OpenVMS File/Directory Transfer

[penguin356]

I am new to OpenVMS. I am trying to find an easy automated way to copy directories and their content to a new Integrity box. Much like Xcopy with the /D /E switches in Windows. I need to maintain the folder heirarchy on the new server. I have tried Mget [*...]*.*;* through a FTP connection from the new server to the old. All this does is copy alll the files to the root directory of the new server.

[Robert Gezelter]

Penguin,

Welcome to the HP ITRC OpenVMS Forum!

There are many best ways, depending on what precisely is the goal.

If the machines are configured into a mixed-architecture cluster, and one has host based volume shadowing, one can do literally seamless migration, as I noted in "Migrating OpenVMS Storage Environments without Interruption or Disruption" (available at http://www.rlgsc.com/hptechnologyforum/2007/1512.html ).

If one is doing a "one-shot" migration of files, the correct thing to do is to use BACKUP to produce a saveset of all the files and directory structure, copy the saveset to the new system, and then restore the saveset. If DECnet is running, the saveset can be written/read from either node, so less scratch space is needed. BACKUP is documented in the HELP text and a rather extensive chapter (Chapter 7, to be precise) in the "Content starts here
HP OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual", available on the OpenVMS www site in HTML and PDF (HTML at http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/83final/6048/6048pro.htmlb ).

I hope the above is useful. If I have been unclear, or can be of additional assistance, please let me know.

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com

[Robert Gezelter]

Penguin,

Upon re-reading my post and the original post in this thread, it occurs to be that I can supply a good shot at the command line if you can supply some information about the directory structure that you are attempting to copy (note, one will also need to separately establish the correct file ownership information, etc.)

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com

[Robert Gezelter]

Penguin,

For completeness, I should also mention my Technical Journal article "Strategies for Migrating from Alpha and VAX systems to HP Integrity Servers on OpenVMS" (available via http://www.rlgsc.com/publications/vmstechjournal/migrationstrategies.html ).

Particularly note that these strategies allow for migrations without requiring any "all or nothing" steps.

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com

[Robert Gezelter]

To all readers of this thread (and the moderators):

There is an errata in the URL for the System Management Utilities Manual that I posted earlier.

The correct URL is http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/83final/6048/6048pro.html

[To the moderators: Please feel free to make the correction in the earlier posting and then delete this posting).

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com

[Steven Schweda]

> I have tried Mget [*...]*.*;* [...]

Wget can do FTP file fetching recursively,
but unless your files have only UNIX-like
VMS/RMS attributes, this would probably be
sub-optimal.

Assuming that the source system also runs
VMS, and the two systems are not part of a
VMScluster, then a BACKUP save set is a
reasonable intermediate.

Zip+UnZip can also preserve file attributes,
but the software support scheme is different
for them if anything goes wrong.

[Hein van den Heuvel]

Any chance to activate DECnet (over IP) between the nodes?
With that in place all native OpenVMS file management commands work.

Like a simple $COPY [*...]*.*;* other:: /log

Be sure to try with small, understood trees first, to figure out default devices, directories and such.

Hein.

[Hein van den Heuvel]

I wrote "Any chance to activate DECnet (over IP) between the nodes?
With that in place all native OpenVMS file management commands work."

I was dreaming. Sorry 'bout that'
[Thanks Bob, for waking me up through private Email]

>> Like a simple $COPY [*...]*.*;* other:: /log

It should work (imho), but does not and never did.

My bad. Sorry.
Either use MGET as indicated (or RCP?)
Or stick is all in a backup or zip file. Yuck.

With decnet and backup, as Bob indicated, the saveset only lneeds to live on one side. And with a procy inplace, the commands can look like:

source node:
$backup/log [.test...] test.bck/save

target node:
$backup/log vrxdev::test.bck/save [...]

Hein.

[Robert Gezelter]

Hein,

While the copy does not reconstitute the directory tree, DECnet between the nodes for accessing the saveset is a major advantage.

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com

[Hoff]

First, forget all that you know from and about Linux and Windows. You'll just get frustrated if you try to carry through that knowledge. Trust me here.

Here, assuming you have IP on both ends and zero or more intervening systems will host the files during the transfer, then the most straightforward way is usually:

$ zip "-V" foo.zip [...]*.*
$ copy/ftp/bin foo.zip host"user pwd"::foo.zip
$ unzip foo.zip

The quoted -V in that first line protects the file attributes.

You can scrounge up zip and unzip from the OpenVMS Freeware V8.0 distro at http://mvb.saic.com or in your OpenVMS I64 distribution DVD set; look in the directory [000TOOLS...] for the set-up and the executable images. Yes; OpenVMS doesn't include zip and unzip.

There are many, many, many other ways to reach the same goal.