If you are installing Archive Backup System (ABS)/Media Device and Management System (MDMS) for the first time, VMS Software suggests that you read through this installation guide before installing the products. Also, refer to the VSI Archive Backup System for OpenVMS User Guide for information on configuring ABS/MDMS.

If you are updating ABS/MDMS, you should review the release notes provided in the installation kit. You can extract the release notes by using the following command:

$ @SYS$UPDATE:VMSINSTAL kit-name kit-location OPTIONS N

For your storage application to work, the hardware it depends on must be installed, connected, and configured to function with the operating system. To configure your hardware, see the hardware manuals provided with the hardware device. Also, refer to the VSI Archive Backup System for OpenVMS User Guide for troubleshooting suggestions.

If you are installing tape jukeboxes for use with ABS/MDMS, you should verify that the hardware is working correctly before installing ABS/MDMS. You can use MRU to verify that the hardware is installed.

VMS Software recommends that you perform a backup operation on the system disk before installing any software. For details about performing a backup operation on a system disk, refer to the relevant section in the VSI OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 1: Essentials.

To use ABS software, you must register and load the relevant license Product Authorization Key (PAK) before you begin the installation procedure.

To register a license under OpenVMS, log into the system where you will be installing the software. Log into the SYSTEM account, or enable your account with the privileges described in Section 2.2.1, ''Required Privileges''.

VMS Software recommends that you register your PAK by renaming the PAK file that VMS Software provided with a .COM extension and then executing that file; this will register your license automatically. Thereafter, you must either issue the LICENSE LOAD command or reboot OpenVMS to make it active.

Alternatively, you may choose to register your PAK using the LICENSE REGISTER command, by either typing the values of each requested field, or copying-and-pasting the values into the console line by line (assuming your console connection supports this action, such as using a terminal emulator).

If you plan to use ABS on more than one node in an OpenVMS cluster, you must load the licenses on other nodes after you install ABS.

Below is an example of what a PAK might look like:

$ LICENSE REGISTER ABS-SERVER-X86 -
/ISSUER=VSI -
/AUTHORIZATION=VSI-SAMPLEAUTH-X-10JAN2025 -
/PRODUCER=VSI -
/UNITS=0 -
/TERMINATION_DATE=31-DEC-2025 -
/OPTIONS=(PCL,X86_64) -
/TOKEN="*** VSI INTERNAL USE ONLY ***" -
/CHECKSUM=2-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

Install the ABS/MDMS server software on the node that you want to be the database server node using a standard installation.

The standard installation will install the ABS/MDMS software in the following manner:

ABS will be installed with the following options:

 Device for ABS/MDMS                - SYS$COMMON (will use current values
                                      if either MDMS or ABS is installed)
                                      You will be asked for the device name.
 UIC for the ABS account            - [311,311]
 Nodes for the database servers     - <current_node>
 What scheduling option do you want - INTERNAL
 Are you using backup-via-shelving  - YES (if HSM is present)

MDMS will be installed if it is not already installed, or if it is an
older version, with the following options:

 Device for ABS/MDMS                - SYS$COMMON (will use current values
                                      if either MDMS or ABS is installed)
                                      You will be asked for the device name.
 UIC for the MDMS account           - [312,312] (or will be constructed from
                                      the ABS UIC)
 Node for the database servers      - <current_node>
                                      (or will use the ABS values)
 Do you want to replace MRD$RTL.EXE - YES

MDMS GUI files will be installed with the following options:

 Do you want the MDMS GUI installed on Alpha OpenVMS - YES (if on an Alpha)
 Do you want files extracted for Microsoft Windows on Intel - YES

Remote Device Facility (RDF) will be installed with the following options:

 Do you want MDMS support for RDF Server - YES
 Do you want MDMS support for RDF Client - YES
    Note: RDF will not be installed
           1. With an ABS-OMT installation
           2. On X86_64 platform

Questions always asked:

 Do you want to purge files         - YES
 Do you want to run the IVP         - YES (except if ABS-OMT installation)

The following steps outline the installation procedure:

Should you need to abort the installation procedure for any reason, press Ctrl/Y at any point. The installation procedure will delete all files it has created up to that point and then exit. From this point, you can start the installation procedure again.

