[Info-vax] Modern VMS (e.g. V8.4) tape installation?

[David Froble]

JF Mezei wrote:
> When I got my first DS10L, I got the OS kit as a disk image.
> 
> I ended up loading it onto a VAX disk and then creatinga LACP entry to
> allow the alpha's ethernet address to boot from that disk and I played
> with the SYSGEN parameters in the apha boot root to enable MSCP serving
> (but not clustering initially).
> 
> This allowed the alpha to boot from the installation CD which was really
> a disk file on a vax with the VAX serving MSCP without the alpha being
> in a cluster and that got me to the VMS installation menus.  At one
> point in the inatsllation, I had to copy the cluster password file and
> enable clustering so that it could access more of the system but I can't
> recall exactly where.
> 
> I know this doesn't answer the question, but it shows that there are
> alternate ways to get an alpha loaded with the OS.
> 
> Notethat for VAX, the tape provided a standalone backup as a set of a
> dozen or so files at the start of the tape and this allowed yo to then
> restore saveset B.
> 
> But for alpha, the system expects to boot from a version of VMS on the
> CD and use various scripts to load the OS onto the new system disk. So
> this is very different and requires a random access device (which a tape
> isn't).

The DS10L was rather simple, if I remember correctly.  There is a connector for an IDE CD 
drive I think, and I just opened the top, plugged in the drive, and loaded the OS.  Not 
the first time I've run a system without the covers and such.  When done, remove CD drive, 
button up the case, and you're good.

Now, whether an IDE DVD drive would work, I don't know.