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 corre-
       spond to an actual physical state of the  device,  but  do
       tend  to minimize searching through the tape rack.  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 rack.

       See the amanda(8) man page for more details about  Amanda.

COMMANDS

       reset  Reset  the  tape  changer  to  a  known  state.  It
              changes the current slot to the first slot and  may
              have  other  device-specific  side  effects.   Some
              gravity stackers need to be reset to the top  posi-
              tion  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.

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

       label label
              Search for and  load  an  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 Print  the  name of the current tape device to std-
              out.

       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
              Eject any tape in the drive and put it  away,  then
              load the tape from the previous slot and reset cur-
              rent.

       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 cur-
              rent.

       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
              need  to be mounted again in the next run, where it
              will be rejected as being in use, ejected  and  the
              next  tape  requested.  Using slot next followed by
              eject does an unnecessary mount.

       Note: most changers optimize the slot command to not eject
       the loaded tape if it is the one being requested.

AUTHOR

       James da Silva <jds@cs.umd.edu>
       University of Maryland, College Park

SEE ALSO

       amanda(8)