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HP OpenVMS Version 8.3-1H1 for Integrity Servers Upgrade and Installation Manual

Appendix E Backing Up and Restoring the System Disk

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This appendix describes how to perform backup and restore operations on the system disk. You perform these tasks by entering commands from a specialized backup environment. You access this environment through the menu that is displayed when you boot the OpenVMS I64 OE DVD, or through an alternative method that does not require theDVD.

This specialized backup environment is required because it allows you to create an exact copy of the system disk. You cannot create an exact copy in a standard operating system environment because the OpenVMS Backup utility saves only what is on the disk at the moment the BACKUP command is executing, excluding portions of open files contained in memory or data about files not yet written back to the disk (cache).

For more information about backup operations, including procedures for backing up and restoring files and directories, see the HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 1: Essentials.

E.1 Reasons for Backing Up the System Disk

The primary reason for having a backup copy of the system disk is so you can fully restore your system in case any hardware or software problem affects the integrity of your original system disk or your ability to access it. For example, use the backup copy to restore your system under the following conditions:

  • When a problem occurs during an OpenVMS upgrade or update, or during the installation of other software products. If you back up the system disk before you attempt any of those procedures, you can restore the system disk and attempt the procedure again.

  • When a system file that is accidentally deleted renders the system disk nonoperational. If you back up the system disk after you installed or upgraded the OpenVMS operating system and any other software products, you can restore the system disk.

  • When the drive that holds the system disk malfunctions. If you have a backup copy of the system disk, you can restore it to a functioning disk and continue to use the system.

Another reason for backing up the system disk is to eliminate disk fragmentation, which occurs when files are stored noncontiguously on the disk. The BACKUP/IMAGE command creates a copy on which files are stored contiguously.

E.2 Suggested Procedures

HP recommends the following:

  • 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 Section E.4 and Section E.5.

    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 Section E.6.

  • 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.

E.3 OpenVMS Cluster Caution

If any nodes except the node used to run BACKUP are booted during the backup operations described in this appendix, your cluster will become partitioned, where nodes in the existing cluster divide into two or more independent clusters. This condition can cause data file corruption.

In addition, these backup environments do not restrict your use of DCL commands to the BACKUP command only, which further increases your risk of accidentally destroying or corrupting data on a disk. Therefore, to avoid jeopardizing the integrity of your data in any way, HP recommends that you shut down the entire OpenVMS Cluster system before you back up your system disk.

E.4 Backing Up the System Disk

The following sections describe how to back up the system disk.

E.4.1 Getting Started

Before you back up the system disk, do the following:

  1. In an OpenVMS Cluster environment, dismount the system disk from all systems in the cluster that have the disk mounted as a data disk (rather than as the system disk).

  2. Shut down all systems booted from that disk.

  3. Boot the operating system media. (For booting the OpenVMS I64 OE DVD, see Section A.6.)

  4. Choose the DCL option (8) on the menu. For example:

      ****************************************************************
    
      You can install or upgrade the OpenVMS I64 operating system
      or you can install or upgrade layered products that are included
      on the OpenVMS I64 distribution media (CD/DVD).
    
      You can also execute DCL commands and procedures to perform
      "standalone" tasks, such as backing up the system disk.
    
      Please choose one of the following:
    
        1)  Upgrade, install or reconfigure OpenVMS I64 Version 8.3-1H1
        2)  Display layered products that this procedure can install
        3)  Install or upgrade layered products 
        4)  Show installed products
        5)  Reconfigure installed products
        6)  Remove installed products
        7)  Find, Install, or Undo patches; Show or Delete recovery data
        8)  Execute DCL commands and procedures
        9)  Shut down this system      
    
    Enter CHOICE or ? for help: (1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/?) 8
  5. At the triple dollar sign prompt ($$$), enter the SHOW DEVICES command.

  6. Examine the list of devices to determine which device is the source drive (the system disk you want to back up) and which device is the target drive (the supported disk or tape device that will hold the backed up files).

E.4.2 Mounting Devices

After you determine the source drive and target drive, mount those devices (and any other output devices you plan to use) before you perform any backup operations. Enter the MOUNT commands in the following format:

$$$ MOUNT/OVERRIDE=IDENTIFICATION source-drive
$$$ MOUNT/FOREIGN target-drive

In these commands:

  • source-drive is the name of the drive holding the system disk.

  • target-drive is the name of the drive that will hold the backup files.

