stacker(1M)stacker(1M)NAMEstacker - robotics control program
SYNOPSISstacker [-D...] -c [device]
stacker [-D...] -l binnumber [-ddrivenumber] [device]
stacker [-D...] -u binnumber [-ddrivenumber] [device]
stacker [-D...] -f frombinnumber -t tobinnumber [device]
DESCRIPTIONstacker is an administrative utility used to move tapes between a robotic
tape library's slots and drive(s). stacker currently supports the
Exabyte 10i and 10e, the DLT2500, DLT2500xt, DLT2700, DLT2700xt, DLT4500,
DLT4700, the IBM Magstar (3590) and IBM Magstar MP (3570), the SGI DLT-
7000 autoloader (Minivault), the Fujitsu Computer Products of America
(FCPA) M1016/M1017, M2483 and M2488 3480/3490 drives, and all tape robots
that conform to the SCSI-2 Medium Changer command set.
The device argument is used to specify the special device that will be
used to control the stacker. This argument can be ignored if the
environment variable STACKER_DEV is set. The command line specification
of a device overrides the environment variable.
The special device nodes used to control tape robots can be found in the
directory /dev/scsi. (See ds(7M) for more information.) The entry that
corresponds to the SCSI bus and target ID of the robotic control
interface should be used. For example, the SGI DLT-7000 autoloader and
Exabyte 10i have a SCSI target ID separate from its internal tape drive.
The the DLT2500 and DLT2700 uses the same SCSI target ID (wih different
LUN) as their associated tape drive. The IBM 3590 can also be configured
in a similar fashion.
The hinv(1M) utility will list any robotic device that uses a separate
LUN in the following form (with X, Y and Z set to the appropriate
values):
Jukebox: unit X, lun Y on SCSI controller Z
This program requires root privilege to access the /dev/scsi devices. If
non-privileged access is required to the robot, simply change the
permissions on the /dev/scsi device controlling the stacker. (See
chmod(1).)
FUJITSU DRIVE AND ROBOT INFORMATION
The Fujitsu devices use half-inch tape cartridges. The M1016/M1017 are
18-track IBM 3480-compatible drives, and do not use the SCSI-2 Medium
Changer command set. The M2483 is a 36-track IBM 3490-compatible drive.
The M2488 is like the M2483, but includes SCSI-2 Fast and Wide support.
The Fujitsu devices all use the same SCSI target ID for tape and robotic
control. However, while the M1016/M1017 use SCSI LUN 0 for both tape and
robotic control, the M2483 and M2488 devices use LUN 0 for the tape and a
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separate LUN for the robot. The robot LUN is changeable, but is set to 4
at the factory.
The Fujitsu robotic control is actually performed with what is called an
autoloader. An autoloader is dedicated to a single drive, as opposed to
being able to potentially handle multiple drives like the other robotic
devices.
Fujitsu autoloaders use a tape magazine. The Automatic Cartridge Loader
(ACL) style of autoloader accepts a 5- or 10-tape magazine, and is
available with all the drive models. The Flush-mounted ACL (FACL) style
accepts a 7-tape magazine, and is available on only the M2483 and M2488.
Unlike the other robotic devices described herein, the Fujitsu model
numbers do not indicate if the tape drive is equipped with a tape robot.
Invoking stacker for a Fujitsu M1016/M1017 that is not equipped with an
autoloader causes the following message to be displayed: "ERROR: Fujitsu
M1016/M1017 drive lacks autoloader." This is done because this is the
only device discussed here for which it is not possible to determine the
existence of a robotic device from either the device's model number or
the output of hinv(1M).
OPTIONS
All bins are numbered starting from 1 to the number supported by the
device. The internal tape drives (if there are more than one) are
numbered starting at 1 as well. For example, the Odetics 2640 library's
bins are numbered from 1 to 264, and its tape drives are numbered from 1
to 3.
-D... Print debugging output in increasing levels of detail.
-c Print the configuration of the device. This includes the number
of bins, the number of tape drives, the number of import/export
ports, and the number of robotic arms.
-l binnumber [-d drivenumber]
Load a tape from the specified bin into the specified tape drive.
If the drive number is not specified, drive number 1 is used.
-u binnumber [-d drivenumber]
Unload a tape from the specified tape drive into the specified
bin. If the drive number is not specified, drive number 1 is
used. The Fujitsu M2483 autoloader can only unload a tape
cartridge to the slot from which the medium was originally
loaded. The operator is informed of this limitation upon any
such unload request with the following message: "NOTE: Fujitsu
M2483 request handled as unload to original medium slot."
-f frombinnumber -t tobinnumber
Move a tape from (-f) one bin to (-t) another bin. The
autoloaders on the Fujitsu M1016/M1017 and M2483 drives do not
support this option. If attempted, the error message "autoloader
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cannot perform bin-to-bin movement" will be displayed.
NOTES
The DLT2700 must have the mode select key set to automatic in order for
the software to be able to control the stacker's robotics. Automatic
mode is represented by a square made of arrows.
The IBM Magstar MP stacker must be in the "Random" or "Random (2-LUN)"
mode to be controllable by the software. This mode is configured via the
control panel on the 3590 drive. When set to 2-LUN mode, the drive will
be LUN 0, and the stacker is LUN 1. In "Random" mode, only LUN 0 exists
and stacker operations must be directed there.
As a Fujitsu autoloader is dedicated to a single drive, and since the
drive number parameter defaults to 1, the -l and -u options never need to
include a Fujitsu drive number.
The SGI DLT-7000 autoloader (Minivault) is also dedicated to a single
drive and hence the drive number need not be specified. The SGI DLT-7000
autoloader is shipped from the factory with the loader set for target ID
1, and the drive set for target ID 2. These may have been changed at your
individual site.
The Fujitsu M1016/M1017 device's SCSI command to move media into or out
of a bin contains no load or unload field. Its operation is dependent on
the state of the referenced bin and the device's single drive. Issuance
of this command results in a drive load operation if the bin contains a
tape, an unload operation if the drive contains a tape from that bin, or
an error if the bin was empty when the magazine was inserted into the ACL
or FACL. If a tape loaded from another bin is in the drive when this
command is issued, this tape is automatically unloaded to its originating
bin before the tape in the referenced bin is loaded.
Hence, the -l and -u options can be used interchangeably with the Fujitsu
M1016/M1017. The result of issuing either command will be a load or
unload operation, as appropriate for the current state of the bin
referenced.
BUGS
The DLT2700 does not respond to some error conditions with the expected
SCSI error messages. For example, moving a tape to a bin that is already
occupied will result in an "invalid field in CDB" message (that is the
error returned by the 2700) rather than a "destination element full"
message.
FILES
/dev/scsi/sc*
SEE ALSOchmod(1), ds(7M), hinv(1M).
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