mt

 

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 User Commands                                               mt(1)
 
 
 


NAME
      mt - magnetic tape control
 


SYNOPSIS
      mt [ -f tapename ]  command ...  [ count ]
 


DESCRIPTION
      mt 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
      -f tapename
            Specify the raw tape device.
 


OPERANDS
      count The number of times that the requested operation is to
            be  performed.  By default, mt performs  command once;
            multiple operations 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, weof
            Write count EOF marks at the current position  on  the
            tape.
 
      fsf   Forward space over count EOF marks.  The tape is posi-
            tioned on the first block of the file.
 
      fsr   Forward space count records.
 
      bsf   Back space over count EOF marks.  The  tape  is  posi-
            tioned on the beginning-of-tape side of the  EOF mark.
 
      bsr   Back space count records.
 
      nbsf  Back space 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   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   Space to the end of recorded media on the  tape.  This
 
 
 
 SunOS 5.8           Last change: 13 Nov 1996                    1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 User Commands                                               mt(1)
 
 
 
            is  useful for appending files onto previously written
            tapes.
 
      rewind
            Rewind the tape.
 
      offline, rewoffl
            Rewind the tape and, if appropriate,  take  the  drive
            unit   off-line  by  unloading  the  tape.  It  cycles
            through all four  tapes.
 
      status
            Print status information about the tape unit.
 
      retension
            Rewind the cartridge tape  completely,  then  wind  it
            forward  to the end of the reel and back to beginning-
            of-tape to smooth out tape tension.
 
      reserve
            Allow the tape drive to remain reserved after  closing
            the   device.   The  drive  must  then  be  explicitly
            released.
 
      release
            Re-establish the  default  behavior  of  releasing  at
            close.
 
      forcereserve
            Break the  reservation  of  the  tape  drive  held  by
            another  host  and  then  reserve the tape drive. This
            command  can  be   executed   only   with   super-user
            privileges.
 
      erase Erase the entire 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.
 
 
 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
 
 
 
 
 
 SunOS 5.8           Last change: 13 Nov 1996                    2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 User Commands                                               mt(1)
 
 
 


ATTRIBUTES
      See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
      butes:
 
      ____________________________________________________________
     |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
     |_____________________________|_____________________________|
     | Availability                | SUNWcsu                     |
     |_____________________________|_____________________________|
 
 


SEE ALSO
      tar(1), tcopy(1), ar(4),  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, Sun3 to Sun4 or the reverse) is not supported.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SunOS 5.8           Last change: 13 Nov 1996                    3
 
 
 

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