E.4.3 Performing the System Disk Backup

When the system disk and output devices are mounted, back up the system disk by entering the BACKUP command in the following format:

$$$ BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY source-drive: target-drive:

Example 1

In this example, the system disk and a target disk are mounted so the BACKUP command can create a backup disk. (You can use a backup disk as a system disk.)

$$$ MOUNT/OVERRIDE=IDENTIFICATION DKA200
$$$ MOUNT/FOREIGN DKA300
$$$ BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY DKA200: DKA300:

Example 2

In this example, the system disk and a target tape device are mounted so the BACKUP command can create a backup tape.

$$$ INITIALIZE MKA300: label
$$$ MOUNT/OVERRIDE=IDENTIFICATION DKA200
$$$ MOUNT/FOREIGN MKA300
$$$ BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY DKA200: MKA300:SEP_07_BACKUP.BCK/SAVE_SET/REWIND

E.4.4 Changing the Disk Volume Cluster Size

The BACKUP/IMAGE command maintains a set of disk volume parameters from the input volume, altering attributes such as the disk volume cluster size as appropriate for the target device. (Cluster size refers to the basic unit of space allocation on the disk, not to OpenVMS Cluster environments.)

To change the disk volume cluster size, you must restore the disk contents to a disk that has been previously initialized with the desired cluster size (using BACKUP/IMAGE/NOINITIALIZE). For more information about initializing a disk and using the BACKUP command, see the HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 1: Essentials and the HP OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual: A-L, and see the description of the INITIALIZE and BACKUP commands in the HP OpenVMS DCL Dictionary.

E.4.5 Logging Out, Shutting Down, and Rebooting

After you complete the backup operation:

  1. Enter the LOGOUT command to exit the DCL environment and return to the menu.

  2. Choose the shutdown option (9).

  3. After the shutdown completes, boot from the system disk.

E.5 Restoring the System Disk

The following sections describe how to restore the system disk. Note that restoring a system disk also serves to defragment the disk. In addition, it validates the backup, ensuring that the backed up system disk is usable.

E.5.1 Getting Started

Before you can restore the system disk, follow these steps:

  1. Shut down the system.

  2. Boot the operating system media. (For booting the OpenVMS I64 OE DVD, see Section A.6.)

  3. Choose the DCL option (8) on the menu. For example:

      You can install or upgrade the OpenVMS I64 operating system
      or you can install or upgrade layered products that are included
      on the OpenVMS I64 distribution (CD/DVD).
    
      You can also execute DCL commands and procedures to perform
      "standalone" tasks, such as backing up the system disk.
    
      Please choose one of the following:
    
        1)  Upgrade, install or reconfigure OpenVMS I64 Version 8.3-1H1
        2)  Display layered products that this procedure can install
        3)  Install or upgrade layered products
        4)  Show installed products
        5)  Reconfigure installed products
        6)  Remove installed products
        7)  Find, Install, or Undo patches; Show or Delete recovery data
        8)  Execute DCL commands and procedures
        9)  Shut down this system      
            
    Enter CHOICE or ? for help: (1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/?) 8
  4. At the triple dollar sign prompt ($$$), enter the SHOW DEVICES command.

  5. Examine the list of devices to determine which device is the source drive (the drive holding the backed up files you want to restore) and which device is the target drive (the disk on which you want the files restored).

E.5.2 Mounting Devices

After you determine the source drive and target drive, mount those devices (and any other output devices you plan to use) before you perform any restore operations. Enter the MOUNT commands in the following format:

$$$ MOUNT/OVERRIDE=IDENTIFICATION  source-drive
$$$ MOUNT/FOREIGN target-drive

In these commands:

  • source-drive is the device holding the files you want to restore

    (Note, however, that you must use the MOUNT/FOREIGN command if the source drive is a tape device.)

  • target-drive is the destination

E.5.3 Performing the System Disk Restore

Enter the BACKUP command in the following format to restore the system disk:

$$$ BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY source-drive: target-drive:

Example 1

In this example, a backup disk and a target disk are mounted so the BACKUP command can restore the system disk from the backup disk:

$$$ MOUNT/OVERRIDE=IDENTIFICATION DKA300
$$$ MOUNT/FOREIGN DKA200
$$$ BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY DKA300: DKA200:

Example 2

In this example, a backup tape and a target disk are mounted so the BACKUP command can restore the system disk from the backup tape:

$$$ MOUNT/FOREIGN MKA300
$$$ MOUNT/FOREIGN DKA200
$$$ BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY MKA300:SEP_07_BACKUP.BCK/SAVE_SET DKA200:

E.5.4 Logging Out, Shutting Down, and Rebooting

After you complete the restore operation, follow these steps:

  1. Enter the LOGOUT command to exit the DCL environment and return to the menu.

  2. Choose the shutdown option (9).

  3. After the shutdown completes, boot from the system disk.

E.6 Alternative Backup and Restore Procedure (Minimum OpenVMS Environment)

