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The CHARON-AXP/SMA SSP Manager is a GUI management interface for the CHARON-AXP/SMA SSP for GNU/Linux virtual machine.  Using this management utility it is possible to manage multiple virtual machines across a number of remote hosts.  It is also the interface presented on the console of a system running the CHARON-AXP/SMA for GNU/Linux SSP Virtual Environment.

The following sections describe the different aspects managing a virtual machine.

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Upon starting the CHARON-AXP/SMA SSP Manager you will immediately be presented with a login window similar to the following.

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titleCHARON-AXP/SMA SSP Manager Login Window

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Info

For CHARON-AXP for GNU/Linux VE SSP Virtual Environment users, the CHARON-AXP/SMA SSP Manager window starts automatically on the console.

To proceed, enter the address of the system running the CHARON-AXP/SMA SSP Agent into the field labelled IP address and the password for that system into the field labelled Password.  The default password is 123456.  If the password was not changed by following the post-installation tasks, it is highly recommended that this is corrected immediately.  Leaving the management console password unchanged poses a significant security risk.

To connect to the CHARON-AXP/SMA SSP Agent system click the button labelled Connect.

Note

If you receive an error similar to the following, check to ensure that the host specified in the IP address field is correct and the CHARON-AXP/SMA SSP Agent is installed and running on the host.

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Creating a Virtual Machine 
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The first step to running an Alpha a SPARC-based virtual machine is creating the initial configuration.  To do this, follow the steps below.

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StepDescriptions
1.From the opening splash screen entitled Welcome to CHARON Manager, click the icon labelled Create a New Virtual Machine.
2. Select the appropriate Hardware Model by clicking the radio button labelled with the Alpha SPARC model that most closely matches the system to you wish to run.
3.Enter a name for the virtual machine into the field labelled, Virtual machine name.
4.Click the button labelled OK.

The steps above will create a new virtual machine configuration.  It will appear in the left hand pane of the management interface labelled with the Virtual machine name you specified.  The screenshot below shows the management interface splash screen after the virtual machine BENDER LEELA was created.

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Info

The initial creation of the virtual machine is very sparse. To complete the configuration it is important to continue on to Modifying the Virtual Machine.

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The example below shows the Virtual Machine Settings window for a virtual AlphaServer 800 Enterprise 450 system.

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The following section describes each part of the Virtual Machine Settings window 

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The models currently supported by CHARON-SSP/4M for GNU/Linux are:

  • Sun SPARCstation 20

The models currently supported by CHARON-AXPSSP/SMA 4U for GNU/Linux are:

  • DIGITAL AlphaStation 200, 250, 500, 600
  • DIGITAL AlphaServer 300, 400, 800, 1000, 1200, 2000, 2100, 2000, 2100, 4000, 4100, 8200, 8400
  • DIGITAL Personal Workstation au
  • DIGITAL Modular Computing Components (DMCC)
  • Compaq AlphaStation XP900, XP1000
  • Compaq AlphaServer DS10, DS20, DS25, ES40, ES45

CPU Configuration

To view or change the current virtual machine CPU configuration, select CPU in the Device column

  • Sun Enterprise 450

CPU Configuration

To view or change the current virtual machine CPU configuration, select CPU in the Device column of the left-hand pane.

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The following table lists each of the fields in the CPU configuration window and describes their operation.

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titleVirtual Machine CPU Configuration Fields
FieldDescription
Number of CPU

Configure the number of CPUs attached to the virtual machine. Not all virtual Alpha SPARC systems support the configuration of multiple CPUs. For those virtual systems that do support multiple CPUs, they can still be restricted by the formula:

Physical CPUs = Virtual CPUs + 1

An attempt to configure more virtual CPUs than allowed will result in the following error message:

Runtime OptimizationThis option controls the Dynamic Instruction Translation (DIT). This option is on by default.
CPU binding

Assign specific host CPUs to the processing of Alpha SPARC instructions.

This field is a comma-delimited list of CPU IDs. Leaving this blank will cause the virtual machine software to assign affinity itself.

I/O binding

Assign specific host CPUs to the processing of virtual machine I/O requests.

This field is a comma-delimited list of CPU IDs. Leaving this blank will cause the virtual machine to assign I/O processing affinity itself.

Reserved I/O CPUs

Reserve a number of CPUs on the host system for the purpose of processing virtual machine I/O requests.

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If neither I/O binding and Reserved I/O CPUs are not set, then the virtual machine software will assign 1/3 (rounded down) of the host CPUs to I/O processing.

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The following table lists each of the fields in the memory configuration window and describes their operation.

Set the amount of RAM allocated to the virtual machine. This value is specified in megabytes (MB) and must be a multiple of 4
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Memory for this virtual machine
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FieldDescription
Memory for this virtual machine

Set the amount of RAM allocated to the virtual machine. Memory can only be allocated in certain increments. The table below describes the allocation rules for each virtual machine model.

 Virtual Machine ModelMemory Allocation Rules
 Sun SPARCstion 2064MB, 128MB, 256MB and 512MB.
 Sun Enterprise 4501 - 32 GB in 1 GB increments.
Memory allocator



This option specifies the memory allocation method used for the virtual machine. The default is malloc.

AllocatorDescription
mallocAll virtual machine RAM is allocated from system heap.
hugetlbAll virtual machine RAM is allocate from hugetlbfs.
mmapAll virtual machine RAM is allocated from file-backed virtual memory via mmap.

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