SUMMARY - Unattended ontape with jukebox tape drive.

Morning Folks Well this is not really a summary, but having sifted through the archives = I could not find any postings about how one could automate ontape to work = against a jukebox drive, on a backup using multiple tapes.=20 So I am calling this a summary. Some time ago Sky Southwell pointed me in the right direction for using = the mt command to advance the tape, but how to get a response back to = ontape eluded me. Until it was resolved in a 5 minute bull session with a bunch of folks.=20 (The usual humbling experience) So here it is. Note: There is *absolutely no warranty* on the use of this script. #!/bin/ksh #Usage: auto_ontape.sh | ontape -s > /tmp/auto_ontape.log #Methodology: Ontape writes out to standard output when it # wants a new tape. By redirecting this # and reading the output, it is possible # for this script to react at the=20 # correct moment to advance the jukebox # to a new tape, and then advise ontape # to continue. # Concepts tested and proven on Solaris 2.5 # Standard SUN Jukebox drive. # Script may require minor amendment for other # systems. # NO WARRANTY NO WARRANTY #-------------------------------------------------------- =20 =20 #Send a zero to ontape for archive level echo "0" #send an additional carriage return for 'Mount tape 1,any key to continue' echo=20 #The log will have the request to mount a tape on the last line. #Since it will already be mounted, we do not want the check in #the while loop (below) to trigger a cycling of the tape, #So put some garbage on the last line of the log. echo "\\n first Time in \\n" >>/tmp/auto_ontape.log #This checks the log every minute to see if ontape #is asking for a new tape. If it is then the #jukebox is advanced to the next tape, and ontape #then is advised to continue with the backup. #A 120 second pause occurs to allow time for the drive #to advance. An alternative would be to use the 'mt' command #to check status, if 120 seconds is a bother to anyone. while true do sleep 60 # check every minute to see if ontape wants a new tape CHECK=3D`tail -1 /tmp/auto_ontape.log | awk '{print $2}'` if [ $CHECK =3D=3D "mount" ] then mt -f /dev/rmt/0 offline sleep 120 #Give the tape time to cycle #This echo means that the 'mount' keyword will no #longer be on the last line of the log. echo "\\n Tape has been changed \\n" >> /tmp/auto_ontape.log echo #Carriage return to advise online that tape has changed fi #This check is never struck as the script will die when ontape #finishes. if [ $CHECK =3D=3D "over." ] then exit fi done regards Peter Tashkoff <tashkop@iname.com> Principal Consultant Marketing Database Systems Ltd