# TAPE BACKUP COMMAND - TAR for SLES11 **URL:** \ **Category:** SLES Hardware\ **Created:** [September 20, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/tape-backup-command-tar-for-sles11/21930 "2011-09-20T11:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![System1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@System1](https://forums.suse.com/u/System1)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/tape-backup-command-tar-for-sles11/21930/1 "2011-09-20T11:56:02Z")
Hello, I am trying to take a backup on LTO 4 tape drive using SLES11. The command usage is “tar -cfz /dev/st0 /tape\_test” where tape\_test is the folder I need to backup. But it is giving following error. tar: Removing leading `/' from member names I searched the net for same error and found it is as a common error. But couldn't find a solution as they were not specific to solve my issue (LTO 4 tape on SLES 11). ex: 'Linux Tar Getting Removing Leading `/’ From Member Names When Executed’ ([http://www.wallpaperama.com/forums/linux-tar-getting-removing-leading-from-member-names-when-executed-t711.html](http://www.wallpaperama.com/forums/linux-tar-getting-removing-leading-from-member-names-when-executed-t711.html)) ex: ‘tar: Removing leading `/’ from member names | [Skrakes.com](http://Skrakes.com)’ ([http://www.skrakes.com/2009/09/11/tar-removing-leading-from-member-names](http://www.skrakes.com/2009/09/11/tar-removing-leading-from-member-names)) So I need help on resolving myne. Thanks in advance. C. C. Illeperuma ## – ccilleperuma ccilleperuma’s Profile: [http://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=97239](http://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=97239) View this thread: [http://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=444974](http://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=444974) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/tape-backup-command-tar-for-sles11/21930/2 "2011-09-20T17:25:06Z")
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 That’s not an error… it’s just a message telling you that because you’re backing up something from the root of the filesystem that in the backup it’s going to take that off. There is an --absolute-names option to override this if you REALLY want to, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Good luck. * * * Want to yell at me in person? Come to BrainShare 2011 in October: [http://tinyurl.com/brainshare2011](http://tinyurl.com/brainshare2011) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.15 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - [http://enigmail.mozdev.org/](http://enigmail.mozdev.org/) iQIcBAEBAgAGBQJOeKIcAAoJEF+XTK08PnB5yEMQAJK30W6LrgkEi9nPga74C/HL tMt7XVn3xUCDU7NQm70hiofRw/aHsivUFDo0XP+0ekJxiLOzYHwYtMoj7WJykxtm jc9yf5JfahCn/CgDg2WlWRfhmB8laEhtJ8xpdxHYN4bCG6cKcMVAKVETT9OClz0Z 5yLWwCjj60pOZLEZ75xSFVPwKRS8oQ7UIXkMVXnkwING6WU5oT4FmLPhlPS6L5gg FzZv1bF/qlZLGHZHRbvsaJILxXO+uV9cQK8260OybhJgBWHHEFfZRWQ8Q3HeU37J JJZZ1Z05gNvyttfbOaykKDny6oRPXxCdW5xIbAVCuwLkFbtMsloQLHqqwz8W1f6i FLjZj4VDgwHcd/zGJmiCxBLS6EvbDBNOKYj+wL+2/zyCPYBaphPw/SZWPzyp1Dvo qkfIB/qjAd7Jo/bhd9e6k8ej1MohuVuXdxhnT0MJRyONRPksP2dp0znJv2RUfqkd 3e/4cu+VgfBXOvgUR0EbtrqhRupWExXFu8aP2s2jgFO09mvnxYwZ13ZFEIEBjWww ZjYj37McELPzUFymnb9T/iebm8v+QotNpl7VhlxemqVtuMB3n2+9UqAH6QKXbHQJ ANZQAxgFTkTyod+Ci9oKYQhqa0/Ltcu4owq7wd9rDHA/SmU2E6iv9aTnDSo2HFn5 wXfTSDQHtBXHAQQD1DDR =iVQf -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 7:46am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/tape-backup-command-tar-for-sles11/21930/3 "2011-09-21T07:46:02Z")
Thanks ab. But when I try to confirm the backup it gives an error. ## Code: sapprdsvr:~ # mt -f /dev/st0 rewind sapprdsvr:~ # tar -cfz /dev/st0 /tape\_test/ tar: Removing leading `/’ from member names sapprdsvr:~ # mt -f /dev/st0 status drive type = Generic SCSI-2 tape drive status = 1174405120 sense key error = 0 residue count = 0 file number = 0 block number = 0 Tape block size 0 bytes. Density code 0x46 (unknown). Soft error count since last status=0 General status bits on (41010000): BOT ONLINE IM\_REP\_EN sapprdsvr:~ # mt -f /dev/st0 tell mt: /dev/st0: Input/output error sapprdsvr:~ # mt -f /dev/st0 rewind sapprdsvr:~ # mt -f /dev/st0 status drive type = Generic SCSI-2 tape drive status = 1174405120 sense key error = 0 residue count = 0 file