Newbie has some questions regarding openVMS 7.1

[Torsten Ermlich]

Hi,

I started my new job 01. september, and one of the old machines is an DEC AlphaStation 255 running openVMS 7.1.
Looking for documentation, backup-tapes, etc. showd me that nothing has done during the past ~15 years - and some data has been already lost about 5 years ago.

Now I'd like to create at least one (1) backup manually, and hopefully one backup every night.
My "ir-roots" are MS-based, with some good experiences in linux. Currently I have two mirrored linux systems acting as nfs-, cifs- and iSCSI-servers. The unix/linux-systems are using the nfs-shares, windows-xp & -7 systems are using iSCSI, and some dos/win98/os2-systems are using cifs.

Two systems are generating problems: one HP/UX9 system, and the openVMS one:
I'm not able to mount an nfs-share.
"help nfs" tells to use "HELP UCX PRODUCT_OVERVIEW NFS" (which gives no hints on usgae), and "help mount" isn't helpful, too.

Here are some system-data:
$ WRITE SYS$OUTPUT F$GETSYI( "VERSION")
V7.1
$

$ show logical *tcp*

(LNM$PROCESS_TABLE)

(LNM$JOB_80D73FC0)

(LNM$GROUP_000001)

(LNM$SYSTEM_TABLE)

(DECW$LOGICAL_NAMES)
%SHOW-S-NOTRAN, no translation for logical name *TCP*
$

How can I mount an nfs-share (like 10.4.10.2/255.255.255.0:/srv/nfs/pds).

Thanks a lot! :)

Have a nice day
Torsten

[Craig A Berry]

Assuming you have UCX (now called TCP/IP Services), documentation on using NFS is available at:

http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/73final/6527/6527pro_001.html#manage_nfs_commands_sec

That's for a TCP/IP version corresponding to a somewhat later version of the operating system than what you're running, but I think it's the oldest version readily available online. There is no guarantee all the capabilities described there are available in your older version. There is also no guarantee that you even have TCP/IP networking, or that you have the DEC/Compaq/HP product rather than one of the third-party networking stacks.

Please post the results of:

$ ucx show version

which will at least confirm you are running ucx. You might also try:

$ ucx show nfs_server

to see the status of the NFS server (if you even have one running).

[Torsten Ermlich]

Here are the requested information:
$ ucx show version

Digital TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS Alpha Version V4.1
on a AlphaStation 255 4/298 running OpenVMS V7.1

$ ucx show nfs_server
%UCX-E-NFSERROR, Error communicating with NFS
-UCX-E-NOAPPLIC, The UCX PAK is not enabled
$

[tsgdavid]

When you say that you are unable to mount the NFS share, what does that mean? Do you get an error message? Do you have any diagnostic information from either the client or the server?

Dave

[tsgdavid]

Apparently you do not have the required software license to use NFS.

Can you share with us the output of the
$ SHOW LICENSE command? This will tell you what licenses are currently active on the system.

Has this system mounted NFS disks previously or is this a new thing?

Dave

[Torsten Ermlich]

All mount-commands I found refer to an TCPIP-shell (I have no idea what the correct term of its is), like:
TCPIP> mount ...
But I don't get there ... so I'm not sure if I use the wrong syntax, or that particular things aren't available at all.


$ SHOW LICENSE

Active licenses on node VMSAFP:

------- Product ID -------- ---- Rating ----- -- Version --
Product Producer Units Avail Activ Version Release Termination
ACAS-RT DEC 1300 H 0 0.0 (none) (none)
C DEC 1050 H 0 0.0 (none) (none)
DMQ-RTO DEC 1050 H 0 0.0 (none) (none)
DVNETEND DEC 1050 H 0 0.0 (none) (none)
DW-MOTIF DEC 1050 H 0 0.0 (none) (none)
DW-MOTIF-UI-JAPANE DEC 1050 H 0 0.0 (none) (none)
FORTRAN DEC 1050 H 0 0.0 (none) (none)
MMOV-RT DEC 100 100 0 0.0 (none) (none)
OPEN3D DEC 1050 H 0 0.0 (none) (none)
OPENVMS-ALPHA DEC 12 0 A 0.0 (none) (none)
OPENVMS-ALPHA-ADL DEC 100 0 100 0.0 (none) (none)
UCX-IP-CLIENT DEC 1050 H 0 0.0 (none) (none)
VMS-UI-JAPANESE DEC 12 A 0 0.0 (none) (none)
VMSCLUSTER DEC 1050 H 0 0.0 (none) (none)
$

[tsgdavid]

Torsten,
Here is a related thread that may help:

http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1252208

[Torsten Ermlich]

I think I did the trick:
ucx mount dnfs:/host=IP-ADDRESS/path="/srv/nfs/backups"
%UCX$DNFSMOUNT-S-MOUNTED, /srv/nfs/backups mounted on _VMSAFP$DNFS1:[000000]

$ set default
_Directory: _VMSAFP$DNFS1:[000000]
$ dir

Directory VMSAFP$DNFS1:[000000]

BIN-25102010.TAR;1 LOST$5KFOUND.DIR;1 USERS-25102010.TAR;1
USR-25102010.TAR;1 ZYGO.DIR;1

Total of 5 files.
$

So, now I can start writing an first backup to dnfs1: ... can I?

[tsgdavid]

It sounds like you are all set, assuming that

1) you have a good backup of your system disk that you can restore by some means when the system is down (in case your system disk is lost and you cannot boot).

2) you have a way to recover any other disks to their original state (directory structure, permissions, etc.)

I am not sure if you will be using VMS BACKUP or a tar utility, or something else to perform your backup. It would be advisable to document and test any recovery plans that apply.

I have not used an NFS disk to backup VMS files, so I am not sure of the best method, but it appears that recovering data requires that you have the system up and running and able to access the NFS disk.

[Torsten Ermlich]

I'd like to use the VMS Backup command.
tar is terrible, and on linux/unix I try to use star whereever its possible ;)

No, currently there's no second hard-disc (I guess I'll have to buy one), no system-wide backup, no chance to restore the installation ...

I just did some tests like:
copy *.* dnfs1:[nozomi.pds3d]*.*;*
and this worked fine so far.

Which command-sequence would you prefer to run backups with the VMS Backup program?