CHARON-AXP for Windows 64bit
VERSION 4.2 Build 141-03 (Production )
Release notes

Please review the Release Notes and refer to the User Manual before proceeding with installation or upgrade of CHARON-AXP

1. Products included in the CHARON-AXP release version 4.2 build 141-03

In this document the term CHARON-AXP is used to refer to all the products below:

2. Supported software platforms

• Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate (SP1) Editions 64 bit
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (SP1) Edition 64 bit (please notice that only R2 revision is supported)
• Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard (SP2) Edition 64 bit
• Windows XP Professional (SP2) 64 bit

3. Hosting hardware recommendations

• The minimal number of available (Intel or AMD) CPU cores in the hosting server or VMware virtual appliance is 1.5 times of the number of emulated AXP CPU cores
• The recommended number of available (Intel or AMD) CPU cores in the hosting server or VMware virtual appliance is twice the number of emulated AXP CPU cores
• Intel Xeon 566x, 567x, 5680, 5690 and Intel Core i7 G2 CPUs are recommended for optimal CHARON-AXP performance for configurations with up to eight emulated AXP cores
• The Intel Xeon X7560 and faster CPUs are recommended for optimal CHARON-AXP performance for configurations with eight and more emulated AXP cores
• Non-ECC DDR3 1600 MHz RAM is recommended for optimal CHARON-AXP performance
• Please refer to this knowledge base article for RAID controller and mode configuration recommendations

4. New functionality introduced in build 141-03

• CHARON-AXP version is changed to 4.2. License update is required for users upgrading from previous versions of CHARON-AXP
• CHARON-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 5.0
• Emulated DEC-KGPSA-CA (Emulex LP8000 FC PCI) controller is introduced, providing users with ability to access container files and physical drives/LUNs as virtual SAN disks. Please refer to the user manual for the configuration details
• Shared storage clustering support based on shared physical SCSI storage is introduced for Tru64
• Shared storage clustering support based on emulated SAN disks/LUNs is introduced. VMS and Tru64 5.1 shared storage clusters are supported. Tru64 4.x shared disk clusters are not supported in the current release.
• NetApp SAN storage support is introduced
• "geometry" option has been added to the KZPBA controller (ID#3330)
• Disk I/O performance is improved by deep queuing of I/O requests
• TL891 hardware tape library support is introduced
• Virtual tape size could be limited through CHARON-AXP configuration file
• Virtual CDROM container file can be replaced without stopping CHARON
• SRM console variable "date" is introduced. Accessing this variable from VMS/Tru64 provides them with the time read from the hosting server
• CHARON-AXP automatically replaces the old .ROM file with a new one on the first run after CHARON-AXP upgrade. Please notice that ROM parameters have to be reconfigured
• CHARON-AXP installation and uninstallation does not require CHARON-AXP license to be present
• CHARON-AXP Spare license is supported (limited by support contract expiration date and execution counter). License viewing utility is updated
• Some CHARON-AXP DIT cache parameters are configurable. Those options are available under Stromasys field engineering supervision only
• A standalone utility to monitor CHARON log file and trigger an external batch in case of CHARON-AXP license failure is introduced (ID#2415)
• The CHARON Service Manager removes all the installed services on complete CHARON deinstallation
• CHARON-AXP configuration templates are updated to reflect new configuration options

