Catalogs
Each time a tape is mounted, Canister will create a Catalog of its contents. This makes it easy to find what's on a tape without having to mount it first.
The LTO Archive volume
On a Mac, when Canister is open, all Catalogs are available as a virtual drive called LTO Archive. Since a driver installation is required, Canister will prompt you to install it. You can also download the installer directly from our servers.
Don't see the LTO Archive volume? Check if your user has administrator permissions.
Creating Catalogs
Canister automatically creates a Catalog the first time it mounts each tape and updates existing Catalogs on subsequent mounting of the tape. Also, after each Archive transfer, the Catalog for that tape is updated automatically.
Finding files using Catalogs
On macOS, Catalogs live in Finder so you can utilize all the power of Finder's search.
When Canister is open, you'll see the LTO Archive mount in Finder. You can also click the Catalog icon in Canister to go there. There, you can do a Finder search. Just hit Command-F and be sure to select LTO Archive as the scope. Pro-tip for online/offline workflows: use Smart Folders.
Here's an example of a search for the file Quitter.zip, with Finder indicating it's located on LTO tape "A":
On Windows, Catalogs can be accessed by clicking the Catalog button pictured below.
The Storage Browser will open. It provides a useful overview of all tapes in the Catalog. Folders can be expanded by clicking the > button.
Retrieve from Finder
On macOS, Canister installs a Finder extension that allows you to retrieve a file or folder directly from the Catalog. Right-click the folder you want to retrieve and select "Retrieve" to launch Canister. This will trigger Canister to check if the correct tape is mounted and automatically select the required files. Then, Canister will ask to specify a location to retrieve to.
Catalog History
Canister creates a Catalog when mounting a tape and updates it after each Archive. Catalog history is stored for safekeeping as described below.
Old Catalogs are moved into a hidden folder named Tapename (serial).history, essentially archiving them.
To see previous generations of your Catalogs, enable Show Hidden Files in Finder with the shortcut Shift-Command-.
The most up-to-date Catalog is stored in: /Users/Username/AppData/Roaming/Canister/$TAPE/Current
Previous versions of a Catalog are stored in:
/Users/Username/AppData/Roaming/Canister/$TAPE/History/YYYY-MM-DD
Editing and removing Catalogs
Use the steps below to clean up the Catalog, or remove test entries:
To access the catalogs location, bypassing the virtual drive, Alt-Click the Catalog icon in Canister (top-right) and a folder in ~/Library/Application Support/Canister will open with editable catalogs.
Navigate to/Users/Username/AppData/Roaming/Canister/Catalogs using Explorer, then either delete the folder representing tape you wish to remove.
Changing the Catalog location
On macOS, it's possible to set a custom Catalog location using a User Default.
Open Terminal.app and enter
defaults write nl.syncfactory.Canister.Mac CatalogLocationfollowed by the full path of the folder, all on one line. eg.defaults write nl.syncfactory.Canister.Mac CatalogLocation /Users/[username]/Documents/Canister/Alternative\ Location
Pro-tip: don't type the folder path, but drag the folder you want as location for Catalogs from Finder into the Terminal.
Note: when checking for a User Default value for the Catalog location, Canister expects a full path, including the name of the Catalogs folder itself. If a path is unreachable (e.g., if on a network server or cloud drive) or Canister doesn’t have the correct permissions, Canister will use the default Catalog location.
On Windows, it's possible to set a custom Catalog location using a Registry Switch.
Open Registry Editor.
Locate Canister here:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\CanisterRight Click to create a new String Value called
AlternativeCatalogLocation.Define your full path including the drive letter.
Restart Canister.
Migrating to a new system
In the event you need to move to a new computer, Catalogs can be moved as follows:
Due to the typically large amount of files in a catalog, it's best not to copy catalogs but to archive them first.
Run this command in Terminal, and it will create an archive on your desktop:
You can copy this archive to a new machine, then unpack it with a free app like Unarchiver.
Navigate to /Users/Username/AppData/Roaming/Canister using Explorer, then right click the Catalogs directory and choose Send to -> Compressed (zipped) folder.
Next, copy the zip to the new computer and extract.
Converting with NeoFinder
NeoFinder for Mac offers integrations between many other LTO-focused apps (eg. YoYotta, PreRoll Post) and Canister, making it a breeze to convert your old databases to Catalogs. For more information, refer to NeoFinder's documentation.
Importing StorageDNA Catalogs
Users with StorageDNA LTFS Catalogs can use this script to convert them into Canister Catalogs.
This script requires the fileicon utility to be installed first, via brew.
Zip the
archive.xmlandcatalog.tgzfiles representing each of your SDNA Catalogs, then place the resulting zip file into a folder named after the Catalog.Place the converter script on the same level as the folders containing your zip files, e.g.,
Run the script in
Terminal.app:./migrate_sdna_to_canister.shCopy the newly created Canister Catalogs stubs from the
_processeddirectory to~/Library/Application Support/Canister/Catalogs
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