Although most observers prefer to backup data using the CD/DVD writers or 'scp' data to their home institution,
tape drives are available to observers for saving data on magnetic media.
There are 8 mm Exabyte, DAT, DLT and Ultriumtape drives available to the observers. The tape drives are located
in Remote Ops 1 & 2 and the Pre/Post Observing Room. See below for a list of computers and their locations where
tape dirves are accessible.
| Computer |
Location |
Tape_Drives |
| pohue |
Remote Ops II |
8mm(Exabyte), DLT, Ultrium |
| pupukea |
Remote Ops I |
8mm(Exabyte) |
| waiehu |
K2 Pre/Post-Observing Space |
DAT, 8mm(Exabyte) |
| moomomi |
K2 Pre/Post-Observing Space |
DAT, 8mm(Exabyte) |
| mokulau |
Remote Ops I |
8mm(Exabyte) |
| hamoa |
Remote Ops II |
8mm(Exabyte) |
Keck does not supply tapes for any of the devices listed above.
If you prefer to store data on a magnetic tape, you will need to bring blank tapes to Keck.
Writing a tape
Tapes are written using a script called 'mktartape' which is available from HQ machines.
'mktartape' saves directory trees to tape in Unix tar format.
This task provides a virtually foolproof method for writing backup tapes in Unix tar
format. Significant features:
- supports all tape formats (Exabyte, DAT, DLT, and LTO)
- warns user if no tape drives are attached to the current
machine and offers a list of alternative machines with tape drives
- allows observer to select any tape drive on the current
machine without needed to know the name of the tape drive
- prints list and status of all tape drives attached to
the current machine
- checks status of tape before trying to write to verify
whether drive is already in use, tape is inserted and rewound
- allows user to select from available legal tape densities
- allows user to append new files to those already on tape
- can write multiple data directory trees to tape in one pass,
putting each into a separate tarfile
- verifies the existence of the data directories entered by user
- after writing data to tape can (optionally) verify tape
while creating a tape log
- optionally rewinds and ejects tape at completion of writing
Usage
mktartape
To run mktartape, type 'mktartape' on any HQ computer and the
script will walk you through each step. Below is an example of an mktartape session.
Examples
Here is a sample run (user input in bold):
gwirth@kapoho:~/tmp% mktartape
----------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to MKTARTAPE, a program for creating tapes of your data.
----------------------------------------------------------------
No tape devices are attached to this machine (kapoho). Would you like
to try running this program on a different computer which has a tape drive
available? [y]: y
Okay, here's a list of the available machines and tape drives:
N Computer Location Tape_Drives
- -------- -------- -----------
1 pohue Remote Ops II 8mm(Exabyte), DLT, Ultrium
2 pupukea Remote Ops I 8mm(Exabyte)
3 waihee Room 109 (K2 Pre/Post-Observing) DAT, 8mm(Exabyte)
4 moomomi Room 110 (K1 Pre/Post-Observing) DAT, 8mm(Exabyte)
5 mokulau Remote Ops I 8mm(Exabyte)
6 hamoa Remote Ops II 8mm(Exabyte)
7 None of the above --- quit!
Please select an option by number [7]: 4
Okay, spawning /home/kapoho/gwirth/bin/mktartape on moomomi...
----------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to MKTARTAPE, a program for creating tapes of your data.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the tape devices available on moomomi:
N Type Device Busy? Tape_in? Rewound?
- ---- ------ ----- -------- --------
0 DAT /dev/rmt/0 No Yes Yes
1 8mm(Exabyte) /dev/rmt/1 No No No
2 None of the above --- quit!
Please select an option by number [2]: 0
The tape drive appears to be online and the tape is rewound to the beginning.
Your options are:
(B)egin recording here, or
(S)kip past any existing files on the tape and record from there.
So which will it be? [b]: b
Please select a data format. Options are:
[L]ow
[M]edium
[H]igh
[C]ompressed
Which would you like? [l]: l
Enter name of first data directory to save to tape (RETURN to end list):
> /h/gwirth/tmp/data1
Directory /h/gwirth/tmp/data1 exists and is accessible; adding it to list...
Enter name of next data directory to save to tape (RETURN to end list):
> /h/gwirth/tmp/data2
Directory /h/gwirth/tmp/data2 exists and is accessible; adding it to list...
Enter name of next data directory to save to tape (RETURN to end list):
> /h/gwirth/tmp/data3
Directory /h/gwirth/tmp/data3 exists and is accessible; adding it to list...
Enter name of next data directory to save to tape (RETURN to end list):
> /h/gwirth/tmp/data4
ERROR: directory '/h/gwirth/tmp/data4' not found; please try again
Enter name of next data directory to save to tape (RETURN to end list):
>
Should I generate a logfile listing of the contents of the tape when I am done?
This can help verify that things went smoothly, but will take extra time. [n]: y
Enter name of logfile to create [mktartape.log]:
Should I rewind and eject the tape when done? [y]: y
Before I start writing the tape, please verify the information below:
Hostname: moomomi
Tape device name: /dev/rmt/0lbn
Tape device type: DAT
Density: [L]ow
Directories to store: /h/gwirth/tmp/data1
/h/gwirth/tmp/data2
/h/gwirth/tmp/data3
Logfile: mktartape.log
Rewind before writing: No
Skip to EOM marker: No
Eject at end: Yes
Should I begin? [y]: y
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Storing data from directory /h/gwirth/tmp/data1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
./
foo1.fits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Storing data from directory /h/gwirth/tmp/data2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
./
foo2.fits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Storing data from directory /h/gwirth/tmp/data3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
./
foo3.fits
Done writing data to tape.
Rewinding tape to create logfile...done.
Generating listing for file 1...done.
Generating listing for file 2...done.
Generating listing for file 3...done.
Rewinding and ejecting tape...done.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Finished writing tar tape
----------------------------------------------------------------
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