5. Configuration changes required when upgrading from previous versions of CHARON-AXP to build 141-03

• A CHARON-AXP license update is required
• The user that that runs CHARON-AXP must have local administrator privileges
• CHARON-AXP executables, libraries, and data (container files/disks) should be excluded from all the antivirus checks, including on-the-fly checks and scheduled scans
• HT (Hyper-Threading Technology) should be disabled on the hosting server, if using Intel CPUs capable of HT
• DEP (Data Execution Prevention) should be set to "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only"
• Power management and screen saver should be switched off on the hosting server
• The Tru64 kernel might need a be rebuilt for some emulated AXP models that are included in the CHARON-AXP/4100 product
• If CHARON-AXP is being moved to another hosting platform and direct the SCSI access method is used to access some SCSI devices (mainly disks), the new hosting platform SCSI drivers should support the SCSIport method. If drivers supporting SCSIport method are not available, direct SCSI access cannot be used. This is most likely to be the case for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) disk controller drivers.
  This restriction mainly applies to the disk access. Most tape drivers currently support SCSIport. When direct SCSI access is used for devices without Windows drivers, this restriction does not apply.
  The recommended workaround is to use CHARON-AXP disk container files or the \\.\PhysicalDriveX method.
  Please refer to this knowledge base article for additional information
• interface="connection:..." syntax should be used in CHARON-AXP configuration file. Please refer to this knowledge base article for the details.
• The packet_port keyword in the CHARON-AXP configuration file could be used on any hosting platform instead of platform specific ndis5_chpack_port (Windows Server 2003 (R2), Windows XP) and ndis6_chpack_port (Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7). CHARON configuration file lines:
  load ndis5_chpack_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
  load ndis6_chpack_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
  could be replaced with:
  load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
• For the emulated network adapters the communication speed and mode should be set manually in the CHARON-AXP configuration file. For example:
  load DE500BA/dec21x4x EWA interface=EWA0
  load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
  set EWA adapter_mode="100BaseT-FD"
  Please note that the actual network communication speed and mode is determined by the Windows network speed and mode settings. This configuration change is required to avoid network timeouts in VMS/Tru64 during negotiation phase. This behavior will be fixed in the next CHARON-AXP release
• Intelligent packet processing should be switched off for the network ports dedicated to CHARON-AXP. Below are examples of the correct settings -- the exact naming of the parameters depends on the network adapter driver:
  Offload receive Ip checksum = off
  Offload receive tcp ckecksum = off
  Offload Transmit Ip checksum = off
  Offload Transmit TCP checksum = off
• Legacy mode should be set for network adapters for some CHARON-AXP configurations on VMware, for example:
  set EWA0 legacy_mode=true

6. Problems fixed in build 141-03

• A fix for HPARITH problem had been introduced by excluding a certain AXP CPU instruction from DIT translation (ID#3493)
• Fixed an assertion on dropping secondary lock while on-page structure is locked (ID#3425)
• Guard Page Violation exception walking through exception stack had been fixed (ID#3424)
• CHARON-AXP failed to reboot if boot disk is on FC SAN issue was fixed (ID#2774, #2775)
• Serial port (TTA) mapping didn't not work correctly on Tru64 (ID#3133)
• Unable to boot from NETAPP LUN issue had been fixed (ID#3399)
• Errors while multiple backup with DGA disks had been fixed (ID#3407)
• Tru64 5.1B couldn't see DGA disk during installation on AlphaServer 800 emulator (ID#3430)
• AS400 emulator didn't work with DGA disks (ID#3431)
• Tru64 UNIX 5.1b fails to install on GS80 when FC is configured (ID#3192)
• AS4100 hanged with Tru64 Version 4.0D with applied Patch Kit 9 (ID#3436)
• Backup license allowed CHARON-AXP to work longer than expected (ID#3484)
• Fixed CHARON-AXP/GS80, CHARON-AXP/GS160: Fatal controller error after OpenVMS 8.3 installation on DGA disk (ID#3498)
• Exception (C000001D) at 00000000289C0200: Illegal Instruction had been fixed (ID#3500)
• AS4100 model used to use EV5 and not the EV5.6 as of the 5/400 model it was supposed to emulate (ID#3504)
• Tru64 5.1B various installation problems (ID#3432)
• SRM console FC related command implementation had been improved
• RWZ53 MO disk didn't not work with CHARON-AXP/4100 emulating AS400 (ID#3119)
• CHARON-AXP crashed with exception 000007FEFD5AAA7D: Exception (000006BA) when running as service (ID#3294)
• Storage configured as Removable was not actually removable: usage of virtual CD-ROM locked it image file (ID#3251)
• The message "MODEL NOT INSTALLED" occurs when trying to start Charon on Windows 7/2008/2008R2/Vista via the Launcher utility. Workaround: Run the "Launcher.exe" utility from Administrator (right click of the mouse on the executable, "run from Administrator" option). (ID#2557)
• UETP fails on a tape image if CHARON runs on VMware (ID#2427)
• CHARON-AXP networking didn't work on VMware (ID#3023)
• CHARON crashed while performing 'newfs' on physical scsi disk partition (ID#3113)
• Fixed inconsistent disk naming in TruCluster configurations (ID#3108)
• Fixed a failure to construct an UFS file system on physical drive during Tru64 5.1B installation (ID#2991)
• CHARON Service Manager behavior fixed on uninstallation (ID#3321)
• Physical drive initialization: medium is offline under OpenVMS 6.2-1H3 issue had been fixed (ID#3330)
• Fixed CHARON-AXP (AlphaServer 2100) unable to boot generic kernel (genvmunix) of DEC OSF/1 V3.2A (ID#3291)
• Fixed "fc rescan" failed on some models (ID#3397)
• Fixed Tru64 being not bootable in multiuser mode (ID#3404)
• set term/speed=*** command didn't not work with physical VT100 (ID#3409)
• Arithmetical error fixed in some COBOL and FORTRAN calculations (ID#3415)
• Some models couldn't see DGA disks if to boot from DKA disk (ID#3420)
• Fixed "Host stopped responding" message displayed if VT100 terminal worked via LAT (ID#3124)
• Fixed the appearence of non fatal "ERRFMT BUGCHECK" message on boot from a backup disk created by CHARON-AXP (ID#3123)

