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 options are 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 com-
mand once. Multiple operations of command can be
performed by specifying count.
command The following available commands that can be sent
to a magnetic tape drive are supported. Only as
many characters as are required to uniquely iden-
tify a command need be specified.
asf Specifies absolute space to count file
number. This is equivalent to a rewind
followed by a fsf count.
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.
bssf Back spaces over the requested number
of sequential file marks. Sequential
file marks are where the file marks are
one right after the other with no other
blocks of any kind between the file
marks. The number argument specifies
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User Commands mt(1)
how many sequential file marks to which
to space. For example, bssf 4 searches
backwards to the first place where
there are 4 sequential file marks and
positions to the BOP side of the 4th
file mark.
This command is not supported by all
drives.
eof Writes count EOF marks at the current
weof position on the tape.
fsf Forward spaces over count EOF marks.
The tape is positioned on the first
block of the file.
fsr Forward spaces count records.
fssf Forward spaces the over requested
number of sequential file marks.
Sequential file marks are where the
file marks are one right after the
other with no other blocks of any kind
between the file marks. The number
argument specifies how many sequential
file marks to which to space. For exam-
ple, fssf 4 searches forwards to the
first place where there are 4 sequen-
tial file marks and positions after the
4th file mark.
This command is not supported by all
drives.
load Requests drive load and thread current
media. Not supported by all drives.
lock Prevents media removal.
nbsf Back spaces count files. The tape is
positioned on the first block of the
file. This is equivalent to count]1
bsfs ollowed by one fsf.
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User Commands mt(1)
seek Positions to requested logical tape
position.
tell Gets and prints current logical tape
position.
unlock Allows media removal.
If count is specified with any of the following
commands, the count is ignored and the command is
performed only once.
config Reads the drives current confi-
guration from the driver and
displays it in st.conf format.
See st(7D) for definition of
fields and there meanings.
eom Spaces to the end of recorded
media on the tape. This is useful
for appending files onto previ-
ously written tapes.
erase Erases the entire tape.
Some tape drives have option set-
tings where only portions of the
tape can be erased. Be sure to
select the correct setting to
erase the whole tape. Erasing a
tape can take a long time depend-
ing on the device and/or tape.
Refer to the device specific
manual for time details.
forcereserve Attempts to break a SCSI I
reserve issued by another initia-
tor. When this command completes,
the drive is not reserved for the
current initiator, but is avail-
able for use. This command can be
only be executed by those with
super-user privileges.
offline
rewoffl
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User Commands mt(1)
Rewinds the tape and, if
appropriate, takes the drive unit
off-line by unloading the tape.
release Re-establishes the default
behavior of releasing at close.
reserve Allows the tape drive to remain
reserved after closing the dev-
ice. The drive must then be
explicitly released.
retension Rewinds the cartridge tape com-
pletely, then winds it forward to
the end of the reel and back to
beginning-of-tape to smooth out
tape tension.
rewind Rewinds the tape.
status Prints status information about
the tape unit.
Status information can include
the sense key reported by the
drive, the residual and retries
for the last operation, the
current tape position reported in
file number, and the number of
blocks from the beginning of that
file. It might also report that
WORM media is loaded in that
drive.
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.
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User Commands mt(1)
FILES
/dev/rmt/* magnetic tape interface
ATRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:
ATRIBUTE TYPE ATRIBUTE VALUE
Availability SUNWcsu
SEE ALSO
tar(1), tcopy(1), ar.h(3HEAD), 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.
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