MT(1L)MT(1L)NAMEmt - control magnetic tape drive operation
SYNOPSISmt [-V] [-f device] [--file=device] [--rsh-command=com
mand] [--version] operation [count]
DESCRIPTION
This manual page documents the GNU version of mt. mt per
forms 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 environ
ment 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 `HOST
NAME:'. 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 abbre
viations 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 posi
tioned on the beginning-of-the-tape side of the
file mark.
fsfm Forward space count file marks. The tape is posi
tioned 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 `HOST
NAME:'. 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 communi
cate with remote devices instead of /usr/bin/ssh or
/usr/bin/rsh.
-V, --version
Print the version number of mt.
MT(1L)
