[TriLUG] retrieving a tar from tape

[Byarlay, Wayne A.]

Oh. Yes, I do rewind the tapes manually; that has not been a problem.
Maybe I could make it easier by using /dev/st0, I'll try that in the
future. Thanks. 

I just don't know how to retrieve this archive off the tape... probably
just a question of syntax.

Do I need to specify a filename, such as "backup.tar", when I write to
the tape?

wab.

-----Original Message-----
From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org] On
Behalf Of Aaron S. Joyner
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 9:30 AM
To: Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] retrieving a tar from tape

I notice that you're using /dev/nst0 in your tar commands.  This is of
course the "no rewind" tape device.  Are you rewinding the tapes
manually between writing to them and reading from them?  If not, you
should be, ala: `mt rewind`  Alternately, you could leave off the n from
the device name in your original tar command (/dev/st0) and the tape
would automatically be rewound before it was ejected.  Your choice.  :)
If you're going to be doing more than one archive on a tape, the
non-rewinding device is the way to go.  If not, it's really just a
matter of preference or which is more convenient in your scripting.

Aaron S. Joyner


Byarlay, Wayne A. wrote:

>I recently tarred some (big) stuff to a couple DLT tapes (we're talking

>RH9, with a SCSI DLT). I used #tar -c -M -f /dev/nst0 /path/bigfiles*.*
>
>It seemed to work, prompted me for the 2nd tape, and all. But...
>
>How do I RETRIEVE this archive? I tried
>
>#tar -xv -f /dev/nst0
>
>But do I have to provide a filename or something?
>
>Thanks for the expert advice, in advance... Let me know if any crucial 
>info is missing that I forgot to provide.
>
>WAB.
>
>p.s. Although I do not actually live in the Tri-city area (In fact, I 
>don't even know for sure where it is, haha), I find this e-list to be 
>the most helpful linux mailing list. Thanks all!
>  
>

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