mt (1)
NAME
mt - control magnetic tape drive operationSYNOPSIS
mt [-V] [-f device] [--file=device] [--rsh-command=command] [--version] operation [count]DESCRIPTION
This manual page documents the GNU version of mt. mt performs the given operation, which must be one of the tape operations listed below, on a tape drive.The default tape device to operate on is taken from the file /usr/include/sys/mtio.h when mt is compiled. It can be overridden by giving a device file name in the environment variable TAPE or by a command line option (see below), which also overrides the environment variable.
The device must be either a character special file or a remote tape drive. To use a tape drive on another machine as the archive, use a filename that starts with `HOSTNAME:'. The hostname can be preceded by a username and an `@' to access the remote tape drive as that user, if you have permission to do so (typically an entry in that user's `~/.rhosts' file).
The available operations are listed below. Unique abbreviations are accepted. Not all operations are available on all systems, or work on all types of tape drives. Some operations optionally take a repeat count, which can be given after the operation name and defaults to 1.
- eof, weof
- Write count EOF marks at current position.
- fsf
- Forward space count files. The tape is positioned on the first block of the next file.
- bsf
- Backward space count files. The tape is positioned on the first block of the next file.
- fsr
- Forward space count records.
- bsr
- Backward space count records.
- bsfm
- Backward space count file marks. The tape is positioned on the beginning-of-the-tape side of the file mark.
- fsfm
- Forward space count file marks. The tape is positioned on the beginning-of-the-tape side of the file mark.
- asf
- Absolute space to file number count. Equivalent to rewind followed by fsf count.
- seek
- Seek to block number count.
- eom
- Space to the end of the recorded media on the tape (for appending files onto tapes).
- rewind
- Rewind the tape.
- offline, rewoffl
- Rewind the tape and, if applicable, unload the tape.
- status
- Print status information about the tape unit.
- retension
- Rewind the tape, then wind it to the end of the reel, then rewind it again.
- erase
- Erase the tape.
mt exits with a status of 0 if the operation succeeded, 1 if the operation or device name given was invalid, or 2 if the operation failed.
OPTIONS
- -f, --file=device
- Use device as the file name of the tape drive to operate on. To use a tape drive on another machine, use a filename that starts with `HOSTNAME:'. The hostname can be preceded by a username and an `@' to access the remote tape drive as that user, if you have permission to do so (typically an entry in that user's `~/.rhosts' file).
- --rsh-command=command
- Notifies mt that it should use command to communicate with remote devices instead of /usr/bin/ssh or /usr/bin/rsh.
- -V, --version
- Print the version number of mt.
REPORTING BUGS
Report cpio bugs to bug-cpio@gnu.orgGNU cpio home page: <www.gnu.org/software/cpio>
General help using GNU software: <www.gnu.org/gethelp>
Report cpio translation bugs to <translationproject.org/team>