mt(1) [ultrix man page]
mt(1) General Commands Manual mt(1) Name mt - magnetic tape manipulating program Syntax mt [-f tapename] command [count] Description The command permits the operation of a magnetic tape drive. Options The -f flag option uses the specified tape device (next argument) in place of either that tape device defined by your TAPE environment variable (.login or .profile) or /dev/nrmt0h. Some operations may be performed multiple times by specifying count. By default, performs the requested operation once. The command argument defines the operation to be performed. Only as many characters as are required to uniquely identify a command need be specified. The following is a list of commands: bsf Backspace count files. bsr Backspace count records. cache Allows to use the cache buffer on a tape drive that has the cache buffer feature. clhrdsf Clear hardware/software problem. Works with tape drives which use the TMSCP tape controller interface This command is restricted to root access only. clserex Clear serious exception. Works with tape drives which use the TMSCP tape controller interface clsub Clear subsystem. Works with tape drives which use the TMSCP tape controller interface This command is restricted to root access only. eof, weof Write count end-of-file marks at the current position on the tape. eotdis Disable end-of-tape detection. When the end of tape is reached, the tape will run off the reel. Only the superuser can issue this command. The command remains in effect for the device until end-of-tape detection is enabled with the eoten command. eoten Enable end-of-tape detection. When the end-of-tape markers are reached, the tape is halted on the reel, between the two end-of-tape markers. Only the superuser can issue this command. The command remains in effect for the device until end-of-tape detection is disabled with the eotdis command. This is the default mode after a system boot. fsf Forward-space count files. fsr Forward-space count records. nocache Disables the use of the cache buffer for any tape drive that has the cache buffer feature. offline, rewoffl Rewind the tape and place the tape unit off-line. retension Retensions the tape. Retension means moving the tape one complete pass between EOT and BOT. rewind Rewind the tape. status Print status information about the tape unit. Examples This example shows how to rewind the tape mt -f /dev/rmt0l rewind This example shows how to backspace the tape nmt1h three files: mt -f /dev/nrmt1h bsf 3 This example shows how to write two end-of-file marks at the current position on tape nmt6h: mt -f /dev/nrmt6h eof 2 Return Values In shell scripts, returns a 0 exit status when the operation(s) were successful, 1 if the command was unrecognized, and 2 if an operation failed. Files /dev/rmt?h or /dev/rmt?l Raw magnetic tape interface with rewind when closed /dev/nmt?h or /dev/nmt?l Raw magnetic tape interface with no rewind when closed See Also dd(1), tar(1), ioctl(2), mtio(4), tms(4), environ(7) mt(1)
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mt(1) User Commands mt(1) NAME
mt - magnetic tape control SYNOPSIS
mt [-f tapename] command... [count] DESCRIPTION
The mt utility sends commands to a magnetic tape drive. If -f tapename is not specified, the environment variable TAPE is used. If TAPE does not exist, mt uses the device /dev/rmt/0n. OPTIONS
The following option is supported: -f tapename Specifies the raw tape device. OPERANDS
The following operands are supported: count The number of times that the requested operation is to be performed. By default, mt performs command once. Multiple opera- tions of command may be performed by specifying count. command Available commands that can be sent to a magnetic tape drive. Only as many characters as are required to uniquely identify a command need be specified. eof Writes count EOF marks at the current position on the tape. weof fsf Forward spaces over count EOF marks. The tape is positioned on the first block of the file. fsr Forward spaces count records. bsf Back spaces over count EOF marks. The tape is positioned on the beginning-of-tape side of the EOF mark. bsr Back spaces count records. nbsf Back spaces count files. The tape is positioned on the first block of the file. This is equivalent to count+1 bsf's followed by one fsf. asf Specifies absolute space to count file number. This is equivalent to a rewind followed by a fsf count. If count is specified with any of the following commands, the count is ignored and the command is performed only once. eom Spaces to the end of recorded media on the tape. This is useful for appending files onto previously written tapes. rewind Rewinds the tape. offline Rewinds the tape and, if appropriate, takes the drive unit off-line by unloading the tape. rewoffl status Prints status information about the tape unit. retension Rewinds the cartridge tape completely, then winds it forward to the end of the reel and back to beginning- of-tape to smooth out tape tension. reserve Allows the tape drive to remain reserved after closing the device. The drive must then be explicitly released. release Re-establishes the default behavior of releasing at close. forcereserve Breaks the reservation of the tape drive held by another host and then reserves the tape drive. This com- mand can be executed only with super-user privileges. erase Erases the entire tape. Caution: Some tape drives have option settings where only portions of the tape may be erased. Be sure to select the correct setting to erase the whole tape. Erasing a tape may take a long time depending on the device and/or tape. Refer to the device specific manual for time details. config Reads the drives current configuration from the driver and displays it in st.conf format. See st(7D) for definition of fields and there meanings. EXIT STATUS
0 All operations were successful. 1 Command was unrecognized or mt was unable to open the specified tape drive. 2 An operation failed. FILES
/dev/rmt/* magnetic tape interface ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes: +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ | ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |Availability |SUNWcsu | +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ SEE ALSO
tar(1), tcopy(1), ar.h(3HEAD), environ(4), attributes(5), mtio( 7I), st(7D) BUGS
Not all devices support all options. Some options are hardware-dependent. Refer to the corresponding device manual page. mt is architecture sensitive. Heterogeneous operation (that is, SPARC to x86 or the reverse) is not supported. SunOS 5.10 1 Sep 2004 mt(1)