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Table of Contents

Table of Contents
excludeTable of Contents

Introduction

This section describes how to migrate your VAX HP Alpha system to CHARON-VAXAXP. We will use a sample MicroVAX 3600 system HP AlphaServer ES40 system running OpenVMS to demonstrate the migration procedure. The process is similar for all CHARON-VAX AXP models.

CHARON-PDP/11 migration is done in similar way except for the step of acquiring the QBUS addresses and vectors directly from console. Instead this information should be collected directly from the RSX11/RT11 operating system installed on the host to be migrated. Please refer to the RSX11/RT11 User's Guide for guidelines.

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Collecting information about the source VAX system

The first step is to determine the exact configuration of your VAX hardware in order to create the CHARON-VAX configuration file.

Turn on your source VAX system. At the ">>>" prompt, issue "show qbus" and "show device" commands:

>>>show qbus
Scan of Qbus I/O Space
-200000DC (760334) = FFFF (300) RQDX3/KDA50/RRD50/RQC25/KFQSA-DISK
-200000DE (760336) = 0B40
-20000124 (760444) = FFFF (304) TQK50/TQK70/TU81E/RV20/KFQSA-TAPE
-20000126 (760446) = 0BC0
-20000140 (760500) = 0080 (310) DHQ11/DHV11/CXA16/CXB16/CXY08
-20000142 (760502) = F081
-20000144 (760504) = DD18
-20000146 (760506) = 0140
-20000148 (760510) = 0000
-2000014A (760512) = 0000
-2000014C (760514) = 8000
-2000014E (760516) = 0000
-20000150 (760520) = 0080 (320) DHQ11/DHV11/CXA16/CXB16/CXY08
-20000152 (760522) = F081
-20000154 (760524) = DD18
-20000156 (760526) = 0140
-20000158 (760530) = 0000
-2000015A (760532) = 0000
-2000015C (760534) = 8000
-2000015E (760536) = 0000
-20001468 (772150) = FFFF (154) RQDX3/KDA50/RRD50/RQC25/KFQSA-DISK
-2000146A (772152) = 0B40
-20001920 (774440) = FF08 (120) DELQA/DEQNA/DESQA
-20001922 (774442) = FF00
-20001924 (774444) = FF01
-20001926 (774446) = FF02
-20001928 (774450) = FFD2
-2000192A (774452) = FF14
-2000192C (774454) = C000
-2000192E (774456) = 1030
-20001940 (774500) = FFFF (260) TQK50/TQK70/TU81E/RV20/KFQSA-TAPE
-20001942 (774502) = 0BC0
-20001F40 (777500) = 0020 (004) IPCR

Scan of Qbus Memory Space
>>>

>>>show device
UQSSP Disk Controller 0 (772150)
-DUA0 (RZ23)
-DUA1 (RZ24)

UQSSP Disk Controller 1 (760334)
-DUB2 (RZ25)
-DUB3 (RZ26)

UQSSP Tape Controller 0 (774500)
-MUA0 (TK50)

UQSSP Tape Controller 1 (760444)
-MUB3 (TK50)

Ethernet Adapter 0 (774440)
-XQA0 (08-00-01-02-D3-CC)

The source VAX configuration in this example is:

ControllerAddressDevices on controller
RQDX3772150-DUA0 (RZ23)
-DUA1 (RZ24)
RQDX3760334-DUB2 (RZ25)
-DUB3 (RZ26)
TQK50774500-MUA0 (TK50)
TQK50760444-MUB3 (TK50)
DHQ11760520 
DHQ11760500 
DESQA774440-XQA0

To find out the exact types of controllers please refer to the source VAX system documentation.

Back to Table of Contents

Creation of CHARON-VAX configuration file

Using the above info, the following configuration can be created:

...

#
# First RQDX3 controller on address 772150
#
load RQDX3/RQDX3 DUA address=017772150
set DUA container[0]="C:\My disks\rz23.vdisk"
set DUA container[1]="C:\My disks\rz24.vdisk"

#
# Second RQDX3 controller on address 760334
#
load RQDX3/RQDX3 DUB address=017760334
set DUB container[2]="C:\My disks\rz25.vdisk"
set DUB container[3]="C:\My disks\rz26.vdisk"

#
# First TQK50 controller on address 774500
#
load TQK50/TQK50 MUA address=017774500
set MUA container[0]="C:\My tapes\tape1.vtape"

#
# Second TQK50 controller on address 760444
#
load TQK50/TQK50 MUB address=017760444
set MUB container[3]="C:\My tapes\tape2.vtape"

#
# First DHQ11 controller on address 760500
#
load DHQ11/DHV11 TXA address=017760500
load virtual_serial_line/chserial TXA0 port=10010
set TXA line[0]=TXA0

#
# Second DHQ11 controller on address 760520
#
load DHQ11/DHV11 TXB address=017760520
load virtual_serial_line/chserial TXB0 port=10011
set TXB line[0]=TXB0

#
# DESQA controller on address 774440
#
load DESQA/DEQNA XQA address=017774440 interface=XQA0
load packet_port/chnetwrk XQA0 interface="connection:Charon" 

...

