Dear All,

I am looking to do buckup for some data on my server .

the problem that the data size is more than one tape size
it will need 2 or 3 tapes , so i am looking for multi voulme utility.

in the same time , there are some sybolic links in my back , and
i need my back utility to follow those sybolic links .

the only way i found is the GNU tar , it can do multi volumes , in the same
time in can follow symbolic links

so i installed it on my machine ( solaris 8 ) and i took a sample test backup
and it worked fine.

when i tryed to run the complete backup , it reach the end of the tape
but keep trying , seem it wasn't able to detect the end of media .

so i tryed to specify a media length , but i failed in doing this

here is the command

tar -M -L 3000000 -cvhf /dev/rmt/0 /my_backup_folder

what i understand is ( i hope it is right )
M : for multi voulmes
L : for size in kilo ( i want 3G on each tape , so i specified 3000000)
h : to follow the symbolic links

could any one tell me please why my command not running right ???

is there any other tool that can follow symbolic links and do multi volumes

hope anyone could help as i have been 3 days trying and not able to
do it

From the tar man page:

This manual page documents the GNU version of tar , an archiving pro-
gram designed to store and extract files from an archive file known as
a tarfile. A tarfile may be made on a tape drive, however, it is also
common to write a tarfile to a normal file. The first argument to tar
must be one of the options: Acdrtux, followed by any optional func-
tions. The final arguments to tar are the names of the files or direc-
tories which should be archived. The use of a directory name always
implies that the subdirectories below should be included in the
archive.

I believe that this means that the -M and -L options should follow the -cvhf, not precede it.

slight

ooohhh noooo

i have read that man page more than 8 times but never be able to focus on that what you specified with bold

thank you very much

i will try it like :

tar -cvh -M -L3000000 -f /dev/rmt/0 /my_backup_directory

or do you think it should be
tar -cvhf /dev/rmt/0 -M -L 3000000 /my_backup_directory

if you have any clue , will be very nice to hear it

but really thanks very much for your help
the problem was , every time i ran this comman it take 4 or 5 small files then ask for the second tape .
so i was focusing on the L option and the tape drive and the tapes i was using

but never thought it will be the option order !!!

Thanks

tar -cvh -M -L 3000000 -f /dev/rmt/0 /my_backup_directory

That's my best guess. The options must come before the files arguments, I believe. Give it a shot and see what happens.

slight

Dear All,
i really don't know what's going on
i have 8mm tape drive , i tryed the following
command :
tar -cvh -M -L2000000 -f /dev/rmt/0 /my_backup_directory

and it work fine

when i tryed to increase the size (L2000000) to any greater value the tar didn't work right

it take just 2 or 3 small files ( don't exceed 10k in size ) and ask for a new tape !!!!

when i tryed less size (L1000000) it worked fine ????

i don't know , is there a limit for tape size in the GNU tar !!!!


Thanks