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MT(1)                              GNU CPIO                              MT(1)

NAME
       mt - control magnetic tape drive operation

SYNOPSIS
       mt [-V] [-f device] [--file=device] [--rsh-command=command] [--version]
       operation [count]

DESCRIPTION
       This manual page documents the GNU version  of  mt.   mt  performs  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/in-
       clude/sys/mtio.h when mt is compiled.  It can be overridden by giving a
       device file name in the environment 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 `HOSTNAME:'.  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  abbreviations  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 positioned on the
              beginning-of-the-tape side of the file mark.

       fsfm   Forward space count file marks.  The tape is positioned  on  the
              beginning-of-the-tape side of the file mark.

       asf    Absolute  space to file number count.  Equivalent to rewind fol-
              lowed by fsf count.

       seek   Seek to block number count.

       eom    Space to the end of the recorded media on the tape (for  append-
              ing 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  Perform long erase of tape. If count is 0, perform  short  erase
              of tape (some devices do not support this).

       mt exits with a status of 0 if the operation succeeded, 1 if the opera-
       tion 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 `HOSTNAME:'.  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).

       --rsh-command=command
              Notifies  mt  that it should use command to communicate with re-
              mote devices instead of /usr/bin/ssh or /usr/bin/rsh.

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

BUG REPORTS
       Report bugs to <bug-cpio@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/li-
       censes/gpl.html>
       This  is  free  software:  you  are free to change and redistribute it.
       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

MT                             January 28, 2014                          MT(1)