EX200 Create and configure file systems Practice Question
A RHEL 9 server uses LVM with volume group vg_app on a single physical volume /dev/sdc. The logical volume lv_home, formatted as XFS and mounted at /home, is running out of space, but the volume group has no free extents and no additional disks can be added. A colleague notes that /dev/sdc is a 200 GB device, yet only 120 GB of it is currently allocated to vg_app. Which single command will make the remaining space available to grow lv_home?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that a volume group automatically detects extra capacity on a physical volume after the underlying device is enlarged, when in fact the PV metadata must be refreshed with pvresize first.
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
✓
pvresize /dev/sdc
The physical volume /dev/sdc is larger than the extents currently recorded in its LVM metadata, so the volume group cannot see the unused tail of the disk. Resizing the existing PV with pvresize updates that metadata and makes the additional space available as free physical extents. Once the VG has free extents, lvextend and xfs_growfs can be used to enlarge and grow the XFS file system on lv_home.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
pvresize /dev/sdc
Why this is correct
pvresize re-reads the size of an existing physical volume and grows its metadata so that newly available sectors at the end of the device become usable physical extents. Because /dev/sdc is already a PV in vg_app, this is the correct single step to reclaim the unused 80 GB. After pvresize, vg_app gains free extents that can be assigned to lv_home with lvextend.
- ✗
pvcreate /dev/sdc
Why it's wrong here
pvcreate initializes a block device for use by LVM, writing a new PV label and metadata. Running it against /dev/sdc, which already holds an active PV with allocated extents for vg_app, would overwrite existing LVM metadata and risk destroying the logical volumes. It also does not expand the PV to include the unallocated tail of the disk, so it solves nothing here.
- ✗
vgextend vg_app /dev/sdc
Why it's wrong here
vgextend is used to add a whole block device or partition as a new physical volume to a volume group. Since /dev/sdc is already the physical volume backing vg_app, this command fails because the device is already an initialized PV in that VG. It does not extend an existing PV to consume the unallocated sectors at the end of the disk, so the free space stays invisible to LVM.
- ✗
lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/vg_app/lv_home
Why it's wrong here
lvextend can only allocate extents that already exist as free space in the volume group. Because vg_app currently reports no free extents, this command fails with an insufficient free space error even though the underlying disk has unallocated capacity. The physical volume must first be resized so that the volume group can see those extents; only then can lvextend consume them.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Red Hat exam blueprint
This EX200 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Red Hat 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 EX200 exam.