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Quick links About
mt
Syntax
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Linux / Unix main page
About mt
Magnetic tape control.
Syntax
mt [ -f tapename ] command [ count ]
| -f tapename |
Specify the raw tape device. |
| 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, 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. |
If count is specified with any of the following commands, the count is ignored and the command is
performed only once.
| 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. |
| reserve |
Allow the tape drive to remain reserved after closing the device. The drive must then be explicitly released. |
| release |
Re-establish the default behavior of releasing at close. |
| forcereserve |
Break the reservation of the tape drive
held by another host and then reserve the tape drive. This command can be
executed only with super-user privileges. |
| erase |
Erase the entire 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. |
|
| 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 performed by specifying count. |
Related commands
tar
tcopy
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