Before a tape can be used by Kdat, it must be formatted by Kdat.

Some types of tapes must be formatted before they can be used to store data. This is not what Kdat does when formatting a tape. If your tape drive requires that the tapes be formatted before using them, then they must be formatted before they can be “formatted” by Kdat. Typically floppy tape drives require that their media be formatted, but DAT drives do not.

There are two ways to format a tape:

You will be prompted for a name for the tape, and the stated capacity of the tape. Both of these parameters can be changed after the tape has been formatted. The tape name is only used to identify the tape to the user; it is not used to identify the tape index associated with the tape. Instead, a unique tape identifier is automatically generated and written to the tape. The stated capacity of the tape is used by Kdat to warn the user if there will not be enough space to complete a backup.

After entering the tape name and capacity, Kdat will proceed to format the tape. ALL DATA ON THE TAPE WILL BE LOST. Once Kdat has finished formatting the tape, the tape will be automatically mounted and is ready for use.

Before initiating a backup, you must select some files to archive. There are three ways to select files for backup:

There are four ways to initiate a backup:

Once the backup has been initiated, the Backup Options dialog will appear. This dialog gives you a chance to review the selected files, and change the backup options.

After accepting the backup options, the Backup dialog will appear. This dialog shows the progress of the backup including throughput and time remaining.

Before initiating a verify, you must select some files to verify.

There are two ways to select files for verification:

There are three ways to initiate a verify:

Once the verify has been initiated, the Verify Options dialog will appear. This dialog gives you a chance to review the selected files, and change the working directory for the verification.

After accepting the verify options, the Verify dialog will appear. This dialog shows the progress of the verification including throughput and time remaining.

Before initiating a restore, you must select some files to restore. There are two ways to select files for restoring:

There are three ways to initiate a restore:

Once the restore has been initiated, the Restore Options dialog will appear. This dialog gives you a chance to review the selected files, and change the working directory for the restore.

After accepting the restore options, the Restore dialog will appear. This dialog shows the progress of the restore including throughput and time remaining.

Sometimes it may be necessary to recreate the tape index file from the tape contents. This process will overwrite any existing index file for the tape. There are two way to recreate an index from tape:

The Index dialog will appear. This dialog shows Kdat's progress as it creates the index file.

There are two ways to create a backup profile:

This should create a new backup profile using the currently checked files and the default backup options. The following options can be set for the backup profile:

You must press the Apply button to commit any changes made to the backup profile.

User preferences can be configured by selecting Preferences... from the Edit menu. The following preferences can be configured:

When Kdat formats a tape it writes a single file at the beginning of the tape. This file should only occupy a single tape block. The contents of the file are:

The tape ID is used to locate a file, with the same name, in the $HOME/.kdat directory.

Each of the remaining files on the tape are plain-old tar archives. You should be able to manipulate them directly with GNU tar. Even non-GNU tar should work for non-incremental backups.