solaris Man Page: mt(1)

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mt(1) manual page Table of Contents

Synopsis

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

mt sends commands to a magnetic tape drive. If tapename is not specified, the environment variable TAPE is used. If TAPE does not exist, mt uses the device /dev/rmt/0. tapename refers to a raw tape device. By default, mt performs the requested operation once; multiple operations may be performed by specifying count.

The available commands are listed below. Only as many characters as are required to uniquely identify a command need be specified.

mt returns a 0 exit status when the operation(s) were successful, 1 if the command was unrecognized or if mt was unable to open the specified tape drive, and 2 if an operation failed.

mt Commands

eof, weof: Write count EOF marks at the current position on the tape.
fsf: Forward space over count EOF marks. The tape is positioned on the first block of the file.
fsr: Forward space count records.
bsf: Back space over count EOF marks. The tape is positioned 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.

For the following commands, count is ignored:

eom: Space to the end of recorded media on the tape. This 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.
erase: Erase the entire tape.