Rename Linux Volume Groups and Logical Volumes

If you are decided to rename your Linux LVM Volume Groups or Logical Volumes then here is how:

Rename a volume group:

# vgrename /dev/vg_old /dev/vgnewname 

Rename a logical volume:

# lvrename /dev/vg_name/lv_old /dev/vg_name/lv_newname 

Make sure to modify the respective entries in fstab as well:

# vi /etc/fstab

/dev/mapper/vg_old-lv_old       /var         ext4    defaults        1 1

to

/dev/mapper/vgnewname-lv_newname       /var         ext4    defaults        1 1

And if you are renaming your root partition VG or LV, then grub menu file also needs to be modified in order for server to find your vmlinuz kernel image under root directory during boot process:

# vi /boot/grub/menu.lst

kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64 ro root=/dev/mapper/vg_old-lv_root rd_NO_LUKS rd_LVM_LV=vg_old/lv_root LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd_LVM_LV=vg_old/lv_swap

to 

kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64 ro root=/dev/mapper/vgnewname-lv_root rd_NO_LUKS rd_LVM_LV=vg_old/lv_root LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd_LVM_LV=vgnewname/lv_swap

Note: If you forgot to modify these 2 mentioned files menu.list and fstab like me for the first time, you probably receive following kernel panic after reboot your system:

Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!

Pid: 1, comm: init tainted 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64

Call Trace

After amended those files, you should be able to get rid of that kernel panic error and your system will be booted with new VG or LV names mounted.