edit_tape(1)

💅 edit_tape — bestie, let's update your VTL meta data 💾✨

this is edit_tape, from the User Commands corner of the mhvtl universe 🌈 — okay so literally she's the utility that updates meta data virtual media for the VTL. no cap. 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

edit_tape [ -h ] [ options ] ...

that's it, that's the whole vibe check: optional -h, optional flags, and then whatever else you feel like throwing at her 🎀

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so picture this: you need to create and initialise new media for the Virtual Tape Library. that's literally her whole job, and she ate. 👑

here's the tea though — media gets created in the /opt/vtl/ directory, and that path is hard coded. like, not configurable, not negotiable, not "let me just set a variable real quick." it's /opt/vtl/ periodt. 💅

lowkey important: hard coded means hard coded. don't come for her about it 🙈

🦋 OPTIONS 🦋

• -h — display this help and exit. the classic "just tell me what's up and let me go" move ✌️
• -m PCL — where PCL is the Physical Cartridge Label (barcode). yes bestie, the barcode label, that's the one 🏷️
• -w on|off — turn on|off the media write-protect flag. flip it to on and she's protected, flip it to off and she's free 🔓
• -s size — where size is the capacity of the virtual media, and just so we're clear: size is defined in megabytes 📏 (megabytes!! not gigabytes, don't embarrass yourself)
• -t type — the media type, which can be:
  • "data"
  • "WORM" (that's Write Once Read Many 💖)
  • "clean" (a cleaning cartridge 🧼)
• -d density — media density, and okay there's a whole menu here, buckle up 🎢. can be one of:
  • LTO1, LTO2, LTO3, LTO4, LTO5, LTO6, LTO7, LTO8, LTO9
  • SDLT1, SDLT2, SDLT3, SDLT4
  • AIT1, AIT2, AIT3, AIT4
  • T10KA, T10KB, T10KC
  • 9840A, 9840B, 9840C, 9840D
  • 9940A, 9940B
  • J1A, E05 and E06

and a lil footnote for you 🎀 — the J1A, E05 and E06 media densities refer to the IBM 03592 media types. iykyk 🧚

🌟 AUTHOR 🌟

Written by Mark Harvey — ty king, we appreciate you 🫡💜

💀 BUGS 💀

Needs to be made user friendly.

(that's it. that's the bug report. she said what she said 😭 and honestly? iconic.)

📮 REPORTING BUGS 📮

Report bugs to <markh794@gmail.com> — slide into the inbox, bestie ✉️🫶

🎀 COPYRIGHT 🎀

Copyright © 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

fr fr, NO warranty. like none. not even the implied ones. protect yourselves accordingly 💅

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

go read these next, they're all linked up in the group chat 🌈⭐

• make_vtl_media(1)
• library_contents(5)
• vtlcmd(1)
• vtllibrary(1)
• vtltape(1)
• mktape(1)

okay bestie that's the whole page, mwah 💋 this little number is from mhvtl version 1.72_release+6.a11b6777660..., dated May 2025 — and the page itself is edit_tape(1). go forth, edit some tapes, slay 🦋👑💖