As promised you may obtain by anonymous ftp from list.nih.gov
in the pub directory, files that will help or confuse you in
the mass moving of lists from a VM machine to a UNIX machine.
 
Download either VMtoUNIX.tar.Z or VMtoUNIX.tar.gz. They are
the same except for how they are compressed.
 
Do not under take the process these perl programs and scripts
entail without a through understanding of what is going on.
You should already have your UNIX LISTSERV up and running with
some lists and be comfortable with it before the big exodus.
Almost every file has parameters that you must set for your
circumstances and configuration. If your UNIX admin still has
not learned Perl feel free to remined him or her of their less
than desired worth.
 
This will be a collabrative effort in most cases. It takes a
UNIX System Administrator and programmer as well as a highly
knowledgable VM LISTSERV maintainer to make this work. Start
small and by all means start by using test lists instead of
the real things.
 
The bottom line was that when I took the plunge, I successfully
moved 70 lists a day and their archive files from an IBM 9370
to our new UNIX system. It could have done more but this was the
limit we felt comfortable with. I also had my other tasks to do.
Don't forget - the list owners need to be told what is going
on and this all takes time.
 
Naturally after the lists were moved I lost all interest in
fixing up and improving the programs. These programs then are
'a' way of semi-automated list movement but not 'the' way or
the only way.
 
        ...Greg
 
 
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Gregory Decker - Sr Sys Admin
National Institutes of Health/DCRT/NSB
PH:  301-402-4763
FAX: 301-480-6041
EMail: [log in to unmask]
 
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