NetCopy - store OpenVMS files on Windows without losing file characteristics

NetCopy

The easiest way to store OpenVMS files on Windows without losing file characteristics is to use NetCopy to copy the OpenVMS files to a Windows disk. All you need is NetCopy and a TCP/IP link between the OpenVMS and Windows computers. The link can be a LAN, a WAN, or a VPN. NetCopy takes advantage of the NTFS file structure to save the OpenVMS file characteristics in a special data stream attached to the copied file. The file can be copied back to OpenVMS and the OpenVMS file characteristics restored from the special data stream. The ability to store OpenVMS files on Windows and keep the OpenVMS file characteristics lets you do some things you could not otherwise do such as

Offload OpenVMS files to Windows computers to free up disk space

Provide local or offsite backups of OpenVMS disks to a Windows computer

Use a laptop or external NTFS disk to transfer OpenVMS files or disk images from one location to another For example, an OpenVMS Backup saveset can be copied to Windows using NetCopy, and then copied back to OpenVMS when the saveset is needed to restore files. The command to copy the backup saveset to Windows would be similar to this: The command to copy the saveset back to OpenVMS and restore the OpenVMS file characteristics would be similar to this: The /restore qualifier causes NetCopy to restore the OpenVMS file characteristics to the file after it is copied to OpenVMS.