number = 0 block number = 0 Tape block size 0 bytes. Density code 0x46 (unknown). Soft error count since last status=0 General status bits on (41010000): BOT ONLINE IM\_REP\_EN sapprdsvr:~ # mt -f /dev/st0 tell mt: /dev/st0: Input/output error sapprdsvr:~ # tar -tzf /dev/st0 tar (child): /dev/st0: Cannot read: Input/output error tar (child): At beginning of tape, quitting now tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now gzip: stdin: unexpected end of file tar: Child returned status 2 tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now sapprdsvr:~ # cd / sapprdsvr:/ # tar -xzf /dev/st0 tape\_test/ tar (child): /dev/st0: Cannot read: Input/output error tar (child): At beginning of tape, quitting now tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now gzip: stdin: unexpected end of file tar: Child returned status 2 tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now * * * Is this because of mismatch block size? If so, How to overcome? Else, please guide me to troubleshoot it.. Adding system log for more details.. ## Code: ## Sep 21 09:27:28 sapprdsvr sshd[18114]: Accepted keyboard-interactive/pam for root from 192.168.51.75 port 49470 ssh2 Sep 21 09:27:47 sapprdsvr kernel: [835191.723871] st0: Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] Sep 21 09:27:47 sapprdsvr kernel: [835191.723886] st0: Add. Sense: Invalid field in cdb Sep 21 09:30:01 sapprdsvr /usr/sbin/cron[18152]: (root) CMD ([-x /usr/lib64/sa/sa1] && exec /usr/lib64/sa/sa1 -S ALL 1 1) Sep 21 09:31:44 sapprdsvr kernel: [835429.015562] st0: Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] Sep 21 09:31:44 sapprdsvr kernel: [835429.015577] st0: Add. Sense: Invalid field in cdb Sep 21 09:32:03 sapprdsvr kernel: [835448.319419] st0: Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] Sep 21 09:32:03 sapprdsvr kernel: [835448.319433] st0: Add. Sense: Invalid field in cdb Sep 21 09:40:01 sapprdsvr /usr/sbin/cron[18195]: (root) CMD ([-x /usr/lib64/sa/sa1] && exec /usr/lib64/sa/sa1 -S ALL 1 1) Sep 21 09:40:33 sapprdsvr gnome-session[18224]: WARNING: GSIdleMonitor: IDLETIME counter not found Sep 21 09:40:33 sapprdsvr gnome-session[18224]: WARNING: Owner of /tmp/orbit-gdm is not the current user Sep 21 09:40:34 sapprdsvr pulseaudio[18252]: module.c: module-hal-detect is deprecated: Please use module-udev-detect instead of module-hal-detect! Sep 21 09:40:34 sapprdsvr gdm-simple-greeter[18247]: GLib-GObject-CRITICAL: g\_param\_spec\_flags: assertion `G_TYPE_IS_FLAGS (flags_type)' failed Sep 21 09:40:34 sapprdsvr gdm-simple-greeter[18247]: GLib-GObject-CRITICAL: g_object_class_install_property: assertion `G\_IS\_PARAM\_SPEC (pspec)’ failed Sep 21 09:40:38 sapprdsvr gdm-session-worker[18248]: WARNING: gdm\_session\_settings\_load: lang = (null) Sep 21 09:40:42 sapprdsvr gnome-session[18260]: WARNING: GSIdleMonitor: IDLETIME counter not found Sep 21 09:40:43 sapprdsvr gnome-keyring-daemon[18349]: adding removable location: volume\_label\_Feb\_2011\_LTO\_GM at /media/Feb\_2011\_LTO\_GM\_ Sep 21 09:40:43 sapprdsvr pulseaudio[18412]: pid.c: Stale PID file, overwriting. Sep 21 09:40:43 sapprdsvr pulseaudio[18412]: module.c: module-hal-detect is deprecated: Please use module-udev-detect instead of module-hal-detect! Thanks, C. C. Illeperuma ## – ccilleperuma ccilleperuma’s Profile: [http://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=97239](http://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=97239) View this thread: [http://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=444974](http://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=444974) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 8:06am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/tape-backup-command-tar-for-sles11/21930/4 "2011-09-21T08:06:05Z")
