Multiple archive in 3.3.1

[Scott Henry]

In article <1990Oct11.153912.9623 at ecf.utoronto.ca>, xiaoyan at mv05.ecf (Yan Xiao) writes:
|> 
|> We just got 3.3.1 release, and we are wondering whether to put it on.
|> The major interest for us to have a new release would be multiple
|> archive on our X-byte tapedrive.

I assume you mean Exabyte (the 8mm tape that can hold >2GB).

|> Can anybody answer this question: is multiple archive on X-byte
|> tapedrive possible for the 3.3.1 release?

I have been backing up all the machines in my local workgroup on to a single Exabyte tape since July. Each machines' backup becomes a separate archive on the tape. I have been doing it successfully under 3.3, 3.3.1, and now under a pre-release 3.3.2. One of the key tricks that I discovered is to do an "mt -t <tape device> feom" before writing *every* archive. The basic procedure I do for my backup scheme is:

#!/bin/sh
# on the machine with the tape drive
mt rewind
for host in $hostlist ; do
   # backup $host
   mt feom
done
mt rewind
for host in $hostlist ; do
   # read backup archive
done

-- 
 Scott Henry <scotth at sgi.com> / Traveller on Dragon Wings
 Information Services,       / Help! My disclaimer is missing!
 Silicon Graphics, Inc      / 'Under-achiever and proud of it!' -- Bart Simpson