mt

NAME

       mt - control magnetic tape drive operation

SYNOPSIS

       mt  [-V] [-f device] [--file=device] [--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.

       asf    Absolute space to file number count.  Equivalent to
              rewind followed by fsf 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).

       -V, --version
              Print the version number of mt.