Hi All,

I've inherited an AIX 6.1 box and I have to restore a single file from a tape device. The hardware is on another country and I don't have physical access to it - just remote access via putty.

So far I can see multiple rmt0 devices under /dev/ (rmt0, rmt0., rmt0.1, rmt0.2,.... rmt0.6)

Also, to list the files on the tape, I had to do . Commands like just run into errors

With that said, I tried to run , but I just get the same error.

So, how should I proceed to restore a single file from that tape into a destination directory defined by myself?

Thank you.

Step 1 is to look at the tape backup scripts (I assume there are scripts) and discover how the tape is WRITTEN. Until you know what was written, trying to extract randomly is pointless. IF you were to succeed, it would be a product of impure luck. I hate depending upon luck! Start from certain knowledge.

There is no such script under root user as well as other users

Then there should be some kind of continuity document, procedure manual, DR manual, or other documentation that records how backup and recovery was intended to work on this platform. (All assuming the System Admin knew his job.) You need to know how the backups were written to be sure you can recover them. You can test them with some of the common tools (tar or pax for example) but until you know the details on format and the command line options used you are shooting in the dark.

PS. I have, on occasion, solved issue when shooting in the dark. I HATE that. It is always better to know what SHOULD work so you can better identify causes when it does NOT. Without that, if it works you will not know why it worked, if it fails you will not know why it failed. That is a poor way to start off.

PPS. Could this be a Makesysb or Savevg tape rather than a regular backup tape? That would make a HUGE difference! There are man, info, DOC, and Redbook pages for those utilities available for install and online at the IBM support sites.

You are having all kinds of trouble separating out an individual file off the tape. I suggest that you try restoring the entire tape to a hard drive and then look for the file that you want on the hard drive.

------------------------------
Steve Stites

While that should work, it assumes you have adequate storage space for that size of a restore. If you do, that costs only time. If not, I believe you have pointers to the kinds of places to look up information. Please let us know what you find.

@OP
So you've found out it is in tar-format, then use tar to extract files.
The pathname is what you see in the output of `tar tv`

1 members found this post helpful.