Hello, a DEC AlphaServer 400 running VMS suffered a disk crash last week in my company and I'm required to fix it. I was told by the previous admin that if I copy (mirror) the disk, from a working server, it will work with the old one and a replacement drive. I'm new to VMS, so I was wondering if anyone could point me to a HOWTO, Getting Started Guide or other online document that covers disk duplication (a'la UNIX dd) Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

Hello, The usual way to copy a disk is with the BACKUP/IMAGE command. I don't know of any "quick start" type of documentation. The nearest help is the "help" command - in this case, you would enter HELP BACKUP. (Although you might want to start with HELP HELP.) The OpenVMS Web site is http://h71000.www7.hp.com/. It includes links to the very large documentation set (http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/index.html) and the FAQ. The BACKUP command is covered in the HP OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual (http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/82FINAL/6048/6048PRO.HTML). If you're replacing a system disk, you will need to fix the various network addresses and node names; there's a section on that in the FAQ.

Esteban, As KellyS noted, you will need to change the network node name and the node addresses, possibly for both DECnet and TCP. The precise procedure depends on which software and what version that you are running. A good hint is to disconnect the network connnections physically BEFORE booting the cloned system pack. Do the renaming and addressing changes from the console. I hope that the above is helpful. - Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com