HP OpenVMS Systems

Disabling BACKUP use of continuation volumes?

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The Question is:

 
It there a way to get OpenVMS Alpha Backup to only use a single tape as part
of a backup routine so that if the tape becomes full, it terminates the
backup and returns an error to the calling command file rather than
requesting a 2nd volume.
 
I've tried things like the /NOASSIST on the mount command but they do not
seem to work. I need this for an unattended backup procedure where the users
cannot put in a 2nd tape since the data being backed up has to all be backed
up together or not at all.
It is for financial data but users are on the system running reports
(read-only) and the application needs to be available again early in the
morning before operators could insert a 2nd tape and the backup finish.If
the tape is full, I would prefer an err
or to be returned so the volume being backed up can be reduced.
 
Any ideas?
 

The Answer is :

 
  There is no readily available mechanism to disable the use of continuation
  volumes within BACKUP.
 
  BACKUP to an intermediate file, size it, then send it out to tape?  (Or
  pre-size the data, and estimate if it will fit on the tape?)  (Remember
  to account for the redundency information added to the data by BACKUP.)
 
  MOUNT with /NOAUTOMATIC and /NOASSIST, and/or with a process that detects
  and responds to the operator request with the equivilent of a REPLY/ABORT?
 
  Acquire a magazine tape drive (loader), or a tape drive with sufficient
  archival capacity on a single piece of media for the job?
 

  

     

     
answer written or last revised on ( 4-JAN-1999 )
     
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