IOSCSITape provides a typical Unix-like tape driver for Mac OS X. This allows for standard utilities like tar to directly read and write to tape.

Despite being a Unix-like operating system Mac OS X has never included a Unix-like tape driver. Since Mac OS X's release in 2001 Apple has instead wanted developers to use a separate Mac OS X-proprietary API for accessing devices like tape drives. Unfortunately this forces developers to reinvent an already well-established wheel. As well to adapt to said API would limit the flexibility and platform-agnostic nature of some standard and very popular tools and methodologies of working with tape drives.

IOSCSITape provides a typical Unix-like character device file (e.g. /dev/rst0) with accompanying tool (mt) for tape drive manipulation on Mac OS X. IOSCSITape aims to bring the capability of running standard tools like tar and dd as well as popular tools like Amanda and Bacula to Mac OS X.

Discussion can be held on the Google Group mailing list: ioscsitape-discuss.

BE ADVISED: IOSCSITape is not yet intended for production use. It has had limited testing on a very limited set of hardware and is still in early development. Use at your own risk.

Can you part with modern tape drives, autoloaders/libraries, OS X SCSI adapters, or other related equipment? The IOSCSITape project could use donations of equipment to improve and better support a range of devices. Please get in touch with jesse.c.peterson-att-gmail if so. Please: only modern equipment and serious offers.