7. Problems fixed in previous builds

• CHARON-AXP networking on VMware on Windows 2008 R2 was not working. Please install a patch to bring CHARON-AXP to the build level 129-05. (ID#3023)
• CHARON-AXP service is unable to show its console window if RDP is used for connection to the host (ID#3179, 3180)
• CHARON-AXP may report the host operating system incorrectly in its log (ID#3167)
• Sometimes the "Failed to create symbolic link to the packet driver" error blocks CHARON-AXP normal networking despite its configuration is correct (ID#2554, 3182)
• The license expires at the day before the correct day (ID#3189)
• An A (UNIX) in os_bootflags while booting VMS enters a tight loop on CHARON-AXP (ID#3195)
• A problem stopping CHARON if it is running service in "automatic" mode from the CHARON Service Manager utility. (ID#2624)
• The message "Failed to locate the "TTAx" for the line xx" displayed for intentionally not configured TTA lines is removed (ID#2650)
• "Auto Negotiation detected link down" message is reported on OpenVMS 7.2-1H1 (ID#2953)
• Failed to construct a ufs file system on physical drive during Tru64 5.1B installation (ID#2991)
• OpenVMS device error count is equal to 1 for virtual disks RZ22, RZ23 that have been created with the MKDISK utility (ID#3071)
• AS800 emulator does not perform the "power off" command properly (ID#3094)
• GS320 emulator is unable to boot any OS (VMS, Tru64) (ID#3125)
• AS800 emulator: incorrect required licenses units (ID#3090)
• Mode pages 3 and 4 is not implemented for SCSI CD-ROMs (ID#2983)
• Inconsistent PCI bus configuration naming for AlphaServer DS10L emulator (ID#3148)
• CHARON-AXP Services issue on Windows Vista Business 64bit: CHARON execution failure on the service installation and the service termination if RDP is used (ID#3138)
• Inconsistency in CHARON-AXP service dependencies: lost of dependency on the TCP/IP service (ID#3137)
• CHARON-AXP service stopped unexpectedly in 15 minutes after it was started. Log is clear of any problem reports (ID#3134)
• CHARON-AXP service failed to start/stop at scheduled time (ID#3115)
• HP True64 V5.1B fails to initialize FC adapter (ID#3103)
• Strange message is displayed w/o any mis-functioning: "Invalid thread identifier. : OPA0: Failed to stop the application." (ID#3084)
• Launcher hungup: Service Install Dialog does not Respond (ID#3083)
• SPEC2k test running on Tru64 fails on gzip test (only on CHARON-AXP running on AMD platform) (ID#3037)
• Unable to install AS2x00/AS4x00 emulators ("--install" command) (ID#2294)
• Service start problem on Win2008: CHARON Service Manager cannot detect state of CHARON service correctly (ID#2266)
• Some problems with PBXDA-xx: "Failed to locate pci_5" (ID#3147)
• CHARON-AXP fails when performing 'newfs' operation on physical scsi disk partition (ID#3113)
• Windows Server 2008 CN: "Invisible" Installation Log (empty log file) (ID#2678)
• ds10l.exe installation fails on Win2008 Chinese version (ID#2685)
• DE435 is offline with VMS 6.2-1H3 on AS4100 (ID#2680)
• The firmware does not detect DE450 adapter and therefore does not print it in the device list (ID#2652)
• DE450 remains OFFLINE in VMS (ID#2653)
• Problem using CDROM on an HP blade server via USB (ID#2651)
• Digital UNIX 4.0B fails to install on AlphaServer 400 (ID#2631)
• Console logs are not appended to by default (ID#2628)
• AS400 Emulator crash while installing Digital UNIX 4.0F (ID#2619)
• AS2000 and AS2100 unable to "create an instance of the component dec_21040" (ID#2597)
• Incorrect behavior on HALT command in kernel mode (ID#2595)
• ES40 Emulator crashed when performing the SWINGBENCH test (ID#2586)
• -FILE boot option of the SRM console was not implemented (ID#2102)
• A file "mkdisk.vtable" is absent in the kit -- without it MKDISK cannot start (ID#2589).
• The configuration template for the AS400 model has incorrect HW_MODEL syntax and is missing the PKB bus (ID#2373).
• Incorrect text encoding in the NetDiag help on Chinese systems (ID#2373).
• Tru64 V5.1B was unable to load driver for DEC 21040 PCI Ethernet Adapter (ID#2304).
• CHARON-AXP crashed on UETP test (ID#2348).
• Ticket #7079: Charon crashed on a production system with segmentation violation (ID#2389)
• The old .BIN files lead to CHARON misbehavior. It should be replaced for new one (ID#2447)