Note the Qbus addresses specification: The number is prefixed with "0", meaning it is an octal value. The number of digits reflects the 22 bit Qbus architecture.

Additional DHQ11 serial lines can be mapped later. For now, only 2 lines are configured. They are mapped to IP ports 10010 and 10011.

DESQA is mapped to a network interface having the name "Charon". This interface will be used for CHARON-VAX (see the Installation section for more details) on this particular host.

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Making disk images

In our example, possible mappings of RQDX3 and TQK50 tapes include physical devices and disk and tape images. Tape images should not be manually created, whereas you have to provision disk images, as described below.

Our example creates disk images of the original physical type. In reality, this step is the best opportunity in the migration to provision bigger disks to get extra storage space.

Create special directories for storing disk and tape images, as needed. Created directories are referenced in the sample configuration file above.

...> cd C:\
C:\> mkdir "My disks"

C:\> mkdir "My tapes" 

This operation can also be done using Windows Explorer.

Next, create disk images using the "MkDisk" utility.

Start the "MkDisk" utility from the "Start" menu:

Image Removed

The main dialog of the utility will appear:

Image Removed

Select "VAX" in the "Select System" drop-down menu, "MSCP" in the "All Controllers" drop-down menu and "RZ24" (for example) in the "Select Disk Type" drop-down menu, then press "Create Disk Image" button:

Image Removed

The utility will ask you to specify the output file name. Select the "C:\My disks" directory created just before (or create it directly in the dialog) and press "Save" button:

Image Removed

The "MkDisk" utility will create the requested disk image:

Image Removed

Repeat this sequence for the disks "RZ23.vdisk", "RZ25.vdisk" and "RZ26.vdisk". Put them in the same "C:\My disks" folder. 

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Installation of VAX operating system

The next step is to transfer the data from the source VAX system to CHARON-VAX. The easiest way to do this is via backup over the network. But for this operation we need a bootable, network-enabled operating system on a CHARON-VAX disk image or physical disk.

The example configures the CHARON-VAX MicroVAX 3600 system for installation of VAX/VMS from a distribution CD-ROM (usually it is "\\.\CdRom0" if the host has only one CD-ROM drive):

...

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Collecting information about the source HP Alpha system

The first step is to determine the exact configuration of your HP Alpha hardware in order to create the CHARON-AXP configuration file.

Turn on your source HP Alpha system. At the ">>>" prompt, issue "show device" command:

>>>show device

sys0.0.0.0.0 SYS0 System ROOT Device
ewa0.0.0.1.1 EWA0 F8-D1-11-00-67-E6
pka0.0.0.2.1 PKA0 Q-Logic/ISP PCI SCSI HBA
pga0.0.0.3.1 PGA0 WWN 1000-0000-0248-C550
pqa0.0.0.15.0 PQA0 ALi 1553C Integrated IDE Controller
pqb0.0.1.15.0 PQB0 ALi 1553C Integrated IDE Controller
dqa0.0.0.15.0 DQA0 TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-222BB
dka0.0.0.2.1 DKA0 DEC RZ28 (C)DEC
dka100.1.0.2.1 DKA100 DEC RZ22 (C)DEC
dka200.2.0.2.1 DKA200 DEC RZ23 (C)DEC
mka600.6.0.2.1 MKA600 Virtual SCSI Tape

>>>

To get more detailed information boot OpenVMS and issue "show dev /full" command:

