I'm trying to create a backup copy of a 4mm tape drive in redhat 9. My system recognizes the HP tape drive and I can read the tape with mt, but I'm not sure of the commands to back the tape up.

"I'm trying to create a backup copy of a 4mm tape drive in redhat 9. My system recognizes the HP tape drive and I can read the tape with mt, but I'm not sure of the commands to back the tape up."

Use the tar command to write to the tape and to restore from the tape. See:

man tar

http://www.apl.jhu.edu/Misc/Unix-info/tar/tar_2.html

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Steve Stites

Hi,

Do you want to back up (as in make a copy) of an existing tape, or do you want to use the tape drive as a backup device to back up your hard drive? I am unclear as to what you are asking about.

If you want to make a copy of an existing tape, then you can use the dd command to "bulk read" the tape from the tape device and create a raw/binary disk file on your local disk. Then you can again use the dd command to copy the raw binary disk file on to another tape mounted in your tape drive.

If you want to use the tape drive as a backup mechanism to back up your hard drive, then you can use any number of utilities. tar, dump, and cpio are three that immediately come to mind that perform quite well in that environment.

Just use the man facility to find out how each of the commands are supposed to work and you should be okay. However don't hesitate to ask additional questions if you get stuck.