• A disk device goes offline suddenly with the "mount verification in progress" message (ID#2512)
• Tru64/tar utility is unable to write if the output device is a tape. (ID#2383)
• Failed to unload the virtual tape on Tru64. (ID#2385)
• VMS 7.2-1 booted on DS10L and DS20 with FC Pass-Through enabled hangs VMS. (ID#2390)
• Some configured disks disappeared from the OpenVMS environment (SRM console) under CHARON-AXP/B108 AS4100.(ID#2393)
• CHARON-AXP/ES40 is unable to boot Tru64 from FC attached disk (ID#2412).
• TOY data (including data/time) is not saved (ID#2414).
• Install procedure does not issue warnings when unsupported host platform is used (ID#2431).
• Putty Console does not work (no proper session is available) when CHARON-AXP runs as a service (ID#2452).
• Ticket #7682: "BOOT EWA0" command in the SRM console leads to the emulators hanging (ID#2469).
• ID#2470 - Ticket #7684: BOOT DKA500 may boot from wrong device.
• ID#2471 - Ticket #7687: Pressing "F6" button terminates emulator. The default behavior has been changed to "none".
• Ticket #7716: SRM console HELP command is missing (ID#2472).
• Network Control Center utility does not recognize teamed interfaces (ID#2331)
• Some license messages are absent in the LOG file, for example "the license is expired" (ID#2040)
• NFS issue: "cp" command never ends and the "cp" process becomes zombie (ID#2257)
• SRM variables get saved in wrong console variables (ID#2295)
• Handling of some exceptional cases in DIT2 due to resource lock must be implemented to avoid possible overflow (ID#2404).
• Grammar error in message text: some typos had been corrected (ID#2428)
• Embedded network adapters and additional ones (having the same name) conflict without any notification (ID#2429)
• System hangs OpenVMS 7.1-2 with printing jobs (ID#2441)
• Compilation of C code using FP flags /FLOAT=IEEE /IEEE=DENORM result in zero values (ID#2446)
• log_method="append" does not work if specified separately from the other configuration commands for the logging definition (ID#2450).
• Utilities help does not start on "F1" on Windows 2008 / Vista operating systems (ID#2498)
• Ultrium tape drive fails on all VMS commands (ID#2386)
• Ticket #7774: Problems NDIS6 driver - memory leak was found (ID#2490)
• Many question marks sometimes displayed in the Network Control Center Chinese help file (ID#2373)
• Tape error: "-BACKUP-F-NOTANSI, tape is not valid ANSI format" (ID#2521)
• Exception (C0000005): Segmentation violation occurs on different configuration and applications (ID#2527, 2528, 2534, 2510)
• The OpenVMS V8.3 CPUSANITY bugcheck while performing KGPSA initialization
• Outgoing FTP hang problem on GS80/GS160 models (ID#1999)
• A problem with Fortran compiled code generating exceptions (ID#145)
• Several problems with physical tapes including tape initialization, label handling, tape restore, and Files-11 file system on the tape
• A problem reporting version 2.2 instead of 2.3 in the SRM console
• A problem with VMS freezing during shutdown
• A problem with freezing VMS boot after "%PKQDRIVER-W- PKA0, Chip reset failed, trying again" error message
• A problem with EW devices not showing up at AS2x00 CRM console
• A problem with multi instance configuration preventing more than one CHARON-AXP instance from running
• A problem with certain CPU affinity configurations causing "division by zero" crash
• "Back" button does not always work during installation
• An error message could appear during uninstallation of CHARON-AXP through Control Panel
• Setting particular disk and tape types with media_type parameter on KZPBA is not supported for \\PhysicalDriveX configuration style
• Emulated PCI network adapter DE435 is not recognized in the AXP SRM console, however it is recognized and works for the guest OS.
• CHARON-AXP may wrongly report that no license is present if the correct license is present.
• Too many scheduled starts and stops of CHARON-AXP service in a short period of time could cause CHARON-AXP crash.
• AlphaServer model 2100 could have problems with initializing of the network controller (DECchip 21040).
• CHARON Network Control Center utility does not have proper Simplified Chinese interface.
• Ultrium SCSI-1 DAT-72 tape drives currently do not work with CHARON-AXP.
• Virtual tape cannot be unloaded and container file replaced on Tru64.

