hi all,

v have installed linux in a server & it is with out GUI and some other
Facilities..

V've planned to install tape drive in that server.

but v dont know anything about how to manage that Tape drive from A to
Z...

the things i need to is

1.how to make linux to detect the drive first?
2.then how to list the tape drives?
3. commands to wotk with the tapes and tape drive in linux?

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In article <1160853688.386692.164140@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
kavin <kavinilammurugu@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>v have installed linux in a server & it is with out GUI and some other
>Facilities..
>
>V've planned to install tape drive in that server.
>
>but v dont know anything about how to manage that Tape drive from A to
>Z...
>
> the things i need to is
>
>1.how to make linux to detect the drive first?
>2.then how to list the tape drives?
>3. commands to wotk with the tapes and tape drive in linux?
>

You havent said much about what kind of drive, or what kind of Linux.
You can learn a lot by reading "Installing into a Linux System".
< downloads.quantum.com/dlt2000/6464215011.pdf >

carl
--
carl lowenstein         marine physical lab     u.c. san diego
clowenst@ucsd.edu

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kavin wrote:
>
> but v dont know anything about how to manage that Tape drive from A to
> Z...

Depending on what your expectations on "manage" are, this may
be a question that can't be answered.  UNIX has never had good
support for tapes just a bunch of commands that might or might
not deal with tapes.  Remember that in Unix a file is a file is a file
so programs aren't necessarily even aware that their I/O is to/from
a tape since Unix tends to not care.

> 1.how to make linux to detect the drive first?

To specific to the individual distribution and I know Solaris, HPUX
and so on better than Linux distribs.

> 2.then how to list the tape drives?

ls /dev/rmt

> 3. commands to wotk with the tapes and tape drive in linux?

The main manipulation program is "mt".  It can move tapes forward
and backward by files, rewind, eject and so on.  Manipulation as in
not moving data just effecting state.

Plenty of programs are often used with tapes.  One of my favorites
is tcopy which can copy from one drive to another but will also tell
you numner of files, blocksizes of those files, numbers of those
blocks.  Since each program that commonly writes a specific
blocksize you can guess at the contents.

Other common tape programs: tar, cpio, dump, dd ...

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