Backing Up the System Disk

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

Getting Started

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

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).
Shut down all systems booted from that disk.
Boot the operating system media. (For booting the OpenVMS I64 OE DVD, see “Booting Operations”. For booting the OpenVMS Alpha CD, see “Booting Operations”.)

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
        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

At the triple dollar sign prompt ($$$), enter the SHOW DEVICES command.
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).

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.

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:APR_06_BACKUP.BCK/SAVE_SET/REWIND

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.

Logging Out, Shutting Down, and Rebooting

After you complete the backup operation:

Enter the LOGOUT command to exit the DCL environment and return to the menu.
Choose the shutdown option (9).
After the shutdown completes, boot from the system disk.

HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation