Red Hat Summit Red Hat SummitSupportConsoleDevelopersStart a trialContact

11.7. Expanding Volumes

Warning

Do not perform this process if geo-replication is configured. There is a race condition tracked by Bug 1683893 that means data can be lost when converting a volume if geo-replication is enabled.
Volumes can be expanded while the trusted storage pool is online and available. For example, you can add a brick to a distributed volume, which increases distribution and adds capacity to the Red Hat Gluster Storage volume. Similarly, you can add a group of bricks to a replicated or distributed replicated volume, which increases the capacity of the Red Hat Gluster Storage volume.
When expanding replicated or distributed replicated volumes, the number of bricks being added must be a multiple of the replica count. This also applies to arbitrated volumes. For example, to expand a distributed replicated volume with a replica count of 3, you need to add bricks in multiples of 3 (such as 6, 9, 12, etc.).
You can also convert a replica 2 volume into an arbitrated replica 3 volume by following the instructions in Section 5.7.5, “Converting to an arbitrated volume”.

Important

Converting an existing distribute volume to replicate or distribute-replicate volume is not supported.

Expanding a Volume

  1. From any server in the trusted storage pool, use the following command to probe the server on which you want to add a new brick: 
    # gluster peer probe HOSTNAMEgluster peer probe HOSTNAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    For example: 
    # gluster peer probe server5
Probe successful

# gluster peer probe server6
Probe successful
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  2. Add the bricks using the following command: 
    # gluster volume add-brick VOLNAME NEW_BRICKgluster volume add-brick VOLNAME NEW_BRICKgluster volume add-brick VOLNAME NEW_BRICK
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    For example: 
    # gluster volume add-brick test-volume server5:/rhgs/brick5/ server6:/rhgs/brick6/
Add Brick successful
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  3. Check the volume information using the following command: 
    # gluster volume info
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    The command output displays information similar to the following: 
    Volume Name: test-volume
Type: Distribute-Replicate
Status: Started
Number of Bricks: 6
Bricks:
Brick1: server1:/rhgs/brick1
Brick2: server2:/rhgs/brick2
Brick3: server3:/rhgs/brick3
Brick4: server4:/rhgs/brick4
Brick5: server5:/rhgs/brick5
Brick6: server6:/rhgs/brick6
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  4. Rebalance the volume to ensure that files will be distributed to the new brick. Use the rebalance command as described in Section 11.11, “Rebalancing Volumes”.
    The add-brick command should be followed by a rebalance operation to ensure better utilization of the added bricks.

11.7.1. Expanding a Tiered Volume
Copy link

Warning

Tiering is considered deprecated as of Red Hat Gluster Storage 3.5. Red Hat no longer recommends its use, and does not support tiering in new deployments and existing deployments that upgrade to Red Hat Gluster Storage 3.5.3.
You can add a group of bricks to a cold tier volume and to the hot tier volume to increase the capacity of the Red Hat Gluster Storage volume.

11.7.1.1. Expanding a Cold Tier Volume
Copy link

Expanding a cold tier volume is same as a non-tiered volume. If you are reusing the brick, ensure to perform the steps listed in “Section 5.3.3, “ Reusing a Brick from a Deleted Volume ”” section.
  1. Detach the tier by performing the steps listed in Section 16.7, “Detaching a Tier from a Volume (Deprecated)”
  2. From any server in the trusted storage pool, use the following command to probe the server on which you want to add a new brick : 
    # gluster peer probe HOSTNAMEgluster peer probe HOSTNAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    For example: 
    # gluster peer probe server5
Probe successful

# gluster peer probe server6
Probe successful
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  3. Add the bricks using the following command: 
    # gluster volume add-brick VOLNAME NEW_BRICKgluster volume add-brick VOLNAME NEW_BRICKgluster volume add-brick VOLNAME NEW_BRICK
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    For example: 
    # gluster volume add-brick test-volume server5:/rhgs/brick5/ server6:/rhgs/brick6/
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  4. Rebalance the volume to ensure that files will be distributed to the new brick. Use the rebalance command as described in Section 11.11, “Rebalancing Volumes”.
    The add-brick command should be followed by a rebalance operation to ensure better utilization of the added bricks.
  5. Reattach the tier to the volume with both old and new (expanded) bricks:
    # gluster volume tier VOLNAME attach [replica COUNT] NEW-BRICK...

    Important

    When you reattach a tier, an internal process called fix-layout commences internally to prepare the hot tier for use. This process takes time and there will a delay in starting the tiering activities.
    If you are reusing the brick, be sure to clearly wipe the existing data before attaching it to the tiered volume.

11.7.1.2. Expanding a Hot Tier Volume
Copy link

You can expand a hot tier volume by attaching and adding bricks for the hot tier.
  1. Detach the tier by performing the steps listed in Section 16.7, “Detaching a Tier from a Volume (Deprecated)”
  2. Reattach the tier to the volume with both old and new (expanded) bricks:
    # gluster volume tier VOLNAME attach [replica COUNT] NEW-BRICK...
    For example, 
    # gluster volume tier test-volume attach replica 3 server1:/rhgs/tier5 server2:/rhgs/tier6 server1:/rhgs/tier7 server2:/rhgs/tier8
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

    Important

    When you reattach a tier, an internal process called fix-layout commences internally to prepare the hot tier for use. This process takes time and there will a delay in starting the tiering activities.
    If you are reusing the brick, be sure to clearly wipe the existing data before attaching it to the tiered volume.
Expansion of a dispersed or distributed-dispersed volume can be done by adding new bricks. The number of additional bricks should be in multiple of basic configuration of the volume. For example, if you have a volume with configuration (4+2 = 6), then you must only add 6 (4+2) or multiple of 6 bricks (such as 12, 18, 24 and so on).

