[TriLUG] retrieving a tar from tape

[Scott Chilcote]

Byarlay, Wayne A. wrote:

> I recently tarred some (big) stuff to a couple DLT tapes (we're talking
> RH9, with a SCSI DLT). I used
> #tar -c -M -f /dev/nst0 /path/bigfiles*.*
> 
> It seemed to work, prompted me for the 2nd tape, and all. But...
> 
> How do I RETRIEVE this archive? I tried
> 
> #tar -xv -f /dev/nst0
> 
> But do I have to provide a filename or something?

Hello Wayne,

You do not need to provide a filename.  If you create a tape using

    tar cvf /dev/nst0 <files>

"/dev/nst0" is the "filename" or more accurately, the device name for 
the target.

    tar xvf /dev/nst0

is all you need to extract the archive.

This is why the directory where you create the archive from is very 
important - it will be extracted to the same path.  This is true for all 
but the initial "/" if you use an absolute path - it is removed (i.e. 
made relative) by default.

Did you try extracting the tar and have a problem?  If so, we'll need 
the details.

Good luck.

--
Scott C.