(C) Copyright IBM Corp. 1998-2017. All Rights Reserved. See the
Licensing agreement presented when the driver is downloaded.
The IBM Tape Device Drivers for the Linux platforms are responsible
for assisting in communication between the Linux host and the tape or
changer device. The tape driver for Linux (lin_tape) and the tape
driver daemon (lin_taped) work with IBM System Storage Tape Products
in providing basic and advanced tape functionality for backup/restore
and archive environments.
IBM Tape Diagnostic Tool (ITDT) provides the customer with functionality
to perform maintenance tasks and run diagnostic tasks to determine tape
device issues. This is available to download with the device driver.
"IBM Tape Device Driver Installation and User's Guide" (IUG) describes
the IBM Tape and Medium Changer Device Drivers for AIX, HP-UX, Linux,
Solaris, and Windows operating systems. For basic installation and
usage infromation, please refer to the IUG. This is available to
download at:
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=577&uid=ssg1S7002972
The readme files contain information that may not be included in the
IUG. The readme files take precedence over the IUG. Therefore, any
information in this file that conflicts with information in the IUG
will supercede the IUG.
Supported Applications
If you use a third party application, consult with your application
provider as to the compatibility with lin_tape.
The lin_taped module is a binary rpm, so the correct selection for the
correct Linux operating system and architecture platform is required.
The two modules, lin_tape and lin_taped, are qualified together, so both
are required for supported configurations. Please refer to specific
install instructions for more information.
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lin_tape Notices:
1. Known limitations
2. Setting up the environment
3. Notes for lin_taped daemon
4. Known issues
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1. Known limitations
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1. Join driver (SFMP feature to enable st/sg interfaces through lintape) is not
supported on 3.0.10 and 3.0.18. For join driver use latest version.
2. Block size bigger than 2M is not supported in kernels >= 2.6.29 with lin_tape
versions previous to 2.9.9
7. To backup data in IBM SAS drives in the fixed blocksize mode, the
blocksize must be set to a multiple of 4; otherwise it will cause
the open or set blocksize commands to fail.
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2. Setting up the environment
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1. If you would like to ensure all of the special files
/dev/IBMtape* or /dev/IBMchanger* can be readable/writable
by all users, you may add the following two lines in the
/etc/udev/udev.permissions file:
IBMtape*:root:root:666
IBMchanger*:root:root:666
2. If you are running a CVT or other device for which the medium
changer is reported at LUN 0, you may need to set a parameter
in /proc/scsi/device_info in order to get the tape drives to be
scanned properly. This can be done by issuing the following at
the command prompt:
For example:
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3. Notes for lin_taped daemon
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The lin_tape device driver provides facilities for device
driver tracing, obtaining SIM/MIM data (for IBM 359x tape
devices), automatically storing drive dumps, and saving log sense
information when log threshold values are exceeded. A daemon
(lin_taped) is provided with the device driver to process this
information. Also, the lin_taped daemon needs to be running for tape
device path failover support.
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4. Known Issues
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- At lin_tape 3.0.20 and 3.0.21 device name /dev/IBM* for a removed path/device
does not persist as in previous versions where the device name is tagged as removed
but still exists.
- There is a known issue with particular Emulex HBA driver / FW level(s) included
in later Linux kernel distributions. Please update the HBA driver to 8.3.7.33-1 or
later.