How To Rename a Volume Group in LVM

I needed to access an old disk from the same Linux desktop the other day, and realised it’s a bit problematic if both old and new disks were organised into LVM (Logical Volume Manager) VGs (volume groups) of exactly the same name.

When Multiple Volume Groups Have the Same Name

Here’s how it looked when I connected the second drive:

root@rhel8:~ # vgdisplay                                                                                            
  --- Volume group ---                                                                                                  
  VG Name               rhel                                                                                            
  System ID                                                                                                             
  Format                lvm2                                                                                            
  Metadata Areas        1                                                                                               
  Metadata Sequence No  8                                                                                               
  VG Access             read/write                                                                                      
  VG Status             resizable                                                                                       
  MAX LV                0                                                                                               
  Cur LV                7                                                                                               
  Open LV               0                                                                                               
  Max PV                0                                                                                               
  Cur PV                1                                                                                               
  Act PV                1                                                                                               
  VG Size               1.35 TiB                                                                                        
  PE Size               4.00 MiB                                                                                        
  Total PE              355124                                                                                          
  Alloc PE / Size       355123 / 1.35 TiB                                                                               
  Free  PE / Size       1 / 4.00 MiB                                                                                    
  VG UUID               mCcciI-zCpq-B5GB-RDiK-kn6J-53GQ-KtonSw   

  --- Volume group ---                                                                                                  
  VG Name               rhel                                                                                            
  System ID                                                                                                             
  Format                lvm2                                                                                            
  Metadata Areas        1                                                                                               
  Metadata Sequence No  8                                                                                               
  VG Access             read/write                                                                                      
  VG Status             resizable                                                                                       
  MAX LV                0                                                                                               
  Cur LV                7                                                                                               
  Open LV               7                                                                                               
  Max PV                0                                                                                               
  Cur PV                1                                                                                               
  Act PV                1                                                                                               
  VG Size               930.51 GiB                                                                                      
  PE Size               4.00 MiB                                                                                        
  Total PE              238211                                                                                          
  Alloc PE / Size       238209 / 930.50 GiB                                                                             
  Free  PE / Size       2 / 8.00 MiB
  VG UUID               dYWq2M-sQ8n-8oco-glme-qe82-m456-FlHdx5

Rename Volume Group (VG) in LVM

root@rhel8:~ # vgrename mCcciI-zCpq-B5GB-RDiK-kn6J-53GQ-KtonSw redhat
Processing VG rhel because of matching UUID mCcciI-zCpq-B5GB-RDiK-kn6J-53GQ-KtonSw
Volume group “mCcciI-zCpq-B5GB-RDiK-kn6J-53GQ-KtonSw” successfully renamed to “redhat”

Here’s how things looked after renaming:

root@localhost:~ # vgdisplay
— Volume group —
VG Name redhat
System ID
Format lvm2
Metadata Areas 1
Metadata Sequence No 9
VG Access read/write
VG Status resizable
MAX LV 0
Cur LV 7
Open LV 0
Max PV 0
Cur PV 1
Act PV 1
VG Size 1.35 TiB
PE Size 4.00 MiB
Total PE 355124
Alloc PE / Size 355123 / 1.35 TiB
Free PE / Size 1 / 4.00 MiB
VG UUID mCcciI-zCpq-B5GB-RDiK-kn6J-53GQ-KtonSw

— Volume group —
VG Name rhel
System ID
Format lvm2
Metadata Areas 1
Metadata Sequence No 8
VG Access read/write
VG Status resizable
MAX LV 0
Cur LV 7
Open LV 7
Max PV 0
Cur PV 1
Act PV 1
VG Size 930.51 GiB
PE Size 4.00 MiB
Total PE 238211
Alloc PE / Size 238209 / 930.50 GiB
Free PE / Size 2 / 8.00 MiB
VG UUID dYWq2M-sQ8n-8oco-glme-qe82-m456-FlHdx5