On Tuesday 9th I posted for information on robot utility software (original
posting at the end of this mail).
I received replies from the following:
Bob Marcan [bob.marcan_at_aster.si]
Tim Janes [t.janes_at_2020speech.com]
Joe Fletcher [joe_at_meng.ucl.ac.uk]
Stuart Whitby [stuwhitby_at_yahoo.com]
paul_at_AuroraGrp.Com
Kurt Ludwig [Kurt.Ludwig_at_alpha-processor.com]
Anthony A. D. Talltree [aad_at_talltree.net]
Harm Ensing [ensin001_at_hdxh0b.unix.telecom.ptt.nl]
alan_at_nabeth.cxo.dec.com
Many thanks to all who responded. I have not as yet checked out any of them
but will probably go with installing the legato drivers since we use
NetWorker elsewhere.
Best regards - Tony
=========================alan_at_nabeth.cxo.dec.com============================
============
Library vendors generally make their libraries so that they
support the SCSI-2 Medium Changer commands. It is up to
operating system vendors to offer a way to send these commands
to a device. It surprised me as well when I tried to port
MRU to Solaris that their base system didn't include a SCSI
pass-through driver. Sun's catalogue of software partners
should have a bunch of vendors that sell drivers for media
changers. They may even sell software to control the changer.
=========================Harm Ensing
[ensin001_at_hdxh0b.unix.telecom.ptt.nl]==============
I don't have an answer to your question.
Even worse - I'm struggling with the same problem.
When we asked Sun about this they said that we should
purchase one of their backup/restore solutions which
incorporates such a tool.
Since we have our own backup/restore package we did not
accept this as a solution.
Another suggestion from Sun was that we should use
tools from public-domain.
Needless to say we still were not happy...
We are still trying to get Sun to help us but sofar no luck.
If you find an answer to your question I would be grateful if
you informed me.
=========================Anthony A. D. Talltree
[aad_at_talltree.net]===================
Look for 'mtx'. There are probably links on www.amanda.org
=========================Kurt Ludwig
[Kurt.Ludwig_at_alpha-processor.com]===============
you may want to check with Veritas. I know it's just not a control program
for the changer, but it may actually be able to manipulate the silo. I know
it also uses tar for its backups, which is nice if you have to pull a tape
and go to a different system.
=========================paul_at_AuroraGrp.Com=================================
=========
Check out
http://www.cs.umd.edu/projects/amanda/
=========================Stuart Whitby
[stuwhitby_at_yahoo.com]=========================
It's not a native utility, but install the device
drivers from NetWorker 6.x. These give you an sjimm
utility, which will move media using standard jukebox
interface (hence sjimm) commands. It's very useful
for controlling the jukebox, but BE WARNED - if you
move tapes around a jukebox that NetWorker thinks it
is controlling, you will screw up NetWorker's tape
inventory. Similarly, if you eject a tape that
NetWorker is using, then insert it again, it will not
be at the position that NetWorker expects, and you
may end up overwriting the label if NetWorker just
starts writing to the tape again.
Either use this with jukeboxes that are outside of
NetWorker's control, or ensure that all tapes are
placed back to their original locations before
NetWorker takes over again.
==========================Bob Marcan
[bob.marcan_at_aster.si]============================
Maybe this can help:
http://freshmeat.net/projects/mtx/homepage/
==========================Tim Janes
[t.janes_at_2020speech.com]==========================
I notice that there is a current thread about L280 on Solaris on the
Amanda mailing list.
Follow the links from www.amanda.org.
=========================Joe Fletcher
[joe_at_meng.ucl.ac.uk]============================
Look on the Exabyte web site for exabyte_chgr.tar. I'm told this will give
you the functionality you need. I had the same problem but we ended up
buying Veritas Netbackup so I've not tested it. I can send you a copy if
you can't find it.
Typical SUN tho'; none of the useful bits you take for granted with just
about every other vendor.
=========================Original
posting==============================================
All...
Please forgive the cross platform Posting but I cant believe what I have
been told is true.
On dunix we have the tried and tested robot utility to manipulate tape
silos. I have a sun Solaris machine with a 7 slot L280 tape stacker
connected and need to be able to load and unload tapes in a similar fashion.
I have been told that Solaris has no equivalent utility - surely not. How
can a vendor supply a robot with no means of controlling it native from the
o/s. I am aware that NetWorker can control the robot, but I want to use
native o/s utilities.
(I have been advised that, on Solaris the only think you can do is "offline"
the tape and it will rotate to the next tape in the silo.
mt -f /dev/rmt/0 off
but you cant find out which tape is now loaded and the only way of reading
the tape label is to use the verbose option of ufsrestore interactively
ufsrestore -ivf /dev/rmt/0)
Is anybody aware of any 3rd party utilities to control a L280 stacker on a
Solaris box?
I will post this on the sun managers list as well.
Thanking you all in advance.
regards - Tony
Quotation: "Is the glass half full or half empty?? ...
Well, drink it anyhow, that's what I say".
Pete Goss.
Quotation: "God gave men two ears but only one tongue. Think
about something and chew it to death before you
spit it out as abuse, for the greatest remedy to
anger is delay.".
Charlie Burton.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| TONY MILLER - Systems Projects - VODAFONE LTD, Derby House, |
| Newbury Business Park, Newbury, Berkshire. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Phone | 01635-677687(local) |
| Work email | ANTHONY.MILLER_at_VF.VODAFONE.CO.UK |
| FAX | 01635-233517 |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------+
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this mail are my own and do not
reflect the company view unless explicitly stated. The information
is provided on an 'as is' basis and no responsibility is accepted for
any system damage howsoever caused.
Received on Mon Jan 15 2001 - 12:15:25 NZDT