Before installing MDMS on any other database servers, you will have to add them to the MDMS database using the following command:

$ MDMS CREATE NODE nodename/DATABASE

Before installing MDMS on client nodes, you will have to add them to the MDMS database. Use the following command:

$ MDMS CREATE NODE nodename/NODATABASE

The following example command creates the MDMS server node MM2501:

$ MDMS CREATE NODE MM2501/DATABASE -
_$ /TCPIP=MM2501.ENG.VMSSOFTWARE.COM:2501-2510 /DECNET=MM2501

The following example command creates the MDMS client node MM2500:

$ MDMS CREATE NODE MM2500/NODATABASE -
_$ /TCPIP=MM2500.ENG.VMSSOFTWARE.COM:2501-2510 /DECNET=MM2500

Refer to the MDMS CREATE NODE command in the VSI Archive Backup System for OpenVMS MDMS Reference Guide for specific information about command qualifiers.

To install ABS/MDMS client software on a client node, perform a non-standard installation. Note that you must first install server software on a server node (see Section 3.1, ''Installing ABS/MDMS Server Software'') and configure the nodes (see Section 3.2, ''Creating a Node Object'').

Install ABS software on the OpenVMS client node as on the server node, with the following exceptions:

Later on, you will be prompted to define the node for the database server (Node name list for Database Servers). You should then enter the server node you created previously (see Section 3.1, ''Installing ABS/MDMS Server Software'').

For example, you did a standard installation on the node called MM2501, and that is your database server node. Now you are doing a non-standard installation on node MM2500, which you want to use as a client node. When prompted to provide a name for the database server, you should give system node MM2501 as a server node (it would look something like MM2501::,MM2501.ENG.VMSSOFTWARE.COM, depending on your settings).

Complete the following steps to set up your client nodes:

We have nodes MM2500 and MM2501 in a cluster. We want to install ABS/MDMS on both of them, using MM2501 as a server node and MM2500 as a client node. The suggested order of installation and configuration would be as follows:

Below is an example of a working setup, where two nodes are capable of saves and restores between each other:

MM2501> MDMS SHOW NODES

Node Name                       Database   Transports

MM2500                          NO         TCPIP,DECNET
MM2501                          YES        TCPIP,DECNET

MM2501> MDMS SHOW NODE MM2501

              Node: MM2501
       Description:
    Access Control: NONE
             Owner: MM2501::SYSTEM
  DECnet-Plus Name: MM2501
   TCP/IP Fullname: MM2501.ENG.VMSSOFTWARE.COM:2501-2510
          Disabled: NO
   Database Server: YES
          Location:
     Opcom Classes: TAPES
        Transports: TCPIP,DECNET

MM2501> MDMS SHOW NODE MM2500

              Node: MM2500
       Description:
    Access Control: NONE
             Owner: MM2501::SYSTEM
  DECnet-Plus Name: MM2500
   TCP/IP Fullname: MM2500.ENG.VMSSOFTWARE.COM:2501-2510
          Disabled: NO
   Database Server: NO
          Location:
     Opcom Classes: TAPES
        Transports: TCPIP,DECNET

If you have installed ABS as a new installation, database initialization programs may fail to run. To initialize the database with the default storage policies and execution policies, run the following executable:

$ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:ABS$DB_INIT.EXE

If you did not execute the IVP during the installation procedure, you can execute it immediately after installing ABS/MDMS software. Enter the following command at the DCL system prompt:

$ @SYS$TEST:ABS$IVP.COM
$ @SYS$TEST:MDMS$IVP.COM

If an error occurs during the IVP, the following message is displayed:

ABS Version E4.8 Installation Verification Procedure failed.
%VMSINSTAL-E-IVPFAIL, The IVP for ABS Version E4.8 has failed.

Errors can occur during the installation if any of the following conditions exist:

To enable automatic startup and shutdown of ABS/MDMS software, you must edit the startup and shutdown files as described below.