8. Known restrictions of build 141-03

• Older AMD and Intel CPUs without support of CMPXCHG16B instruction could run CHARON-AXP translated code incorrectly. It is recommended not to use those CPUs. If such CPUs are deceted on the hosting server, CHARON-AXP writes the following message in its log file:
  WARN :1:0000033B:axpcpu.cxx( 462):  Host CPU feature 'CMPXCHG16B' not implemented by the host CPU - performance limited.
• CHARON-AXP does not emulate LSI 53C810 SCSI controller. CHARON-AXP emulates Qlogic KZPBA SCSI controller, which is the reason for the earliest supported VMS version to be 6.2-1H3, earliest supported Tru64 version to be 3.2. (ID#2291). If the driver for KZPBA is installed on an earlier version of VMS or Tru64 before system transfer to CHARON-AXP, it will function on CHARON-AXP.
• NDIS driver problems are not logged in correct instance (if more than 1 instance is running at the same time) and in log filesat all (ID#3249)
• OPA0 console of CHARON service does not appear if not "Administrator" is starting the service (ID#3209)
• DS20 initializing is too long under Windows 2008 R2 (ID#3194)
• Digital UNIX 4.0g fails to install on AS4100 when FC is configured (ID#3191)
• Serial port (TTA) mapping does not work correctly if Tru64 is running on AXP emulators. In case of OpenVMS the emulators are free of this problem (ID#3133)
• On AS400 the "ERRFMT BUGCHECK" may appear while backing up an OpenVMS 6.2-1H3 boot disk (ID#3123)
• DE500BA is not available under OpenVMS 6.2-1H3 on AS1200/AS4000/AS4100 (ID#3091)
• DE500BA device error count will be equal to 1 on OpenVMS 8.2/8.3 (ID#2963)
• CHARON-AXP services do not give clear information indicating missing license key on startup (ID#3116)
• Direct SCSI access only supports Windows SCSI devices which use a SCSIport driver. These include most of the device drivers on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (R2), and most non disk devices on Windows 7 and Server 2008 (R2). If SCSIport is not supported (and Storport method is used instead), direct SCSI access cannot be used.
  This is most likely to be the case for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) disk controller drivers.
  This restriction mainly applies to the disk access. Most part of tape drivers currently support SCSIport. When direct SCSI access is used for devices without Windows drivers, this restriction does not apply.
• Performance tests could hang VMS 6.2-1H3 on emulated AS400.
• CHARON-AXP modem communication sometimes may fail. This problem is under investigation. (ID#2642)
• CHARON-AXP does not emulate VGA adapters, thus OPA0 is always a system console. So all the applications hardcoded to use OPA0 and TTA0 as their own interfaces may not function correctly.
• Network speed auto negotiation works with some restrictions (see the table below). It is always recommended to use full duplex mode on the hosting server.

