HP Archive Backup System for OpenVMS Guide to Operations

Preparing For Disaster Recovery
7.3 Non-OpenVMS Systems
Example 7–6 BACKUP Command to Restore ABS$ROOT
$ BACKUP/NOASSIST/OVERLAY -
$_MKA500:25DEC20010101010./LABEL=(GKF033,GKF044)-
$_DGA100:[VMS$COMMON.ABS.*...]/LOG
Because ABS has not been started up the ABS$ROOT logical is not available yet. This restores the
ABS$ROOT files in saveset “24DEC20012359590.” on tape volumes “GKF033” and “GKF044” to
disk location “DGA100:[VMS$COMMON.ABS...]”. This assumes that you ABS$ROOT logical was
defined as a concealed device name of “DGA100:[VMS$COMMON.ABS.]”.
7.3 Non-OpenVMS Systems
Note
It is important to note the full pathname when you save these components or products.
ABS cannot restore a bootable system disk of a non-OpenVMS system. Therefore you need to
be able to save and restore the system disk locally. Once you have the system disk restored and
booted the system you have to install the ABS client software for that platform. Once the ABS
client software has been installed you can use ABS on your OpenVMS system to restore data to
the client node.
7.4 Thoughts on Save and Restore Procedures
When it comes to setup procedures on how to save and restore files for disaster recovery there is
a variety of possibilities depending on your configuration and other system activities.
You do not need to have an up-to-date copy of your system disk to restore your ABS environment.
You could start with a fresh installation of OpenVMS. Install ABS and products required
to run ABS (e.g. a 3rd party scheduler). While ABS is shutdown restore the MDMS$ROOT and
ABS$ROOT and other required components. Startup ABS to restore all the rest of your data.
Or in a VMSCluster with more than one system disk you may be able to restore all your data
online using ABS from another node in the cluster.
You can keep a printout of the ABS save log in a safe place. This allows you to restore the data
for files on OpenVMS systems using OpenVMS BACKUP. You need to keep the volume IDs,
the name of the save sets and the include specifications used in the save operation.
Typically you do not want to keep multiple copies of your disaster recovery saves. You may
want to keep 2 copies. So, if you are doing daily disaster recovery saves the archive expiration
should be set to 2 days.
You should use non-incremental saves for the disaster recovery. This allows for an easy restore
in case of an emergency. You can use incremental saves, but on a restore you have to do all the
incremental restores on your own until you have ABS fully up-and-running
Note
And a final word: Make sure that you have a clear procedure on how to do a disaster
recovery. Test your disaster recovery procedure!
7-8 Preparing For Disaster Recovery