SCSI command

In SCSI computer storage or control, a command is the basic unit of communication. The SCSI command architecture was originally defined for parallel SCSI buses but has been carried forward with minimal change for use with Fibre Channel, iSCSI and Serial Attached SCSI.

In SCSI protocol, the initiator sends a SCSI command to the target which then responds. SCSI commands are sent in a command descriptor block (CDB), which consists of a one byte operation code (opcode) followed by five or more bytes containing command-specific parameters. Upon receiving and processing the CDB the target will return a status code byte.

The rest of this article contains a list of SCSI commands, sortable in opcode or description alphabetical order. In the published SCSI standards, commands are designated as "mandatory," "optional" or "vendor-unique." Only the mandatory commands are required of all devices. There are links to detailed descriptions for the more common SCSI commands. Some opcodes produce different, though usually comparable, effects in different device types; for example, opcode 0x01 recalibrates a disk drive by seeking back to physical sector zero, but rewinds the medium in a tape drive.

[edit] SCSI command lengths

The most significant 3 bits of a SCSI command specify the length of the CDB. The lengths are as follows:

MSbits	Hex	Length
000	0x 1x	6
001	2x 3x	10
010	4x 5x	10
011	6x 7x	(Variable extensions)
100	8x 9x	16
101	Ax Bx	12
110	Cx Dx	(Vendor-reserved)
111	Ex Fx	(Vendor-reserved)

[edit] List of SCSI commands

Code	Command
00	TEST UNIT READY (mandatory)
01	RECALIBRATE or REWIND
03	REQUEST SENSE (mandatory except RBC)
04	FORMAT UNIT
05	READ BLOCK LIMITS
07	REASSIGN BLOCKS
07	INITIALIZE ELEMENT STATUS
08	READ (6)
0A	WRITE (6)
0B	SEEK (6)
0F	READ REVERSE (6)
10	WRITE FILEMARKS (6)
11	SPACE (6)
12	INQUIRY (mandatory)
13	VERIFY(6)
14	RECOVER BUFFERED DATA
15	MODE SELECT (6)
16	RESERVE (6)
17	RELEASE (6)
18	COPY
19	ERASE (6)
1A	MODE SENSE (6)
1B	START/STOP UNIT
1B	LOAD UNLOAD
1C	RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS
1D	SEND DIAGNOSTIC
1E	PREVENT/ALLOW MEDIUM REMOVAL
23	READ FORMAT CAPACITIES (MMC)
24	SET WINDOW
25	READ CAPACITY (10)
28	READ (10)
29	READ GENERATION
2A	WRITE (10)
2B	SEEK (10)
2C	ERASE (10)
2D	READ UPDATED BLOCK
2E	WRITE AND VERIFY (10)
2F	VERIFY (10)
30	SEARCH DATA HIGH (10)
31	SEARCH DATA EQUAL (10)
32	SEARCH DATA LOW (10)
33	SET LIMITS (10)
34	PRE-FETCH (10)
35	SYNCHRONIZE CACHE (10)
36	LOCK/UNLOCK CACHE (10)
37	READ DEFECT DATA (10)
37	INITIALIZE ELEMENT STATUS WITH RANGE
38	MEDIUM SCAN
39	COMPARE
3A	COPY AND VERIFY
3B	WRITE BUFFER
3C	READ BUFFER
3D	UPDATE BLOCK
3E	READ LONG
3F	WRITE LONG
40	CHANGE DEFINITION
41	WRITE SAME (10)
44	REPORT DENSITY SUPPORT
45	PLAY AUDIO (10)
46	GET CONFIGURATION
47	PLAY AUDIO MSF
48	AUDIO TRACK INDEX (not mentioned in T10 overview)
49	AUDIO TRACK RELATIVE 10 (not mentioned in T10 overview)
4A	GET EVENT STATUS NOTIFICATION
4B	PAUSE / RESUME
4C	LOG SELECT
4D	LOG SENSE
50	XDWRITE (10)
51	XPWRITE (10) /*READ DISC INFORMATION CDB (in mmc5r02c 6.22.2)*/
52	XDREAD (10)
53	XDWRITEREAD (10)
54	SEND OPC INFORMATION
55	MODE SELECT (10)
56	RESERVE (10)
57	RELEASE (10)
58	REPAIR TRACK
5A	MODE SENSE (10)
5B	CLOSE TRACK / SESSION
5C	READ BUFFER CAPACITY
5D	SEND CUE SHEET
5E	PERSISTENT RESERVE IN
5F	PERSISTENT RESERVE OUT
7E	EXTENDED CDB
7F	VARIABLE LENGTH CDB
80	XDWRITE EXTENDED (16)
80	WRITE FILEMARKS (16)
81	REBUILD (16)
81	READ REVERSE (16)
82	REGENERATE (16)
83	EXTENDED COPY
84	RECEIVE COPY RESULTS
85	ATA COMMAND PASS THROUGH (16)
86	ACCESS CONTROL IN
87	ACCESS CONTROL OUT
88	READ (16)
89	COMPARE AND WRITE
8A	WRITE (16)
8B	ORWRITE
8C	READ ATTRIBUTE
8D	WRITE ATTRIBUTE
8E	WRITE AND VERIFY (16)
8F	VERIFY (16)
90	PRE-FETCH (16)
91	SYNCHRONIZE CACHE (16)
91	SPACE (16)
92	LOCK UNLOCK CACHE (16)
93	WRITE SAME (16)
9E	SERVICE ACTION IN (16)
9F	SERVICE ACTION OUT (16)
A0	REPORT LUNS
A1	ATA COMMAND PASS THROUGH (12)
A2	SECURITY PROTOCOL IN
A2	SEND EVENT (not mentioned in T10 overview)
A3	MAINTENANCE IN
A4	MAINTENANCE OUT (REPORT_KEY)
A5	MOVE MEDIUM
A5	PLAY AUDIO 12 (not mentioned in T10 overview)
A6	EXCHANGE MEDIUM
A7	MOVE MEDIUM ATTACHED
A8	READ (12)
A9	SERVICE ACTION OUT (12)
A9	AUDIO TRACK RELATIVE 12 (not mentioned in T10 overview)
AA	WRITE (12)
AB	SERVICE ACTION IN (12)
AC	ERASE (12)
AD	READ DVD STRUCTURE
AE	WRITE AND VERIFY (12)
AF	VERIFY (12)
B0	SEARCH DATA HIGH (12)
B1	SEARCH DATA EQUAL (12)
B2	SEARCH DATA LOW (12)
B3	SET LIMITS (12)
B4	READ ELEMENT STATUS ATTACHED
B5	SECURITY PROTOCOL OUT
B6	SEND VOLUME TAG
B7	READ DEFECT DATA (12)
B8	READ ELEMENT STATUS
B9	READ CD MSF
BA	REDUNDANCY GROUP (IN)
BB	REDUNDANCY GROUP (OUT)
BC	SPARE (IN)
BC	PLAY CD (not mentioned in T10 overview)
BD	SPARE (OUT)
BE	VOLUME SET (IN)
BF	VOLUME SET (OUT)