This section describes an alternative method of performing backup and restore operations. This method is similar to creating a Standalone Backup directory on a disk, as supported by OpenVMS VAX systems and certain earlier versions of OpenVMS Alpha (using SYS$UPDATE.STABACKIT.COM). This method installs a Minimum OpenVMS Environment (install with no options) on another disk from which you can perform your backup and restore operations on the system disk. The Minimum OpenVMS Environment is created in the SYSE root ([SYSE]) on the disk, which runs a subset of OpenVMS and is indicated by the triple dollar sign ($$$) system prompt. Use this method under the following conditions:

  • If you do not have access to the operating system media and its menu system

  • If you want to back up a shadowed system disk without disabling the shadow set

NOTE: You can back up your running system disk by using the /IGNORE=INTERLOCK qualifier with the BACKUP command and ignoring warning messages. However, that method requires that all other use of the system be suspended, including disabling logins, stopping print and batch queues, and turning off networking software. In addition, you cannot use this method to restore files to the running system disk. Because of these limitations, HP recommends that, if you must use an alternative backup or restore method, you use the method described in this section.

E.6.1 Preparing an Alternate System Disk

Prepare an alternate system disk as follows:

  1. Log in to a privileged account on your running OpenVMS system.

  2. Using the SHOW DEVICE command, identify a data disk on which you can install the operating system, with no options. This is your target disk during that installation. To install the operating system with no options on your target disk, you need the following amount of free disk space:

    • Approximately 4,748,000 blocks (2.4GB)

    Existing data remains on the disk.

  3. The target disk must be mounted privately to your process. (This prevents other users from accessing this disk during the installation and backup procedures.) Therefore, if the target disk was mounted with the /SYSTEM, /CLUSTER, /GROUP, or /SHARE qualifier, dismount that disk and mount it without those qualifiers or the /FOREIGN qualifier. For example:

    $ MOUNT/OVERRIDE=IDENTIFICATION DKA200 
  4. Enter the following command:

    $ @SYS$SYSTEM:I64VMS$PCSI_INSTALL_MIN.COM [target-disk]

    (The procedure prompts you for a device name if you do not specify it on the command line.)

  5. As the procedure completes the installation, the display is similar to the following:

    HP I64VMS OPENVMS V8.3-1H1: OpenVMS and related products platform
     
        COPYRIGHT (c) 30-Aug-2007 
        Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
     
    Execution phase starting ...
    
    The following product will be installed:
        HP I64VMS VMS V8.3-1H1
    
    Portion Done: 0%..10%..20%..30%..40%..50%..60%..70%..80%..90%..100%
    
    The following product has been installed:
        HP I64VMS VMS V8.3-1H1
        .
        .
        .
        The installation of minimum OpenVMS I64 is now complete.
    
        Use EFI or the boot option you just created or validated (if any)
        to boot minimum OpenVMS.  If you use EFI remember to set VMS_FLAGS
        to E,0 before booting, and to reset VMS_FLAGS to 0,0 (or as
        required by your system).
    
            BOOT -FLAGS E,O device-name
    
        (Some configurations may require a boot option to boot.)
    CAUTION: If your system is a cluster member, HP recommends that you shut down the entire OpenVMS Cluster system before you back up your system disk. This will prevent you from creating a partitioned cluster and from jeopardizing the integrity of your data in any other way.

E.6.2 Using the Alternate System Disk

Use the alternate system disk (on which you installed the operating system with no options) to perform backup and restore operations as follows:

  1. Shut down your system.

  2. Boot the alternate system disk from the SYSE root.

    For OpenVMS I64 systems, you can add the alternate system disk as a boot option in the EFI Boot Manager menu by using the OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager utility (SYS$MANAGER:BOOT_OPTIONS.COM), as described in Section A.5.2. When prompted, set the flags as e,0. Alternatively, boot the alternate system disk manually by entering the following command at the EFI Shell prompt, where fsn: (such as fs1:) is the device associated with the system disk:

    Shell> fsn:\efi\vms\vms_loader.efi -flags e,0

    The system automatically logs you in to the SYSTEM account and then displays a triple dollar sign prompt ($$$).

    NOTE: During the boot and login operations on this minimum version of the operating system, you can ignore license messages that are similar to the following:

    %LICENSE-I-NOLICENSE, no license is active for this software product
  3. If your system disk is shadowed, install and load a Volume Shadowing for OpenVMS license on this data disk. Then you can back up the shadowed system disk from this data disk without disabling the shadow set.

    NOTE: HP recommends that you do not install any other licenses, including OpenVMS licenses, on this alternate system. You can use the system only from the console.
  4. Mount the system disk and any output devices you plan to use during the backup or restore operations. See Section E.5.2 for more information.

  5. Perform the necessary backup or restore operations by entering the appropriate BACKUP commands. For examples of using the BACKUP command to back up the system disk, see Section E.4.3; for examples of using the BACKUP command to restore the system disk, see Section E.5.3.

  6. Shut down the system.

  7. Boot from your original system disk.

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