000-221 · Question #232
An administrator receives the following error message when attempting to extend a volume group with an additional disk: 0516-1162 extendvg: the Physical Partition size of 256 requires the creation…
The correct answer is D. The number of physical volumes allowed in the volume group will be reduced. Using chvg -t resolves the physical partition limit by increasing the PP factor, but this comes with a direct trade-off against the number of physical volumes the volume group can hold.
Question
An administrator receives the following error message when attempting to extend a volume group with an additional disk:
0516-1162 extendvg:
the Physical Partition size of 256 requires the creation of 1026 partitions for hdisk2. The limitation for volume group rootvg is 1024 physical partitions per physical volume. Use the chvg command with the -t option to attempt to change the maximum Physical Partitions per Physical volume for this volume group. While the use of the -t option may allow the administrator to successfully extend the volume group, what other effect will using this option have?
Options
- AThe boot logical volume would be recreated.
- BThe volume group would need to be varied off to apply the change.
- CMirroring would be removed from all logical volumes within the volume group
- DThe number of physical volumes allowed in the volume group will be reduced
How the community answered
(47 responses)- A9% (4)
- B6% (3)
- C2% (1)
- D83% (39)
Why each option
Using chvg -t resolves the physical partition limit by increasing the PP factor, but this comes with a direct trade-off against the number of physical volumes the volume group can hold.
The chvg -t option only modifies the PP factor metadata in the volume group descriptor; it does not trigger recreation or any structural change to the boot logical volume.
The chvg -t operation can be performed while the volume group is varied on and active; an offline state is not required for this change.
The chvg -t option adjusts physical partition sizing metadata only and has no effect on mirroring configurations of any logical volumes within the volume group.
The chvg -t option sets a PP factor multiplier that increases the maximum PPs per PV beyond the 1024 default, but the total number of descriptor area entries in the volume group is fixed. Increasing the PP limit per PV proportionally reduces the maximum number of physical volumes allowed in the volume group - for example, using -t 2 doubles the PPs per PV but halves the maximum PV count.
Concept tested: AIX chvg -t PP factor and PV count trade-off
Source: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/aix/7.3?topic=c-chvg-command
Topics
Community Discussion
4
Sunita A.Jun 26, 2026D is correct. The chvg -t option works by multiplying the physical partition size factor, which lets the volume group accommodate more partitions per disk, but the trade-off is that it proportionally reduces the maximum number of physical volumes allowed in that volume group, because the VG descriptor area has a fixed capacity that must be divided between those two values.
Ola B.Jun 24, 2026Thought A looked right at first, but the chvg -t trade-off is always PP count vs PV limit, so D.
Nina C.Jun 26, 2026Mirroring drops when you raise the PP limit, that trade-off burned me in labs.
Ola B.Jun 28, 2026Nina, mirroring actually stays consistent as you raise the PP limit because the port processor handles replication independently of the threshold, so bumping that limit does not reduce your mirror count, which is why D is the correct pick here.