MT(1)

NAME
mt - magnetic tape utility

SYNOPSIS
mt [-v] [-f device] command [count]

DESCRIPTION
The mt command performs certain control operations on tape devices. If no device is specified with the -f option and the TAPE environment is not set, the device /dev/rmt/c0s0n is used.

The command argument may be one of:

erase
    Erase the entire tape.

rewind
    Rewind the tape.

retension, ret
    Rewind the tape, then wind it to the end of reel, and rewind it again.

wfm, eof, weof
    Write a file mark at the current position.

sfm, fsf
    Seek past the next file mark.

bsf Seek back over the previous file mark.

fsr Seek forward to next record.

bsf Seek backward to previous record.

enddata, append, feom
    Seek past the end of written data.

offline, rewoffl
    Rewind the tape and place the tape unit offline.

status
    Report the status of the tape device.

The optional count argument specifies the number of blocks or records to seek, marks to be written, etc.

The -v option causes mt to report the status of the tape device.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

TAPE
    Used as tape device if no device argument is given on the command line.