INITIALIZE TAPE command

Authorization

One of the following:

• SYSADM
• SYSCTRL
• SYSMAINT

Required connection

None

Command syntax

>>-INITIALIZE TAPE--+------------+--+----------------+---------><
                    '-ON--device-'  '-USING--blksize-'   

Command parameters

ON device

Specifies a valid tape device name. The default value is \\.\TAPE0.

USING blksize

Specifies the block size for the device, in bytes. The device is initialized to use the block size specified, if the value is within the supported range of block sizes for the device.

The buffer size specified for the BACKUP DATABASE command and for RESTORE DATABASE must be divisible by the block size specified here.

If a value for this parameter is not specified, the device is initialized to use its default block size. If a value of zero is specified, the device is initialized to use a variable length block size; if the device does not support variable length block mode, an error is returned.

When backing up to tape, use of a variable block size is currently not supported. If you must use this option, ensure that you have well tested procedures in place that enable you to recover successfully, using backup images that were created with a variable block size.

When using a variable block size, you must specify a backup buffer size that is less than or equal to the maximum limit for the tape devices that you are using. For optimal performance, the buffer size must be equal to the maximum block size limit of the device being used.