gentapes(1) General Commands Manual gentapes(1)
NAME
gentapes - Produces magnetic tape distribution media
SYNOPSIS
/usr/bin/gentapes [-w | -v] [hostname:] prodID devname
OPTIONS
Writes the product media without verification. Do not use the -w option with the -v option. Verifies the product media without writing it
first. This assumes that you have already written kit files to the distribution media. Do not use the -v option with the -w option.
The -w and -v options are mutually exclusive. If neither is used, the gentapes utility writes and then verifies the product media.
OPERANDS
The optional hostname: argument is the name of a remote network machine that contains the kit descriptor database. The gentapes utility
searches the kit descriptor database on the remote machine for the kit identifier (prodID[TK|MT]) and uses it to create the media. The
colon (:) is a required delimiter for TCP/IP networks, and space is permitted between the colon and the prodID. For example, if the prod-
uct code is OAT100 and you are using the kit descriptor database on node mynode, use mynode:OAT100 for this option. The mandatory prodID
operand is a kit identifier consisting of the product code and version number specified in the CODE and VERS fields of the kit's key file.
Refer to the Guide to Preparing Product Kits for information about the key file. The mandatory devname operand specifies the device spe-
cial file name for a no-rewind tape device such as /dev/ntape/tape0l. The gentapes utility uses the default tape density for the device and
ignores any suffix specified on the command line.
DESCRIPTION
Use the gentapes utility to produce MT9 or TK50 magnetic tape distribution media. The gentapes utility performs the following tasks: Deter-
mines the media code (TK or MT) for the specified tape device. Appends the media code to the product code specified on the command line.
Searches the kit descriptor database for the combined product code and media code. The default kit descriptor database is the /etc/kitcap
file. Copies files and subsets specified in the kit description to the distribution media. If you specified verification, rewinds and
reads the tape, using the sum utility to verify file transfer accuracy. Refer to the sum(1) reference page for more information about this
utility.
If you do not use either of the -w or -v options, the gentapes utility writes and then verifies the product media.
The gentapes utility can produce multivolume tape kits and multiproduct tape kits. See the kitcap(4) reference page for information on
specifying these features.
RESTRICTIONS
You must have root privileges to run this program. If you use the optional hostname operand, you must have root privileges to access files
on the remote host.
If you do not use the optional hostname operand, you can access the files used by the gentapes utility only if you add the local hostname
to the local /.rhosts file, as follows: hostname root.
The -w and -v options are mutually exclusive.
FILES
Device special files for no-rewind tape devices Default kit descriptor database
SEE ALSO
Commands: gendisk(1), sum(1)
Files: kitcap(4)
Guide to Preparing Product Kits
gentapes(1)