Tape Storage

IBM previously had a utility called ltfscp that worked with LTFS tapes to ensure that files were copied in the order they appear on tape, thus avoiding unnecessary seeks when copying. It was available in a download alongside Spectrum Archive SDE 2.2, the previous version of Spectrum Archive, as part of the corresponding LTFS Tools package (IBM_LTFS_TOOLS_[version]-[revision]_[arch].exe for the Windows version). For the current version of Spectrum Archive SDE, version 2.4, there does not seem to be an LTFS tools package available. I've tried installing the LTFS tools that were available alongside version 2.2, but ltfscp from version 2.2 does not seem to work with version 2.4. The executable runs just fine, but it will always report an error that "LTFS Copy Tool requires at least one source or destination file on LTFS" despite the destination being on LTFS.

Is there a replacement or alternative tool available that works with Spectrum Archive SDE 2.4? Is there a way to get ltfscp from version 2.2 to work on version 2.4? Or is there another way to copy files in tape order that doesn't require a tool like ltfscp?

Thanks!

A little late but in case anyone else ends up here looking for the same thing.

https://github.com/LinearTapeFileSystem/ltfs/wiki/ltfs_ordered_copy

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Michael Ciesielczyk
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Original Message:
Sent: Thu June 30, 2022 10:27 AM
From: Jacob Hauenstein
Subject: Is the ltfscp utility still available? If not, what's the alternative for copying files in proper order?

IBM previously had a utility called ltfscp that worked with LTFS tapes to ensure that files were copied in the order they appear on tape, thus avoiding unnecessary seeks when copying. It was available in a download alongside Spectrum Archive SDE 2.2, the previous version of Spectrum Archive, as part of the corresponding LTFS Tools package (IBM_LTFS_TOOLS_[version]-[revision]_[arch].exe for the Windows version). For the current version of Spectrum Archive SDE, version 2.4, there does not seem to be an LTFS tools package available. I've tried installing the LTFS tools that were available alongside version 2.2, but ltfscp from version 2.2 does not seem to work with version 2.4. The executable runs just fine, but it will always report an error that "LTFS Copy Tool requires at least one source or destination file on LTFS" despite the destination being on LTFS.

Is there a replacement or alternative tool available that works with Spectrum Archive SDE 2.4? Is there a way to get ltfscp from version 2.2 to work on version 2.4? Or is there another way to copy files in tape order that doesn't require a tool like ltfscp?

Thanks!