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I'm trying to install Ubuntu 18.04 desktop with custom partitioning, but when I get to creating new partitions (in GUI), there is missing a choice "physical volume for LVM". Is this some new policy omitting or deprecating the LVM?

screenshot

I need to achieve this:

/dev/sda
-/dev/sda1  ... /boot
-/dev/sda2  ... PV for LVM
/dev/mapper/{root,home,swap} ... LV on /dev/sda2

How can I do it through GUI?

Melebius
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S3v3ran
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2 Answers2

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The official serverguide for LVM on 18.04 says at step 5

There are several installation options for LVM,

  • "Guided - use the entire disk and setup LVM" which will also allow you to assign a portion of the available space to LVM,
  • "Guided - use entire and setup encrypted LVM",
  • or Manually setup the partitions and configure LVM.

At this time the only way to configure a system with both LVM and standard partitions, during installation, is to use the Manual approach.

  1. Follow the installation steps until you get to the Partition disks step, then:

  2. At the "Partition Disks screen choose "Manual".

  3. Select the hard disk and on the next screen choose "yes" to "Create a new empty partition table on this device".

  4. Next, create standard /boot, swap, and / partitions with whichever filesystem you prefer.

  5. For the LVM /srv, create a new Logical partition. Then change "Use as" to "physical volume for LVM" then "Done setting up the partition".

  6. Now select "Configure the Logical Volume Manager" at the top, and choose "Yes" to write the changes to disk.

  7. For the "LVM configuration action" on the next screen, choose "Create volume group". Enter a name for the VG such as vg01, or something more descriptive. After entering a name, select the partition configured for LVM, and choose "Continue".

  8. Back at the "LVM configuration action" screen, select "Create logical volume". Select the newly created volume group, and enter a name for the new LV, for example srv since that is the intended mount point. Then choose a size, which may be the full partition because it can always be extended later. Choose "Finish" and you should be back at the main "Partition Disks" screen.

  9. Now add a filesystem to the new LVM. Select the partition under "LVM VG vg01, LV srv", or whatever name you have chosen, the choose Use as. Setup a file system as normal selecting /srv as the mount point. Once done, select "Done setting up the partition".

  10. Finally, select "Finish partitioning and write changes to disk". Then confirm the changes and continue with the rest of the installation.

If this does not work I would consider that a bug and create a bugreport on it.

Community
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Rinzwind
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  • I said... there is missing a choice "physical volume for LVM". – S3v3ran May 02 '18 at 11:04
  • Then file a bugreport. It should be there after steps 1 - 4 are done. – Rinzwind May 02 '18 at 11:11
  • also see: http://releases.ubuntu.com/18.04/ "If you require LVM, RAID, multipath, network vlans, or network interface bonding during the installation; if you need to reuse existing partitions on your installation disk; or for support for other architectures besides AMD64/EM64T, see the alternative images location." – Rinzwind May 02 '18 at 14:34
  • Does 18.04 really require a Swap partition? My current system seem to work fine without a swap partition – CatMan Dec 13 '19 at 13:12
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The Desktop edition does not allow for LVM setup other than using the entire disk and then go by its defaults. I think that is by design to not confuse people and give them the option to fail.

However, you can use all the LVM commands such as pvcreate, vgcreate and lvcreate through the commandline/terminal if you booted into a live OS. Important, though, is that you do all these steps BEFORE you start the installer - AND you have a good plan of what you intend to do. Once the LVM partitions have been set up, the installer will recognize them and you can use them as desired. Disks will also allow you change the partition type to Linux LVM (0x8e).

I just did that with an existing Win 10 being on the first half of a disk and then created my /boot and LVM / and /home before launching the installer - worked flawlessly.

The only caveat - you need to know about the lvm command line tools and how to use them - read some LVM manuals before attempting this. It can be devastating if you make a mistake.

I had disks open all the time and as soon as I created a logical volume on the command line with lvcreate, it showed up in disks and I could see in real-time, what I was doing.

Hope that hepls.

Alex
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  • Of course, I forgot to mention that you'd be choosing the bottom option in the installer screen when it comes to the "what to do with the disk" section. You'll then be dropped into the partitioner and all you LVM partitions will be there for you to assign, format and use as desired. – Alex May 06 '18 at 19:42
  • The answer is very helpfult to solve the OPs issue. It would be perfect if it gave the CLI commands to solve the OP's target setup :-) – CatMan Dec 13 '19 at 13:21