LPIC-1 Administrative Tasks Practice Question
An administrator needs to extend a logical volume by 10GB. The volume group has available physical extents. Which command should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse `lvcreate` with `lvextend` or forget the `+` sign in `lvresize`, leading them to choose an option that either creates a new volume or sets an absolute size instead of incrementing it.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
lvextend -L +10G /dev/vg/lv
The `lvextend` command with the `-L +10G` flag increases the size of the existing logical volume `/dev/vg/lv` by exactly 10 GB, using available physical extents from the volume group. This is the standard LVM command for extending a logical volume without recreating it.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
lvcreate -L 10G /dev/vg/lv
Why it's wrong here
lvcreate creates a new logical volume; it cannot extend an existing one, so running it against /dev/vg/lv fails or errors. It is tempting because it accepts -L and targets a volume group, but its purpose is allocating fresh LVs, not growing existing ones.
- ✗
vgextend /dev/vg/lv -L +10G
Why it's wrong here
vgextend adds physical volumes to a volume group; it does not resize logical volumes and rejects the -L size flag. It is tempting because the volume group holds the free physical extents, but extending the LV itself requires lvextend or lvresize, not vgextend.
- ✓
lvextend -L +10G /dev/vg/lv
Why this is correct
`lvextend -L +10G /dev/vg/lv` grows the logical volume by exactly 10GB using free physical extents already present in the volume group, satisfying the stem's constraint that no additional physical volumes are required. The `+` prefix adds to the current size rather than setting an absolute value, and `-L` specifies size in gigabytes.
- ✗
lvresize -L 10G /dev/vg/lv
Why it's wrong here
Without the -L +10G syntax, lvresize sets the logical volume's absolute size to 10GB rather than adding 10GB, which may shrink it. It is tempting because lvresize does resize LVs; the correct form uses +10G to extend by the required amount.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This LPIC-1 practice question is part of Courseiva's free LPI certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the LPIC-1 exam.