• The virtual Alpha firmware is designed to support a maximum of 48 devices.
• The firmware does not support the command recall using the up/down arrow keys.
• The VMS 7.x Monitor utility shows the maximum CPU quantity instead of actually configured quantity. It is a VMS 7.x restriction, and does not apply to VMS 8.x.
• Running Alpha Linux on the virtual Alpha is not supported
• Use of IDE is limited to ATAPI CDROM on the host machine. No iSCSI support is planned for IDE. UETP may produce error messages if IDE emulation is used.
• Floppy disks are not supported.
• A Telnet session from OpenVMS running on emulated host freezes console output. The console output can hang when the virtual serial line sends XOFF/XON sequence. The TELNET client sends XOFF to the remote node's TELNET server to suspend output, but for unknown reason XON is discarded and remote node's TELNET server is unable to resume output. The console remains "frozen". As the remote site is not sending any output to it. When that happens, the local node is reachable over network, and can be unlocked by typing the 'break' character - usually "Ctrl-]" and exiting telnet session by typing "exit" at "TELNET>" prompt.
• Emacs hangs if the OPA0 console is used. Emacs works fine over an SSH connection.
• Running as a Service may fail as the Service manager may not be able to identify all configured disks.
• CHARON-AXP does not support virtual network adapters (i.e. MS bridges, etc.).
• CHARON-AXP has limited support for teamed network adapters. They can used only if the MAC address of the virtual VMA or Tru64 network adapter is not changed during CHARON-AXP session. In which case the desired MAC address should not be set manually in the properties of the network team or in the CHARON-AXP configuration file using the "station_address=XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX" configuration option.
• VMS 7.2-1 should be patched to the latest level in order to use Emulex FC adapters in pass-through mode.
• Please note that CHARON-AXP has not been tested with SAN attached storage over 2TB in size.
• Tru64 temperature monitoring should be disabled. It could cause Tru64 version 5.x shutdown with the message: "system fan has failed, system is shutting down now". If installing Tru64 from scratch, do not install envmon package. If it is already installed, disable automatic startup by booting into SINGE USER mode and issue the following command:
  rm -f /sbin/rc?.d/*envmon
  then "exit" (Ctrl-D) to multi user mode.
• A "CRC error" appears while "$ BACKUP/LIST/REW MKA100:..." on OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.4 (ID#2925)

9. New functionality introduced in the previous Production version 4.1 build 129-04

• CHARON-AXP version changed to 4.1.
• CHARON-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 4.1 update 1.
• CHARON-AXP comes with the maximum amount of RAM allowed by emulated model. Please refer to the product SPDs for the details.
• The following license information could be updated without stopping CHARON-AXP: expiration date and backup time counter. This change allows CHARON evaluation or annual licenses to be updated "on the fly" to the permanent production licenses or to the next year annual licenses. Please notice that other CHARON configuration parameters should remain unchanged.
• Additional CHARON-AXP instances and products could be added to the license "on the fly".
• New Alpha emulated models are added to CHARON-AXP/4100 product:
  • AlphaServer 800 (single AXP CPU)
  • AlphaServer 1000 (single AXP CPU)
  • AlphaServer 1000A (single AXP CPU)
  • AlphaServer 1200 (dual AXP CPUs).
• IDLE Utility is supported for single CPU Alpha emulators.
• CHARON network packet driver name "packet_port" in CHARON configuration file had been made platform independent. It is still possible to use "ndis5_chpack_port" and "ndis6_chpack_port" names of the driver, however it's recommended to update CHARON-AXP configuration file (see section 5).
• All network connections have "Half Duplex 10BaseT" mode by default.
• The Installation procedure displays the End User Agreement and asks user to agree with it in order to proceed.
• The CHARON Service Management Utility has been changed to be present in the Windows Tray at all times. It can be accessed and used to manage CHARON-AXP application

