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 © 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)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Mon Jul 13 23:44:22 CEST 2026.