Performance-Based Question Walkthrough
A junior system administrator removed an LVM volume by mistake.
Part 1 — Review the output and select the appropriate command to begin the recovery process.
Part 2 — Review the output and select the appropriate command to continue the recovery process.
Part 3 — Review the output and select the appropriate command to complete the recovery process and access the underlying data.
/etc/lvm/archive/ before every change, so we can restore from there.-a n = available no). The LV doesn't even exist at this stage — no metadata was restored yet. This fails immediately with "Failed to find logical volume."/backup/ file is a single rolling file overwritten on every LVM change. After lvremove ran, this file was updated to describe the VG without the LV. Restoring from it restores the broken state.-t = test/dry-run mode — simulates the restore but writes nothing to disk. (2) vg01_00001 has a lower sequence number than vg01_00002, meaning it's an older snapshot that may not reflect the state immediately before deletion.Multiple timestamped snapshots saved before each change. Higher sequence = more recent. Use this for recovery.
Single file per VG, overwritten every change. After lvremove, this reflects the deleted state — not useful for recovery.
vg01_00002 is more recent than vg01_00001 — always pick the highest sequence number archive for recovery.
The -t flag on vgcfgrestore = dry-run mode. Simulates only — no changes are written to disk.
TYPE="LVM2_member" on /dev/xvdf confirms the metadata restore succeeded. But the LV is still inactive — the device mapper hasn't created /dev/vg01/lv01 yet. Nothing can be mounted until we activate it.| State | Block Device | Can Mount? |
|---|---|---|
| Before activation | No /dev/vg01/lv01 | ✗ No |
| After activation | /dev/vg01/lv01 exists | ✓ Yes |
/dev/vg01/lv01) doesn't exist yet — the device mapper hasn't created it. Mount fails with "special device does not exist."-a n means available = no — this deactivates an LV. We need -a y (available = yes) to activate it./dev/xvdf. This has nothing to do with recovery, and the entire disk is only 10 GB — 54 GB doesn't exist to add.lvchange -a y = available yes (activate). lvchange -a n = available no (deactivate). We need -a y to create the block device.
Activation tells the Linux kernel's device mapper to read LVM metadata and create the virtual block device at /dev/vg01/lv01.
vg01-lv01 (253:0, 9G, lvm) is visible but the MOUNTPOINT column is empty. We need to mount it directly. mount /important_data /dev/vg01/lv01 attaches the logical volume device to the /important_data directory, making all recovered data accessible.| Option | What it does | Valid? |
|---|---|---|
| mount /important_data /dev/vg01/lv01 | Mounts LV directly to directory | ✓ Correct |
| mount -a | Reads /etc/fstab entries | ✗ Not used here |
mount /important_data /dev/vg01/lv01, which has its arguments reversed.
The correct syntax is mount /dev/vg01/lv01 /important_data — device first, mount point second.
The correctly ordered form appears as a distractor in Part 2, so the source contradicts itself.
Answer it as keyed for exam fidelity, but type it the right way round on a real system.
/etc/fstab — but only works if a valid fstab entry exists for this volume. A direct mount command is the explicit, reliable choice that does not depend on fstab configuration.xfs_metadump archive created by a separate tool. No such dump exists here. This is an XFS metadata tool, not an LVM tool.lvscan has no -a option — this returns an error. Even if it were valid, lvscan only lists logical volumes; it does not mount them or make data accessible.mount <mountpoint> <device> — mounts the logical volume directly to the target directory without relying on fstab.
mount -a depends on a valid /etc/fstab entry existing. A direct mount is explicit and works regardless of fstab configuration.