including their relevant information, are arranged in a table; the view also includes the filesystem. Unlike LVM GUI, the number and size of physical extents are not shown here. If you switch over to the Physical View , no information appears below the bar display. This form of the view is particularly useful for a quick overview of logical volumes spanning multiple physical volumes in the system.
Actions
The blivet user performs individual configuration steps through context menus by right-clicking on a volume in the table view below the bar display. For example, you can select a physical volume that belongs to a volume group, but is still missing a logical volume, and set it up with a filesystem by clicking on New in the context menu.
Blivet-gui partly supports other filesystems that LVM GUI does not, including, for example, ReiserFS, which is no longer under development, and GFS2 [7], designed primarily for large clusters under Linux. With the slide control, you can set the size of the logical volume, or you can enter a value directly. Clicking OK integrates the new logical drive and makes it ready for operation (Figure 7).
To modify existing logical volumes, select Edit | Format from the context menu of the corresponding volume. You can delete a volume with Delete . The changes do not go into effect until you confirm them.
For this purpose, clicking the small button with a check mark at top right in the program window displays the pending operations in a separate window, but blivet only performs these actions after you press OK .
If you subsequently add new physical volumes to the system, you can first integrate them with an existing logical volume by selecting Edit | Modify parents in the context menu. You can adjust the size of the entire volume with Edit | Resize . To perform the jobs placed in a queue, click the Apply icon at top right to reconfigure the system.
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