$ show device /full

Disk PFCAXP$DKA0:, device type RZ28, is online, mounted, file-oriented device,
shareable, available to cluster, error logging is enabled.
...
Disk PFCAXP$DKA100:, device type RZ22, is online, file-oriented device,
shareable, available to cluster, error logging is enabled.
...
Disk PFCAXP$DKA200:, device type RZ23, is online, file-oriented device,
shareable, available to cluster, error logging is enabled.
...
Disk PFCAXP$DQA0:, device type TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-222BB, is online, file-oriented
device, shareable, available to cluster, error logging is enabled.
...
Disk $1$DGA0: (PFCAXP), device type RZ24, is online, file-oriented device,
shareable, available to cluster, error logging is enabled.
...
Magtape PFCAXP$MKA600:, device type Virtual SCSI Tape, is online, file-oriented
device, available to cluster, error logging is enabled, device supports
fastskip (per_io).
...
Terminal OPA0:, device type VT102, is online, record-oriented device, carriage
control.
...
Device EWA0:, device type DE500, is online, network device, device is a template
only.
...
Device FGA0:, device type KGPSA Fibre Channel, is online, shareable, error
logging is enabled.
...
Device PGA0:, device type SCSI FCP, is online, error logging is enabled.
...
Device PKA0:, device type Qlogic ISP1020 SCSI port, is online, error logging is
enabled.
...
Device $1$GGA32767:, device type Generic SCSI device, is online, shareable.

$

Info

In case of Tru64 UNIX V5 running on the host system it is recommended to use the following commands to get information on the host configuration:

CommandDescription
#/sbin/hwmgr view devices

Get detailed information about the host hardware configuration

#/sbin/hwmgr show scsi

Get specific information about the host SCSI controllers and attached disks

#/sbin/hwmgr view hierarchy

Get information about the host controllers

Please reference to the Tru64 UNIX User's Guide for more details.

 

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The source HP Alpha peripheral configuration in this example is:

ControllerDevices on controllerDescription
KZPBA

-DKA0 (RZ28)
-DKA100 (RZ22)
-DKA200 (RZ23) 
-MKA600 (tape) 

SCSI disk/tape controller
KGPSA-CA-DGA0 (RZ24)FC disk controller
OPA0 System console

TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-222BB

-DQA0IDE CD-ROM controller
EWA0 Network interface, MAC address: "F8-D1-11-00-67-E6"

Now collect some general information about the HP AlphaServer ES40 system:

>>>show cpu /full

System: PFCAXP, AlphaServer ES40 6/667

SMP execlet = 3 : Enabled : Streamlined.
Config tree = None
Primary CPU = 0
HWRPB CPUs = 4
Page Size = 8192
Revision Code =
Serial Number = SN01234567
Default CPU Capabilities:
System: QUORUM RUN
Default Process Capabilities:
System: QUORUM RUN

....

>>>

>>>show mem

System Memory Resources on 5-FEB-2015 09:29:16.42

Physical Memory Usage (pages): Total Free In Use Modified
Main Memory (512.00MB) 65536 56496 8610 430

...

>>>

So the collected information about the HP AlphaServer ES40 system is:

ComponentValue
System Type

AlphaServer ES40 6/667

Serial Number

SN01234567

Number of CPUs4
System memory512 Mb
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Info

In some particular situations it is also important to know the exact placement of all the peripheral devices on HP Alpha PCI bus. To get that information issue "show config" command at ">>>" prompt of HP Alpha console, for example:

>>>show config

...

PCI Bus

Bus 00 Slot 03: DECchip 21142 Network Controller
ewa0.0.0.3.0 00-00-F8-03-9A-6D

Bus 00 Slot 07: Cypress PCI Peripheral Controller

Bus 00 Slot 07: Function 1: PCI IDE

Bus 00 Slot 07: Function 2: PCI IDE

Bus 00 Slot 07: PCI USB

Bus 00 Slot 08: DECchip 21052 PCI to PCI Bridge

Bus 01 Slot 08: ISP1040 Scsi Controller
pka0.7.0.1008.0 SCSI Bus ID 7
dka0.0.0.1008.0 RZ2DD-KS
dka400.4.0.1008.0 RRD45

>>>

The "show config" command collects the following information of placement of peripheral devices on PCI bus:

  • Bus number
  • Slot number
  • Function number

To find out the exact types of controllers and other useful information refer to the source HP Alpha system documentation.

Back to Table of Contents

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Creation of CHARON-AXP configuration file

Using the above info, the following configuration can be created:

#
# HP AlphaServer model: AlphaServer ES40 6/667
#

set session hw_model = AlphaServer_ES40
set ace cpu_architecture = EV67
set rom dsrdb[0] = 1820 system_name = "AlphaServer ES40 6/667"

...

