So I was playing with incus export trying to figure out how to setup and organize. This lead to a bunch of exports being generated in incus/backups and filling the root disk to the maximum. Freezing my server and forcing a hard reboot. After boot I was able to remove the dangling exports in backups to clear space.
However. No no instance can start because it seems the lvm’s on the loop device utilizing default.img are not mounted. Throwing failed to initialize LVM error starting a instance. Tried some things I could find around, like changing LVM.conf scan parameter. No success.
level=error msg=“Failed to auto start instance” err="Failed to activate LVM logical volume
I also made a booboo transferring some data to this new sever setup before having the proper backups in place.
Really hopeful one of you will have recovery guidance getting the lvm’s up and running.
incus@incus:~$ sudo lvmdiskscan/dev/nvme0n1p1 [ 976.00 MiB]/dev/nvme0n1p2 [ <1.79 TiB]/dev/nvme0n1p3 [ <29.54 GiB]/dev/loop0 [ 1.00 TiB] LVM physical volume/dev/sda [ <3.64 TiB]1 disk3 partitions0 LVM physical volume whole disks1 LVM physical volume
incus@incus:~$ sudo losetup -a/dev/loop0: [66306]:50200780 (/var/lib/incus/disks/default.img)
Solved.
Been digging around for related topics and suddenly found this discussion: Version 1.0.0 does not activate my thinpool. · Issue #244 · jthornber/thin-provisioning-tools · GitHub . This fixed it for me, replying here for reference purposes.
In /etc/lvm.config locate thin_check_options = [ “-q”, “–clear-needs-check-flag” ] enable it and modify the flag to –auto-repair so it becomes thin_check_options = [ “-q”, “–auto-repair” ]. Reboot and everything is back. It is unclear if it is safe to leave this as default, so I turned it off and reboot once more.
stgraber
September 17, 2025, 12:08am
3
Can you show the output of pvs, vgs and lvs?
incus@incus:~$ sudo pvs
PV VG Fmt Attr PSize PFree
/dev/loop0 default lvm2 a-- <1024.00g 0
incus@incus:~$ sudo vgs
VG #PV #LV #SN Attr VSize VFree
default 1 11 0 wz--n- <1024.00g 0
incus@incus:~$ sudo lvs
LV VG Attr LSize Pool Origin Data% Meta% Move Log Cpy%Sync Convert
IncusThinPool default twi-aotz-- <1022.00g 57.09 21.27
containers_alpine--adguardhome default Vwi-aotz-k 956.00m IncusThinPool 56.76
containers_alpine--calibre default Vwi-aotz-k 30.00g IncusThinPool 76.01
containers_alpine--calibre-pre--start default Vri---tz-k 30.00g IncusThinPool containers_alpine--calibre
containers_alpine--immich default Vwi-aotz-k 600.00g IncusThinPool 81.82
containers_alpine--mosquitto default Vwi-aotz-k 512.00m IncusThinPool 65.36
containers_alpine--ntfy default Vwi-aotz-k 512.00m IncusThinPool 72.50
containers_debian--services default Vwi-aotz-k 35.00g IncusThinPool 63.63
containers_debian--syncthing default Vwi-aotz-k 60.00g IncusThinPool 75.93
images_ec631a25f5d8a34d1319547282b6fe55612e69ae8a23a5c5e406fc3288de6cc3 default Vwi---tz-k 10.00g IncusThinPool
images_fa5f3f739e9892f12f18fa643641749bc82fd3ba12e7fb781e9112b1c980969c default Vwi---tz-k 10.00g IncusThinPool
It would be great if there were a way to avoid the utilization of the same disk on export. This makes exporting anything bigger than 50% of the disk impossible.
stgraber
September 17, 2025, 6:33pm
6
That’s what storage.backups_volume is for.
stgraber
September 17, 2025, 6:33pm
7
Okay, so everything seems to be there.
Can you do incus monitor --pretty in a terminal while running incus start NAME in another?