ABS$STARTUP uses the ABS$node queue to start the ABS processes. This queue will always exist after an ABS installation.

MDMS$STARTUP uses one of several queues to startup the MDMS$SERVER process. There is a logical name, MDMS$STARTUP_QUEUE, which may be defined in MDMS$SYSTARTUP.COM. This logical points to the queue that MDMS$STARTUP.COM will use. If you do not have this defined, it will attempt to use the ABS$node queue, then SYS$BATCH. If the logical is not defined and neither ABS$node nor SYS$BATCH exist, then the MDMS startup will fail.

If you are updating ABS/MDMS and you have made customizations to any of the ABS/MDMS command procedures, you may need to modify those procedures to work with ABS/MDMS E4.8. The following four command procedures have an associated .TEMPLATE file provided:

If the template files have changed, you should include your customizations in the new template files and then rename them to the command procedure name.

If you installed ABS server software on an OpenVMS cluster system, perform the steps in Section 4.6.1, ''Updating the DCL Tables'' on each node in the OpenVMS cluster (excluding the installing node) where you want to use ABS.

Now that you have installed MDMS, you must configure the MDMS database. MDMS provides a command procedure that you can use to configure the MDMS database on a new installation. The procedure is completely self-documenting with a help facility, and all key object attributes are defined. The procedure guides you through the following configuration objects:

The procedure is activated using the following command:

$ @MDMS$SYSTEM:MDMS$CONFIGURE.COM

Refer to the VSI Archive Backup System for OpenVMS User Guide for an example of using this procedure.

Once MDMS is installed and any conversions are performed, you may wish to adjust your configuration prior to performing MDMS operations.

Alpha - $ MCR SYSMAN IO CONNECT GKxxx/NOADAPTER/DRIVER=SYS$GKDRIVER.EXE
IA-64 - $ MCR SYSMAN IO CONNECT GKxxx/NOADAPTER/DRIVER=SYS$GKDRIVER.EXE

If you installed the RDF software, you must configure the remote tape drives.

For each tape drive served with RDF Server software, make sure there is a drive object record in the MDMS database that describes it. Refer to the chapters on MDMS configuration in the VSI Archive Backup System for OpenVMS User Guide and the MDMS CREATE DRIVE command in the VSI Archive Backup System for OpenVMS MDMS Reference Guide.

For each node connected to the tape drive, edit the file TTI_RDEV:CONFIG_node.DAT and make sure that all tape drives are represented in the file. Refer to the VSI Archive Backup System for OpenVMS User Guide for more information on remote drive setup.

When the ABS Server installation procedure is complete, the user account that performed the installation (typically the SYSTEM account) is granted the following ABS access rights identifiers. These identifiers are only needed if you use ABS DCL commands or if you have the ABS_RIGHTS option turned on in the MDMS domain. For details on MDMS rights identifiers, refer to the VSI Archive Backup System for OpenVMS User Guide.

Requirement:

To grant an access rights identifier to a user's account, run the AUTHORIZE utility.

Example:

$ SET DEFAULT SYS$SYSTEM
$ RUN AUTHORIZE
UAF>GRANT/IDENTIFIER ABS_LOOKUP_ALL USER1
%UAF-I-GRANTMSG, identifier ABS_LOOKUP_All granted to USER1
UAF>EXIT

$ SET DEFAULT SYS$SYSTEM
$ RUN AUTHORIZE
UAF>REVOKE/IDENTIFIER ABS_BYPASS USER1
%UAF-I-REVOKEMSG, identifier ABS_BYPASS revoked from USER1

This section describes how to install and run the Graphical User Interface (GUI).

As the GUI is based on Java, you must have VSI OpenJDK installed on the system where you are running the GUI.

The ABS/MDMS installation procedure extracts files from the kit and places them in MDMS$ROOT:[GUI...].

Do you want the MDMS GUI installed on OpenVMS Alpha/I64 [YES]?

$ SET DISPLAY/CREATE/NODE=node-name/TRANSPORT=transport
$ MDMS/INTERFACE=GUI