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Your errors make me think your tape drive is not happy. I assume the tar commands work with regular (non-tape) files… correct? If so, fix your tape. Having never really worked with one I can’t help with that. Good luck. * * * Want to yell at me in person? Come to BrainShare 2011 in October: [http://tinyurl.com/brainshare2011](http://tinyurl.com/brainshare2011) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.15 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - [http://enigmail.mozdev.org/](http://enigmail.mozdev.org/) iQIcBAEBAgAGBQJOeXCAAAoJEF+XTK08PnB5KAEP/ib3Jvkp/883WWQhQf30I+bv p7d5z3gANpr2lfOHk/ky8JvHO2Mz6M+xiOVELtnYfuiRSDlR2fBVWtanst8U62Bm dHT77QOVKwv3/9S1sC+sdpxx1GhNDEgGaP1zryGUnQ2Crvht2sN4KVQ4GcAFHCJX 8l/8edNP/u68x3fdaDJm3vJwxoY/OmKbo2Gxl7u0yiU4kaCQ1gCiDnj/N5xJoc0L kqodMwfC0li02PekmqELTG4cHGsp/5MCZPnxLg5wvF1Jt4/33OgMARPasfbdFQkC 9mA3tt2XQMMB81jvnMWlXv7RUUMq9gj6YyVWL88V1f1S1selhHel/rbFtAs1WW6h c2IhOo6lM75U89bhsUj6Jla1P3bpUxs8uaAHEL73qbSM8YqTr33ctZDfnxqjbNzW paPh9gacYhB3xzOKnEcAFxfcGwq4JJBgNGar0BoKv7th4tD9PsLqIDCeskOsPgtT DWqhR2O1YJM/sZEW+G9QsUOpR9FUTPcDhC+8jxfHi4NGumovT4x2SkaorXH5BM+e /uQH73WXTTToE7vdCXoXphZAyTPa4qk+yKu8fDLoDSKrQrEJfC5g4MI8OCsDVIYv vGz5jf2zPc0CLWvL7G+Y9agcGtDZP+LimLbZ/pXw4QpPK56DuYtGc0PdjjdAXMQl OmLJGVMvqjXXlysBDBDv =UoN0 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/tape-backup-command-tar-for-sles11/21930/5 "2011-09-21T11:26:02Z")
Thanks ab, Is there anyone who can guide me to solve this? Regards, C. C. Illeperuma ## – ccilleperuma ccilleperuma’s Profile: [http://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=97239](http://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=97239) View this thread: [http://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=444974](http://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=444974) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/tape-backup-command-tar-for-sles11/21930/6 "2011-09-21T14:41:45Z")
On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:26:02 GMT ccilleperuma [ccilleperuma@no-mx.forums.novell.com](mailto:ccilleperuma@no-mx.forums.novell.com) wrote: [color=blue] > Thanks ab, > > Is there anyone who can guide me to solve this? > > Regards, > > C. C. Illeperuma > > [/color] > Hi > Do you have a tape cleaner cartridge, suggest you run that. Are the > tapes old/new? – Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890) openSUSE 11.4 (x86\_64) Kernel 2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop up 8 days 14:41, 3 users, load average: 0.23, 0.20, 0.15 GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - Driver Version: 280.13 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/tape-backup-command-tar-for-sles11/21930/7 "2011-09-23T09:26:02Z")
I cleaned the tape drive, but the issue is still the same. Tapes are all new. Can you please share the tape backup restore command here? C. C. Illeperuma ## – ccilleperuma ccilleperuma’s Profile: [http://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=97239](http://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=97239) View this thread: [http://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=444974](http://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=444974) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/tape-backup-command-tar-for-sles11/21930/8 "2011-09-23T14:36:15Z")
On Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:26:02 GMT ccilleperuma [ccilleperuma@no-mx.forums.novell.com](mailto:ccilleperuma@no-mx.forums.novell.com) wrote: [color=blue] > I cleaned the tape drive, but the issue is still the same. > Tapes are all new. > Can you please share the tape backup restore command here? > > C. C. Illeperuma > > [/color] > Hi > As ab pointed out it maybe the tape drive on the way out. (Needs to go find a SCSI card and tape drive in storage…) – Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890) openSUSE 11.4 (x86\_64) Kernel 2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop up 16:37, 3 users, load average: 0.12, 0.13, 0.14 GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - Driver Version: 280.13 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/tape-backup-command-tar-for-sles11/21930/9 "2011-09-26T07:26:02Z")
Thanks malcolmlewis, I found the issue. It was not with Tape drive hardware, but with my command. All ok when I go to a location where I extract the files from tape “tar -xzf /dev/st0” Before I was trying to give the restoration file name after the above command. ccilleperuma ## – ccilleperuma ccilleperuma’s Profile: [http://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=97239](http://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=97239) View this thread: [http://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=444974](http://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=444974)