taking dumps to tape on System Vr2

[Robert N. Berlinger]

I have been going crazy trying to find a normal way to do
full dumps to tape on System V.  The alleged dump enhancements
are poor/unusable, although I don't have an alternative at the
moment.

First my needs:

1. The dump needs to be driven by a front end shell so that operator
   hassle is kept to a minimum.  I have written such shells in the
   past (i.e., for System III dump(1M)) and don't find that to be a problem.

2. Must dump fairly quickly (cpio/tar are definitely too slow). 

3. Must have a simple restore program, preferably an interactive one
   like the 4.2bsd restore program.  

4. Must be able to handle multiple reels.

My attempt at a solution:

I had thought that volcopy/frec would fit the bill, but volcopy 
is so picky and bug ridden that I'm fed up with it.  I had 
planned to put my own index file (basically the output of ff(1M) 
of the file system) onto the tape which would precede the 
volcopy, but because of bugs in volcopy (see post in 
net.bugs.usg) that doesn't work properly.  

I have already written an interactive peruser which reads in 
filenames and inode numbers (such as those produced by ff(1M)) 
and provides the same basic interface as the BSD restore.  
Filenames marked to be extracted would be passed on to frec(1M) 
for restoration.  

Does anyone have any suggestions or answers as to how they take
their dumps?  Any response would be greatly appreciated.  Please
reply by mail.  If I get some positive answers, I'll post a followup.
-- 
Robert Berlinger
...{philabs,cucard,pegasus,ihnp4,rocky2}!aecom!naftoli