
                               amtape
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Name

amtape  user interface to Amanda tape changer controls

Synopsis

amtape config command [ command options ]

DESCRIPTION

Amtape performs tape changer control operations. It uses the underlying tape
changer script defined by the tpchanger option for a particular Amanda
configuration as specified by the config argument.
Tape changers maintain a notion of the current and next slot for each
configuration. These may or may not correspond to an actual physical state of
the device, but do tend to minimize searching through the tape storage slots.
If the desired tape is in the current slot, it is likely the next tape needed
is in the next slot rather than at some random position in the storage slots.
See the amanda(8) man page for more details about Amanda.

COMMANDS



  reset
      Reset the tape changer to a known state. The current slot is set to the
      first slot. Other device-specific side effects may occur. Some gravity
      stackers need to be reset to the top position by hand. This command
      notifies Amanda the stacker is back in that position.

  eject
      If a tape is loaded in the drive, it is ejected and returned to the slot
      from which it was loaded.

  clean
      If a cleaning tape is defined for the changer, it is used to clean the
      drive.

  show
      Show the contents of all slots. This can be slow.

  label label
      Search for and load the Amanda tape with label label.

  taper
      Perform the taper scan algorithm. Load the next tape in the
      configuration's tape sequence, or a fresh tape with a suitable label.

  device
      Display the name of the current tape device on stdout.

  current
      Display the current slot.

  update
      Update the changer label database, if it has one, to match the tapes now
      available.

  slot slot
      Eject any tape in the drive and put it away, then load the tape from slot
      slot and reset current.

  slot current
      Eject any tape in the drive and put it away, then load the tape from the
      current slot.

  slot prev
      Eject any tape in the drive and put it away, then load the tape from the
      previous slot and reset current.

  slot next
      Eject any tape in the drive and put it away, then load the tape from the
      next slot and reset current.

  slot first
      Eject any tape in the drive and put it away, then load the tape from the
      first slot and reset current.

  slot last
      Eject any tape in the drive and put it away, then load the tape from the
      last slot and reset current.

  slot advance
      Eject any tape in the drive and put it away. Advance current to the next
      tape, but do not load it.

This is useful with non-gravity stackers to unload the last tape used and set
up Amanda for the next run. If you just use eject, the current tape will be
mounted again in the next run, where it will be rejected as being still in use,
ejected and the next tape requested. Using slot next followed by eject does an
unnecessary mount.
Note: most changers optimize the slot commands to not eject the loaded tape if
it is the one being requested.

AUTHOR

James da Silva, <jds@amanda.org> : Original text
Stefan G. Weichinger, <sgw@amanda.org>, maintainer of the Amanda-documentation:
XML-conversion

SEE ALSO

amanda(8)
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