tar write error

[FlashGorden]

Hi,
I have previously had a tar write error which turned out to be not enough space on the DLT. I modified the backup job to backup from an include file. However before any files are backed up there is a tar: write error: unexpected EOF. But then the files seem to be backed up.

Is this because tar has found an eof character from a previous backup (does it scan the tape?) or could it be something more serious? Or could it have something to do with commands taking Oracle down which occur just before?

Also if I want to backup all the files of a specific directory do I simply specify the path followed by /* ?

Thanks in advance
Neil

 

[gheist]

mt [-f /dev/your/tape] eof
writes filemarks on tape
mt fsf
skips one filemark
mt erase
erases all the filemarks and prepares tape for reuse

 

[cgswong]

If there are any spaces (blank lines) or strange characters in your include file before the actual files to be backed-up begin this might cause your error.