mt(1) User Commands mt(1)NAMEmt - magnetic tape control
SYNOPSISmt [-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 option is 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 command
once. Multiple operations of command may be per‐
formed 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 Writes count EOF marks at the
weof current 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.
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.
nbsf Back spaces 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 Specifies 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 Spaces to the end of recorded
media on the tape. This is use‐
ful for appending files onto
previously written tapes.
rewind Rewinds the tape.
offline Rewinds the tape and, if appro‐
rewoffl priate, takes the drive unit
off-line by unloading the tape.
status Prints status information about
the tape unit.
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.
reserve Allows the tape drive to remain
reserved after closing the
device. The drive must then be
explicitly released.
release Re-establishes the default
behavior of releasing at close.
forcereserve Attempts to break a SCSI II
reserve issued by another ini‐
tiator. When this command com‐
pletes, the drive is not
reserved for the current ini‐
tiator, but is available for
use. This command can be only
be executed by those with
super-user privileges.
erase Erases the entire tape. Cau‐
tion: Some tape drives have
option settings where only por‐
tions of the tape may be
erased. Be sure to select the
correct setting to erase the
whole 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.
config Reads the drives current con‐
figuration from the driver and
displays it in st.conf format.
See st(7D) for definition of
fields and there meanings.
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
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWcsu │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOtar(1), tcopy(1), ar.h(3HEAD), environ(4), attributes(5), mtio( 7I),
st(7D)BUGS
Not all devices support all options. Some options are hardware-depen‐
dent. Refer to the corresponding device manual page.
mt is architecture sensitive. Heterogeneous operation (that is, SPARC
to x86 or the reverse) is not supported.
SunOS 5.10 21 Aug 2007 mt(1)