Note

If you add bricks to a Dispersed volume, it will be converted to a Distributed-Dispersed volume, and the existing dispersed volume will be treated as dispersed subvolume.
  1. From any server in the trusted storage pool, use the following command to probe the server on which you want to add new bricks: 
    # gluster peer probe HOSTNAMEgluster peer probe HOSTNAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    For example: 
    # gluster peer probe server4
Probe successful
# gluster peer probe server5
Probe successful
# gluster peer probe server6
Probe successful
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  2. Add the bricks using the following command: 
    # gluster volume add-brick VOLNAME NEW_BRICKgluster volume add-brick VOLNAME NEW_BRICKgluster volume add-brick VOLNAME NEW_BRICK
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    For example: 
    # gluster volume add-brick test-volume server4:/rhgs/brick7 server4:/rhgs/brick8 server5:/rhgs/brick9 server5:/rhgs/brick10 server6:/rhgs/brick11 server6:/rhgs/brick12
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  3. (Optional) View the volume information after adding the bricks: 
    # gluster volume info VOLNAMEgluster volume info VOLNAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    For example: 
    # gluster volume info test-volume
Volume Name: test-volume
Type: Distributed-Disperse
Volume ID: 2be607f2-f961-4c4b-aa26-51dcb48b97df
Status: Started
Snapshot Count: 0
Number of Bricks: 2 x (4 + 2) = 12
Transport-type: tcp
Bricks:
Brick1: server1:/rhgs/brick1
Brick2: server1:/rhgs/brick2
Brick3: server2:/rhgs/brick3
Brick4: server2:/rhgs/brick4
Brick5: server3:/rhgs/brick5
Brick6: server3:/rhgs/brick6
Brick7: server4:/rhgs/brick7
Brick8: server4:/rhgs/brick8
Brick9: server5:/rhgs/brick9
Brick10: server5:/rhgs/brick10
Brick11: server6:/rhgs/brick11
Brick12: server6:/rhgs/brick12
Options Reconfigured:
transport.address-family: inet
performance.readdir-ahead: on
nfs.disable: on
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  4. Rebalance the volume to ensure that the files will be distributed to the new brick. Use the rebalance command as described in Section 11.11, “Rebalancing Volumes”.
    The add-brick command should be followed by a rebalance operation to ensure better utilization of the added bricks.

11.7.3. Expanding Underlying Logical Volume
Copy link

You can expand the size of a logical volume using the lvextend command.
Red Hat recommends following this process when you want to increase the storage capacity of replicated, arbitrated-replicated, or dispersed volumes, but not expanding distributed-replicated, arbitrated-distributed-replicated, or distributed-dispersed volumes.

Warning

It is recommended to involve the Red Hat Support team while performing this operation.
In the case of online logical volume extent, ensure the associated brick process is killed manually. It might occur certain operations are consuming data, or reading or writing a file on an associated brick. Proceeding with the extension before killing the brick process can have an adverse effect on performance. Identify the brick process ID and kill the same using the following command: 
# gluster volume status
# kill -9 brick-process-id
Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  1. Stop all volumes using the brick with the following command: 
    # gluster volume stop VOLNAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  2. Check if new disk is visible using lsblk command: 
    # lsblk
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  3. Create new physical volume using following command: 
    # pvcreate /dev/PHYSICAL_VOLUME_NAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  4. Use the following command to verify if the physical volume is created: 
    # pvs
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  5. Extend the existing volume group: 
    # vgextend VOLUME_GROUP_NAME /dev/PHYSICAL_VOLUME_NAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  6. Use the following commands to check the size of volume group, and verify if it reflects the new addition: 
    # vgscan
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  7. Ensure the volume group created has enough space to extend the logical volume: 
    vgdisplay VOLUME_GROUP_NAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    Retrieve the file system name using the following command: 
    # df -h
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  8. Extend the logical volume using the following command: 
    # lvextend -L+nG /dev/mapper/ LOGICAL_VOLUME_NAME-VOLUME_GROUP_NAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    In case of thin pool, extend the pool using the following command: 
    # lvextend -L+nG VOLUME_GROUP_NAME/POOL_NAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    In the above commands, n is the additional size in GB to be extended.
    Execute the #lvdisplay command to fetch the pool name.
    Use the following command to check if the logical volume is extended: 
    # lvdisplay VOLUME_GROUP_NAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  9. Execute the following command to expand the filesystem to accommodate the extended logical volume: 
    # xfs_growfs /dev/VOLUME_GROUP_NAME/LOGICAL_VOLUME_NAME
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  10. Remount the file system using the following command: 
    # mount -o remount /dev/VOLUME_GROUP_NAME/LOGICAL_VOLUME_NAME /bricks/path_to_brick
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  11. Start all the volumes with force option: 
    # gluster volume start VOLNAME force
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
Back to top
Red Hat logoGithubredditYoutubeTwitter

Learn

Try, buy, & sell

Communities

About Red Hat Documentation

We help Red Hat users innovate and achieve their goals with our products and services with content they can trust. Explore our recent updates.

Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. For more details, see the Red Hat Blog.

About Red Hat

We deliver hardened solutions that make it easier for enterprises to work across platforms and environments, from the core datacenter to the network edge.

Theme

© 2025 Red Hat