Hello,
I am an LTFS novice and have been struggling to get my LTFS desktop backup system to work on my Rocking Linux 8.10 machine.
I have 2x IBM HH7 drives housed in a NETSTORE NS722TB3 housing.
Below are the terminal commands that work for me :
LTFS COMMANDS THAT WORK FOR ME
https://github.com/LinearTapeFileSystem/ltfs
LIST ISCSI DEVICES
cat /proc/scsi/scsi
LIST DEVICES
lsscsi -l
lsscsi -g | grep -i -E 'medium|tape'
CHECK MOUNT POINTS
dmesg
LIST LTFS DEVICES AVAILABLE FOR USE - WILL NOT LIST DRIVES THAT HAVE TAPES ALREADY MOUNTED
sudo /opt/ibm/ltfssde/bin/ltfs -o device_list
FORMAT LTFS TAPE --- CHECK MOUNT POINT
sudo /opt/ibm/ltfssde/bin/mkltfs -f --device=0 -n 000??? -s 000??? --device=/dev/sg???
https://www.ibm.com/docs/da/spectrum-archive-sde/2.4.3?topic=mkltfs-formatting-media-by-using-command
MOUNT TAPE - CHECK sg MOUNT POINT LTFS DEVICE LIST BEFORE MOUNTING
Mount the LTFS tape in the folder management system
sudo /opt/ibm/ltfssde/bin/ltfs -o devname=/dev/sg??? /run/media/admin/ltfs/sg???
Mount the LTFS tape directly
sudo /opt/ibm/ltfssde/bin/ltfs -o devname=/dev/sg??? /mnt/ltfs/sg???/
CHECK IF TAPE IS MOUNTED
fuser -muv /mnt/ltfs/sg??
CHECK LTFS TAPE CONSISTENCY
sudo /opt/ibm/ltfssde/bin/ltfsck -m /dev/sg???
LTFS COPY TOOL FOR SEQUENTIAL COPYING
sudo /opt/ibm/ltfssde/bin/ltfs_ordered_copy -p -r /mnt/49c57912-2bd6-4f31-a2b7-6df585bc9f40/LOWDEN_PIX -a -v /mnt/ltfs/sg1/000041
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spectrum-archive-le/2.4.3?topic=commands-ltfs-ordered-copy
QCOMMANDER - OPEN
(base) [admin@LOWROCKY ltfs]$ cd '/home/admin/Desktop/qcommander_1.5-16'
(base) [admin@LOWROCKY qcommander_1.5-16]$ sudo ./qcommander.sh
UNMOUNT
sudo umount /run/media/admin/ltfs/sg????
IF DRIVE IS BUSY, CLOSE ALL TERMINAL WINDOWS & START A NEW TERMINAL WINDOW
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spectrum-archive-sde/2.4.3?topic=systems-unmounting-tape-media
CHECK IF TAPE IS AVAILABLE TO UNMOUNT
fuser -muv /run/media/admin/ltfs/sg????
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spectrum-archive-sde/2.4.3?topic=systems-mount-unmount-scenarios
PUSH EJECT BUTTON ONCE UNMOUNT IS CONFIRMED. IF NOT YOU CAN CORRUPT THE TAPE.
I use a very useful copy app called qcommander, which is a QUANTUM derivative of mucommnder
GitHub - mucommander/mucommander: A lightweight, cross-platform file manager with a dual-pane interface
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I hope this helps others who are stating out on the LTFS adventure.
It has the huge advantage of showing how the copy is getting on ...
TROUBLESHOOT ERRORS
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/7m1sde?topic=hhl7tdf-diagnostic-maintenance-functions
Possible solution to ERROR 7 & 8. I found that LTO drives are very sensitive to load / unload position. If the cassette unload is not complete or the tape pickup is not completely exactly at its start position, these errors will continue. You need to manually wind the both the pickup arm and the cassette cage to their empty position.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLIDYg4vy8E&t=183s
IBM LTO DIAGNOSTICS FOR LINUX
lin_tapes
https://documentation.commvault.com/11.20/using_lin_tape_device_driver.html