NAME
fms - Determine a tape’s capacity and a tape device’s filemark size
SYNOPSIS
fms -tape <tape special file> [-help]
fms -t <tape special file> [-h]
DESCRIPTION
The fms command determines the capacity of the tape currently in the
tape device identified by the -tape argument, along with the size of
the filemark for the device. The filemark is also referred to as the
device’s end-of-file (EOF) marker, and can differ for each combination
of tape and tape device.
As the Tape Coordinator writes a dump, it writes a filemark between the
data included from each volume and also tracks the amount of space left
before the end of the tape (EOT). For some tape devices, the filemark
is large enough (multiple megabytes) that failure to consider it leads
the Tape Coordinator significantly to overestimate the available space.
The intended use of this command is to determine tape capacity and
filemark size values that can be specified in a tape device’s entry in
the /var/lib/openafs/backup/tapeconfig file. For certain types of tape
drives, the Tape Coordinator operates more efficiently when the
tapeconfig file lists accurate values. For further discussion, see the
IBM AFS Administration Guide chapter on configuring the Backup System.
Insert a tape in the drive before issuing this command.
CAUTIONS
Do not use this command on compressing tape devices in compression mode
or with tape devices that handle tapes of multigigabyte (or
multiterabyte) capacity. It does not produce accurate results in those
cases. For alternate suggestions on the values to record in the
tapeconfig file for compressing drives, see the IBM AFS Administration
Guide chapter on configuring the Backup System.
Running the command completely overwrites the tape, so use a blank one
or one that can be recycled.
Because it writes filemarks to the complete length of the tape, the
command can take from several hours to more than a day to complete.
OPTIONS
-tape <tape special file>
Specifies the UNIX device name of the tape device for which to
determine filemark size and the capacity of the tape it currently
contains. The format varies on different system types, but usually
begins with /dev; an example is /dev/sd0a.
-help
Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options
are ignored.
OUTPUT
The command generates output both on the standard output stream and in
the fms.log file that it creates in the current working directory. The
output reports the capacity of the tape in the device and the device’s
filemark size.
The first few lines of output include status information about the
execution of the command, including such information as the number of
blocks and the number of file marks written to the tape by the command.
The last two lines of both screen and file output provide the following
information:
· "Tape capacity is number bytes": specifies the size, in bytes, of
the tape in the device.
· "File marks are number bytes": specifies the device’s filemark size
in bytes.
The following message indicates that the fms command interpreter cannot
access the tape device. The command halts.
Can't open tape drive I<device>
The following message indicates that the command interpreter cannot
create the fms.log log file. Again, the command halts.
Can't open log file
EXAMPLES
The following command illustrates the output for the device called
/dev/rmt1h:
% fms /dev/rmt1h
wrote block: 130408
Finished data capacity test - rewinding
wrote 1109 blocks, 1109 file marks
Finished file mark test
Tape capacity is 2136604672 bytes
File marks are 1910205 bytes
The following appears in the fms.log file:
fms test started
wrote 9230 blocks
Finished file mark test
Tape capacity is 151224320 bytes
File marks are 2375680 bytes
PRIVILEGE REQUIRED
The issuer must be able to insert and write to files in the currently
working directory, if the fms.log file does not already exist. If it
already exists, the issuer need only be able to write to it.
SEE ALSO
fms.log(5), tapeconfig(5)
COPYRIGHT
IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.
This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0.
It was converted from HTML to POD by software written by Chas Williams
and Russ Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell.