HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 1 Essentials

This document is the "HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 1: Essentials," published in January 2005. It is a task-oriented guide for managing HP OpenVMS systems, including versions 8.2 for Alpha and I64, and supersedes earlier versions.

The manual covers fundamental system management topics:

• System Management Utilities and Tools: Introduces OpenVMS Management Station, DCL commands, system messages, command procedures (e.g., SYSMAN, OPCOM, VMSKITBLD.COM), and system management utilities. It explains how to centralize management using SYSMAN and communicate with users via OPCOM.
• Software Installation and Upgrade: Details procedures for installing, upgrading, and updating software, including layered products, using VMSINSTAL.COM and the POLYCENTER Software Installation Utility. It covers preparation steps like backing up the system disk and managing licenses.
• System Startup and Shutdown: Explains various booting operations (nonstop, conversational, emergency) and shutdown procedures (orderly, emergency, with SYSMAN), including how to modify system parameters and reconfigure devices on I64 systems.
• Operating System Customization: Describes how to personalize the OpenVMS system by adding/deleting optional files, modifying startup/login procedures, customizing startup databases with SYSMAN, and managing help messages, mail, and MIME settings.
• System Time Management: Provides instructions for setting time zone information, adjusting for daylight saving time, and using the Battery-Backed Watch (BBW) on Alpha/I64 systems, as well as choosing language and date/time formats.
• User Account Management: Details how to grant user access, add/maintain user accounts (including special accounts like project and network proxy accounts), assign privileges, and manage system resources (limits and quotas).
• Peripheral Device Management: Covers setting up and managing peripheral devices such as terminals, modems, printers, and tape drives, including understanding device names, configuring devices, and troubleshooting.
• Storage Media Management: Explores concepts related to disk and tape volumes, initializing/mounting volumes, managing disk space (quotas, file expiration, purging), and using utilities like Analyze/Disk_Structure and Bad Block Locator for maintenance and error repair.
• Files and Directories: Discusses using extended file specifications, controlling access to ODS-5 volumes, DCL commands for file manipulation, protecting files and directories, and accessing tape files.
• Backup and Restore Operations: Outlines backup strategies, types of backups (file, image, incremental), using disks and tapes for backups, save sets, tape label processing, and troubleshooting backup errors. It also covers backing up and restoring user disks and the system disk.
• Security Considerations: Highlights security features of OpenVMS, including managing passwords, intrusion detection, protecting objects with UIC-based protection and Access Control Lists (ACLs), and auditing security-relevant events.
• Queue Manager and Queues: Explains how to set up and maintain the queue manager and queue database for batch and print queuing, including starting/stopping queues, managing jobs, and troubleshooting queue problems.

The document is intended for HP OpenVMS system managers and refers to other related manuals for more detailed information on specific topics.