#
# Override default System Serial Number, set it to "SN01234567"
#

set rom system_serial_number = SN01234567

#
# Specify RAM size: 512 Mb
#

set ram size=512

#
# Map OPA0 console to "Putty" terminal emulator (included in CHARON-AXP kit)
#

load virtual_serial_line OPA0 port=10003 application="putty -load OPA0"

#
# Сonnect the emulator's DQA0 to the host's ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive.
#

set ide container="\\.\CdRom0"

#
# Load optional DE500BA PCI Ethernet Adapter (EWA0) and map it to the "Charon" host network interface
#

load DE500BA/dec21x4x EWA interface=EWA0
load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="connection:Charon"

#
# Load DEC-KZPBA SCSI controller and map it to 3 disk containers and 1 tape container
#

load KZPBA PKA scsi_id = 7

set PKA container[0] = "C:\My disks\bootable.vdisk"
set PKA container[100] = "C:\My disks\RZ22.vdisk"
set PKA container[200] = "C:\My disks\RZ23.vdisk"

set PKA container[600] = "C:\My tapes\my_tape.vtape" 

#
# Load DEC-KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter and map it to a disk container
#

load KGPSA FGA

set FGA container[0] = "C:\My disks\rz23RZ24.vdisk"
set DUA container[1]="C:\My disks\rz24.vdisk"
set DUA container[2]="C:\My disks\new_vms_system.vdisk"
set DUA container[3]="C:\My disks\backup_storage.vdisk"
set DUA container[4]="\\.\CdRom0"

(warning) DUA3 will be the disk where all the source disks will be copied, so its size needs to be big enough to store all the disk backup images

Create an empty disk image for installation of VAX/VMS and another one for storing backups from the source VAX system as it is shown in the section above.

Run CHARON-VAX and boot from "dua4" ("migration.cfg" is the configuration file we use in this example):

...> mv3k6 migration.cfg
KA650-A V5.3, VMB 2.7
Performing normal system tests.
40..39..38..37..36..35..34..33..32..31..30..29..28..27..26..25..
24..23..22..21..20..19..18..17..16..15..14..13..12..11..10..09..
08..07..06..05..04..03..
Tests completed.
>>>boot dua4

...

...

Back to Table of Contents

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Making disk images

In our example, possible mappings of KZPBA SCSI controller include disk and tape images. Tape images have not to be manually created whereas you have to provision disk images, as described below.

Our example creates disk images of the original physical type. In reality, this step is the best opportunity in the migration to provision bigger disks to get extra storage space.

Create special directories for storing disk and tape images, as needed. Created directories are referenced in the sample configuration file above.

...> cd C:\
C:\> mkdir "My disks"

C:\> mkdir "My tapes" 

This operation can also be done using Windows Explorer.

Start the "MkDisk" utility from the "Start" menu to create disk images:

Image Added

 

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The main dialog of the utility will appear:

Image Added

Select "Alpha AXP" in the "Select System" drop-down menu, "SCSI" in the "All Controllers" drop-down menu and "RZ24" (for example) in the "Select Disk Type" drop-down menu.

 

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Press then the "Create Disk Image" button:

Image Added

 

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The utility will ask you to specify the output file name. Select the "C:\My disks" directory created just before (or create it directly in the dialog) and press "Save" button:

Image Added

The "MkDisk" utility will create the requested disk image:

Image Added

Repeat this sequence for the disks "RZ28.vdisk", "RZ22.vdisk" and "RZ23.vdisk". Place them in the same folder. 

Back to Table of Contents

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Installation of HP Alpha operating system

The next step is to transfer the data from the source HP Alpha system to CHARON-AXP. The easiest way to do this is via backup over the network. But for this operation we need a bootable, network-enabled operating system on a CHARON-AXP disk image or physical disk.

The example configures the CHARON-AXP AlphaServer ES40 system for installation of HP OpenVMS from a distribution CD-ROM (usually it is "\\.\CdRom0" if the host has only one CD-ROM drive):

#
# DEC-KZPBA SCSI controller is mapped to 5 disk containers; one of them (DKA300) - for migration purposes;
# another one (DKA400) - for installation of fresh HP OpenVMS system from distributive

#

load KZPBA PKA scsi_id = 7

set PKA container[0] = "C:\My disks\bootable.vdisk"
set PKA container[100] = "C:\My disks\RZ22.vdisk"
set PKA container[200] = "C:\My disks\RZ23.vdisk"
set PKA container[300] = "C:\My disks\migration.vdisk"
set PKA container[400] = "C:\My disks\fresh_openvms.vdisk"

#
# CD-ROM for HP OpenVMS installation (DQA0)
#

set ide container="\\.\CdRom0"

(warning) DKA300 will be the disk where all the source disks will be copied, so its size needs to be big enough to store all the disk backup images

Create an empty disk image for installation of HP OpenVMS and another one for storing backups from the source HP Alpha system as it is shown in the section above.

Run CHARON-AXP and boot from the CDROM named "dqa0" ("migration.cfg" is the configuration file we use in this example):

...>es40.exe migration.cfg

CHARON-AXP/ES40 for Windows x64 (AlphaServer ES40 6/667), Version 4.6.16603
(C) 2009-2014 STROMASYS SA.
All rights reserved.