Sure! You did see it’s solved?
incus@incus:/mnt/satalvm$ incus start alpine-ntfy
incus@incus:~$ incus monitor --pretty
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Event listener server handler started id=a9adafee-bb40-429b-9bcb-9093e1358547 local=/var/lib/incus/unix.socket remote=@
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Handling API request ip=@ method=GET protocol=unix url=/1.0 username=incus
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Handling API request ip=@ method=GET protocol=unix url=/1.0/instances/alpine-ntfy username=incus
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Handling API request ip=@ method=GET protocol=unix url=/1.0/events username=incus
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Event listener server handler started id=590e8227-7291-4615-91b1-aad32b204dbb local=/var/lib/incus/unix.socket remote=@
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Handling API request ip=@ method=PUT protocol=unix url=/1.0/instances/alpine-ntfy/state username=incus
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Started operation class=task description="Starting instance" operation=cbdcf29d-24ad-4332-8d7b-51b4d5581e64 project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] New operation class=task description="Starting instance" operation=cbdcf29d-24ad-4332-8d7b-51b4d5581e64 project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Start started instance=alpine-ntfy instanceType=container project=default stateful=false
INFO [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] ID: cbdcf29d-24ad-4332-8d7b-51b4d5581e64, Class: task, Description: Starting instance CreatedAt="2025-09-17 20:51:45.874178977 +0200 CEST" Err= Location=none MayCancel=false Metadata="map[]" Resources="map[instances:[/1.0/instances/alpine-ntfy]]" Status=Pending StatusCode=Pending UpdatedAt="2025-09-17 20:51:45.874178977 +0200 CEST"
INFO [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] ID: cbdcf29d-24ad-4332-8d7b-51b4d5581e64, Class: task, Description: Starting instance CreatedAt="2025-09-17 20:51:45.874178977 +0200 CEST" Err= Location=none MayCancel=false Metadata="map[]" Resources="map[instances:[/1.0/instances/alpine-ntfy]]" Status=Running StatusCode=Running UpdatedAt="2025-09-17 20:51:45.874178977 +0200 CEST"
INFO [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Starting instance action=start created="2025-09-15 09:03:59.802214773 +0000 UTC" ephemeral=false instance=alpine-ntfy instanceType=container project=default stateful=false used="2025-09-17 18:51:29.564835225 +0000 UTC"
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Instance operation lock created action=start instance=alpine-ntfy project=default reusable=false
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Handling API request ip=@ method=GET protocol=unix url=/1.0/operations/cbdcf29d-24ad-4332-8d7b-51b4d5581e64 username=incus
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] MountInstance started driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Handling API request ip="192.168.178.88:56419" method=GET protocol=tls url="/1.0/operations?recursion=1&project=default" username=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Matched trusted cert fingerprint=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756 subject="O=Incus UI 192.168.178.7 (Browser Generated)"
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Matched trusted cert fingerprint=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756 subject="O=Incus UI 192.168.178.7 (Browser Generated)"
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Matched trusted cert fingerprint=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756 subject="O=Incus UI 192.168.178.7 (Browser Generated)"
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Handling API request ip="192.168.178.88:56419" method=GET protocol=tls url="/1.0/operations?recursion=1&project=default" username=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:45+02:00] Matched trusted cert fingerprint=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756 subject="O=Incus UI 192.168.178.7 (Browser Generated)"
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Activated logical volume dev=default/containers_alpine--ntfy driver=lvm pool=default volName=alpine-ntfy
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] MountInstance finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Mounted logical volume dev=/dev/dm-8 driver=lvm options=discard path=/var/lib/incus/storage-pools/default/containers/alpine-ntfy pool=default volName=alpine-ntfy
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Starting device device=eth0 instance=alpine-ntfy instanceType=container project=default type=nic
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Starting device device=root instance=alpine-ntfy instanceType=container project=default type=disk
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] UpdateInstanceBackupFile started driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Skipping unmount as in use driver=lvm pool=default refCount=1 volName=alpine-ntfy
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] UpdateInstanceBackupFile finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Handling API request ip=@ method=GET protocol=unix url="/internal/containers/alpine-ntfy/onstart?project=default" username=root
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Scheduler: container alpine-ntfy started: re-balancing
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Success for operation class=task description="Starting instance" operation=cbdcf29d-24ad-4332-8d7b-51b4d5581e64 project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Instance operation lock finished action=start err="<nil>" instance=alpine-ntfy project=default reusable=false
INFO [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Started instance action=start created="2025-09-15 09:03:59.802214773 +0000 UTC" ephemeral=false instance=alpine-ntfy instanceType=container project=default stateful=false used="2025-09-17 18:51:29.564835225 +0000 UTC"
INFO [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] ID: cbdcf29d-24ad-4332-8d7b-51b4d5581e64, Class: task, Description: Starting instance CreatedAt="2025-09-17 20:51:45.874178977 +0200 CEST" Err= Location=none MayCancel=false Metadata="map[]" Resources="map[instances:[/1.0/instances/alpine-ntfy]]" Status=Success StatusCode=Success UpdatedAt="2025-09-17 20:51:45.874178977 +0200 CEST"
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Start finished instance=alpine-ntfy instanceType=container project=default stateful=false
INFO [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Action: instance-started, Source: /1.0/instances/alpine-ntfy, Requestor: unix/incus (@)
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Event listener server handler stopped listener=590e8227-7291-4615-91b1-aad32b204dbb local=/var/lib/incus/unix.socket remote=@
