The preferred method for performing
system disk backup and restore operations is to boot the operating system
media, choose the DCL option from menu, and then enter the appropriate
backup commands. The detailed procedures are described in
Backing Up the System Disk and
Restoring the System Disk. However, if you do not have access to the CD or if you want
to back up a shadowed system disk without disabling the shadow set,
you can use a different procedure, which is described in
Alternative Backup and Restore Procedure (Minimum OpenVMS Environment).
Store the backup media in a safe place.
If you have an OpenVMS Cluster environment with
more than one system disk, be sure the volume labels on each system
disk and on backup copies of system disks are unique. Use the SET
VOLUME/LABEL command to change a volume label, if necessary.