P00>>>boot dqa0

Install HP Alpha/VMS including DECnet on "dka400". DECnet address must belong to the same area as the source VAX HP Alpha system.

Login to the newly installed VMS OpenVMS system and initialize the disk intended for backups storage. Let's assume it's prompt is "newvms$ "

newvms$ INIT DUA3DKA300: SCRATCH
newvms$ MOUNT/SYSTEM/NOASSIST DUA3DKA300: SCRATCH

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Making remote backups

Now we are ready to create disk backups from the source VAX HP Alpha system to CHARON-VAXAXP.

Boot CHARON-VAX AXP and make sure that the source VAX HP Alpha system is available via DECnet. 

Login to the source VAX HP Alpha system. Stop all the batch queues, kick off the users, stop all application and close databases if any. The commands listed in SYS$MANAGER:SYSHUTDWN.COM may be helpful.  The goal is to close as many files as possible. The system disk will have several files opened (pagefile, swapfile, etc.), but this is normal.

(info) The use of the "SHOW DEVICE /FILES" command would be of help to know files opened on a disk

Issue (letLet's assume that the CHARON-VAX AXP system is node 1.400 in this example). Issue then the following commands from the source VAX. Let's assume it's login is HP Alpha whose prompt is set to "source$ "

source$ BACKUP/IMAGE/IGNORE=INTERLOCK DUA0DKA0: 1.400::DKA300:[000000]DKA0.BCK/SAVE
source$ BACKUP/IMAGE/IGNORE=INTERLOCK DKA100: 1.400::DUA3DKA300:[000000]DUA0DKA100.BCK/SAVE
source$ BACKUP/IMAGE/IGNORE=INTERLOCK DUA1 DKA200: 1.400::DUA3DKA300:[000000]DUA1DKA200.BCK/SAVE SAVE 

Once the backup procedure completes, the disk "DUA3DKA300" of CHARON-VAX AXP will contain 2 3 savesets: "DUA0DKA0.BCK", "DKA100.BCK" and  and "DUA1DKA200.BCK"

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Restore backups to CHARON-

...

AXP disks

Next, restore the new savesets to their corresponding virtual disks. Login to CHARON-VAX AXP and issue this sequence of commands to restore all the savesets created on the previous step: 

newvms$ MOUNT/FOREIGN DKA0:
newvms$ BACKUP/IMAGE DKA300:[000000]DKA0.BCK/SAVE DKA0:
newvms$ DISMOUNT DKA0:

newvms$ MOUNT/FOREIGN DUA0FOREIGN DKA100:
newvms$ BACKUP BACKUP/IMAGE DUA3DKA300:[000000]DUA0DKA100.BCK/SAVE DUA0DKA100:
newvms$ DISMOUNT DUA0 DISMOUNT DKA100:

newvms$ MOUNT/FOREIGN DUA1 DKA200:
newvms$ BACKUP/IMAGE DUA3DKA300:[000000]DUA1DKA200.BCK/SAVE DUA1DKA200:
newvms$ DISMOUNT DUA1DKA200:

If you are going to have CHARON-VAX AXP and the original physical VAX HP Alpha on the network at the same time, you must change the network identity of one (usually the CHARON-VAXAXP).

The easiest way is to boot the CHARON-VAX AXP virtualized system on the restored system disk with the network Disabled and configure new addresses, as needed. (info) The NIC can be disabled with a "connection:disabled" statement in the CHARON cfg configuration file.

Then Enable the network and reboot.

 

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Alternative ways of data transfer

Some alternative methods of data transfer are also possible. For example:

  • Connect a SCSI tape drive to CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP AXP host via a PCI card 
    • Map the tape drive in the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP AXP configuration file

           a. Restore source VAX HP Alpha system backups from tape to disk images via VMS/RSX11/RT11 OpenVMS running on CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDPAXP.
           b. Boot from standalone backups and restore its content to CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP AXP virtual disks

    • Dump source VAX/PDP11 HP Alpha system backups to tape images with "mtd" utility and:
           a. Boot from freshly installed VMS/RSX11/RT11 OpenVMS system and restore the tape images to CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP AXP virtual disks
           b. Boot from standalone backups and restore its content to CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP AXP virtual disks
  • Create a network cluster between the source VAX/PDP11 HP Alpha system and CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP AXP (it is possible to use the source system as boot server); then simple backup from one disk to another:

    $ BACKUP/IMAGE/IGNORE=INTERLOCK REAL$DUA0REAL$DKA0: DUA0DKA0:

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