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Matched trusted cert fingerprint=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756 subject="O=Incus UI 192.168.178.7 (Browser Generated)"
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Handling API request ip="192.168.178.88:56419" method=GET protocol=tls url="/1.0/instances?recursion=2&filter=name+eq+%28%5E%24%7C%5E.*%29&project=default" username=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Matched trusted cert fingerprint=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756 subject="O=Incus UI 192.168.178.7 (Browser Generated)"
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Matched trusted cert fingerprint=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756 subject="O=Incus UI 192.168.178.7 (Browser Generated)"
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Matched trusted cert fingerprint=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756 subject="O=Incus UI 192.168.178.7 (Browser Generated)"
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] Handling API request ip="192.168.178.88:56419" method=GET protocol=tls url="/1.0/operations?recursion=1&project=default" username=b2e4539736a23c94e2107612c62b5331e0d2c8a7d1757c85335903ea6a663756
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-adguardhome pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-mosquitto pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=debian-services pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-mosquitto pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=debian-services pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-adguardhome pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage started driver=lvm instance=debian-services pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage finished driver=lvm instance=debian-services pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage started driver=lvm instance=alpine-mosquitto pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-mosquitto pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=debian-services pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-mosquitto pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage started driver=lvm instance=alpine-adguardhome pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-adguardhome pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=debian-services pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage started driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-adguardhome pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-mosquitto pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-adguardhome pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-ntfy pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-calibre pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-immich pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-calibre pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=debian-syncthing pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-immich pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage started driver=lvm instance=alpine-immich pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-immich pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage started driver=lvm instance=alpine-calibre pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-calibre pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=debian-syncthing pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-immich pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage started driver=lvm instance=debian-syncthing pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage finished driver=lvm instance=debian-syncthing pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-calibre pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-homeassistant pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-immich pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=debian-syncthing pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-calibre pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=debian-syncthing pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-homeassistant pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage started driver=lvm instance=alpine-homeassistant pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-homeassistant pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-media pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-media pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-homeassistant pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-homeassistant pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-backup pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-backup pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage started driver=lvm instance=alpine-media pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-media pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage started driver=lvm instance=alpine-backup pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] GetInstanceUsage finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-backup pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-media pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots started driver=lvm instance=alpine-backup pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-media pool=default project=default
DEBUG [2025-09-17T20:51:46+02:00] CacheInstanceSnapshots finished driver=lvm instance=alpine-backup pool=default project=default
So, when setting this to pool/volume, is this the location where the export temporarily goes instead of the default /var/lib/incus/backups/instances? This could use some additional clarification in the documents.
stgraber
September 17, 2025, 7:02pm
10
Ah, oops, I missed that post somehow, glad that you got it resolved!
stgraber
September 17, 2025, 7:04pm
11
No, it’s an Incus managed volume, but it can be on whatever pool you want.
So if you have a bunch of space somewhere else on the host, you could create a dir pool using that location, then set storage.backups_volume to POOLNAME/VOLNAME for a custom volume within that pool.
For example, say you want to put your backups and images under /mnt/disk1, you’d do:
incus storage pool create disk1 dir source=/mnt/disk1
incus storage volume create disk1 backups
incus storage volume create disk1 images
incus config set storage.backups_volume=disk1/backups
incus config set storage.images_volume=disk1/images
Adding a volume to the storage.backups_volume isn’t working as I wish:
Modified storage.backups_volume to use satalvm/backups
Running backup of alpine-calibre Backing up instance: 18.31GB (216.79MB/s)
Creates it first here:
incus@incus:/mnt/satalvm$ sudo ls /var/lib/incus/backups/instances
alpine-calibre
storage.backups_volume