10. New functionality introduced in the previous Production version 2.4 build 118-05

• A new product, CHARON-AXP/GS320, is now available for AlphaServer GS320 replacements. Please refer to the SPD for details
• A new emulated model AlphaServer 400 supporting 1 AXP CPU and up to 1 GB of memory is included into CHARON-AXP/4100
• CHARON-AXP supports Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
• The Network Control Center supports all AXP network interfaces
• DCI-1100 is supported via the pass-through driver
• Support of the PBXDA-BB and PBXDA-AC serial line adapters is available via the DIGI pass-through driver
• Ctrl-P, CONTINUE and CRASH commands implemented in SRM console
• CHARON utilities support for simplified Chinese Windows had been introduced
• Logging message format and content has been improved. Logfiles are opened in append mode by default
• The 'repeated messages' logging filter is enabled by default
• MkDisk utility has been expanded to handle .VDISK metadata
• A full de-installation removes all CHARON settings and files.
• SRM Console and advanced network configuration settings have been documented

11. New functionality introduced in the previous Production version 2.3 build 108-00

• A new product, CHARON-AXP/4100, has been introduced. It supports the emulation of AlphaServer 2000, 2100, 4000, and 4100. The earliest supported guest OS versions are: VMS 6.2-1H3 and Tru64 4.0F. SPD is available from http://www.stromasys.com. Please refer to the CHARON-AXP manual for details.
• CHARON-AXP is now delivered with half of the CPUs available for the particular model by default. For example, CHARON-AXP/GS80 can have up to eight AXP CPUs, hence the base license includes four CPUs.
• Support for 64bit Windows Server 2008 Standard and Enterprise (SP2) Editions, and 64bit Windows Vista Business (SP2) Edition.
• Multiple instances of CHARON-AXP can run on a hosting server simultaneously. Please refer to the CHARON-AXP manual for details.
• Connection to a physical FDDI network is supported using pass-through mechanism with physical DEPFA FDDI network adapter in the hosting server.
• Emulated AXP CPU performance has been improved. Please see SPDs and Product Announcements for the details, which are available from http://www.stromasys.com
• Significant network stability and performance gains after fixing a problem in the rx sequencer delay algorithm.
• DE435 network adapter emulation has been introduced, supporting VMS versions 6.2-1H3 and later.
• For disk and tape containers on KZPBA a particular type (for example, HSZ80) can be set using the media_type parameter, which may be necessary in order for Tru64 to recognize them.
• The Internal disk table had been extended to recognize RZ1ED, RZ1EF disk types.

12. New functionality introduced in the previous Production version 2.2 build 104-00

• Fiber Channel (SAN attached) storage can be used with emulated PCI KGPSA adapter if a specific Emulex HBA is used in the hosting server. Please refer to the User Manual for the details. The SAN target has to be configured for CHARON-AXP guest operating system. The configuration has been tested with both OpenVMS and Tru64.
• SRM console functionality had been improved to include FC configuration and booting commands.
• On Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP physical SCSI disks and SAN LUNs can be attached to CHARON-AXP using \\.\ScsiN:X:Y:Z notation. Please check the manual for details. There are three formats supported:
  \\.\SCSI<port-no>:<target-id>
  \\.\SCSI<port-no>:<target-id>:<lun>
  \\.\SCSI<port-no>:<path-no>:<target-id>:<lun>
• iSCSI disks can be attached to KZPBA SCSI controller using \\.\PhysicalDrive notation provided that they are created with Microsoft iSCSI Initiator (other initiators have not been tested).
• CHARON-AXP has Simplified Chinese interface and logfile if installed on Windows with Simplified Chinese localization.

13. Distribution and Installation

The kit is distributed as a standard CHARON installation. The installer version is 5.0.
Make sure there are no CHARON-AXP configurations running before the installation.
Run the "InstallShell.exe" file in the CHARON-AXP installation folder. Choose the products to install and proceed with suggested steps. Note that the distribution media may contain more products than allowed by your license.

STROMASYS SA
http://www.stromasys.com
email: info@stromasys.com
Document: 60-017-016-005
Updated: 25 March 2012