Table of contents

Introduction

The CharonCHARON-AXP product is distributed in form of archive TAR.GZ files that contain RPM modules for different components. Generally it is recommended to install all the RPM modules but it is possible to omit some RPM files if they are not needed.

Charon CHARON installation consists of the following steps:

• Host system checks (hardware and software) to ensure the host platform meets the minimum CharonCHARON-AXP installation requirements
• Installation of any 3rd party material, for example, the utilities required for CharonCHARON-AXP
• Extracting CharonCHARON-AXP RPM modules from the TAR.GZ archive and their individual installation
• Installation of the CharonCHARON-AXP license (hardware dongle or software license)
• Configuration of the CharonCHARON-AXP host system. It assumes creating a specific user, configuring the network, etc.

Hardware Requirements

Number of CPU cores

Each CharonCHARON-AXP emulated CPU requires a corresponding physical core. So the total number of the host CPUs must exceed the number of emulated CPUs since some of the host CPUs must be dedicated to serving Charon CHARON I/O operations and host operating system needs. If several Charon CHARON instances run in parallel, the required number of CPU cores is cumulative.

...

The following table lists the minimum and recommended number of CPUs required for each virtual HP Alpha instance (note that each Charon CHARON instance is able to run on 2 CPU cores hosts, but this configuration does not support emulation of all the virtual CPUs):

When starting, the CharonCHARON-AXP software checks the available number of host CPU cores. This check is based on the maximum number of AXP CPUs that can be emulated if this number is not restricted by the "n_of_cpus" parameter. If the available number of host CPU cores is below this number, CharonCHARON-AXP will issue a warning message even if the requirements for the configured number of AXP CPUs are fulfilled. The CharonCHARON-AXP software will work despite this warning if the requirements for the configured number of AXP CPUs are fulfilled.

CPU type and speed

Since Charon CHARON utilizes LAHF instruction in CPU emulation please avoid usage of early AMD64 and Intel 64 CPUs in Charon CHARON host system since they lack it. AMD introduced the instruction with their Athlon 64, Opteron and Turion 64 revision D processors in March 2005 and Intel introduced it with the Pentium 4 G1 stepping in December 2005.

Concerning CPU speed, the general recommendation is that higher the CPU frequency is, better the emulated HP Alpha performances will be. The minimum recommendation is at least 3 GHz.

Operative memory

The minimum host memory size:

• depends on the amount of HP Alpha memory to be emulated and on the number of CharonCHARON-AXP instances to be executed on one host.

• is calculated according to the following formula:

  The minimum host memory = (2Gb +  the amount of HP Alpha memory emulated) per CharonCHARON-AXP instance.

  
  

Disk storage

The total amount of disk space required for CharonCHARON-AXP can be calculated as a sum of all the disk/tape image sizes plus 50 MB for the Charon CHARON software plus the space required for the host operating system. Temporary disk storage is often needed when setting up a new virtual machine (for source disks backups storage, software installation kits, etc...).

When virtual disks/tapes are used to represent physical disk drives / magnetic tapes, the disk/tape image files have the same size as their hardware equivalent, regardless of their degree of utilization.

...

Ethernet adapters

CharonCHARON-AXP networking requires dedicated host Ethernet adapters; their number must be equal to the emulated adapters to be configured in CharonCHARON-AXP. One adapter (optionally) can be left to the host for TCP/IP networking, management interface, etc.

...

Software Requirements

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 78.x , - 64bit
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 67.5 x - 6.10, 64bit
• Linux Centos 78.x , 64bit- 64bit
• Linux Centos 7.x - 64bit
• VMware ESXi 5.5 and 6.x 0 up to 6.7 (requires a supported Linux operating system on top of a ESXi virtual machine)
  

...

Host system preparation

If a network-wide license (red dongle or software license) is going to be used, do the following:

...

Before installation

1. Login as the superuser ("root") on the host system. Because Sentinel HASP runtime relies on 32-bit compatibility libraries to run on Linux, the 32-bit compatibility libraries must be installed before continuing. If the emulator host has access to a package repository, either local or remote, use the following command:

   # yum install glibc.i686

   Sometimes it is not possible to use an online repository for the installation of 32-bit glibc package. In this case the procedure described in the appendixes has to be used: glibc.i686 installation without Internet connection

   .

2. Create a directory for the CharonCHARON-AXP distribution , copy the TAR.GZ files there and change to this directory as shown in the following example:

   # mkdir /Charoncharon_dist# cp /tmp/Charon-axp-4.11-20403

   .

   el74.tar.gz /Charon_dist
   # cd /Charon_dist

   .

   On RHEL 7.x and CentOS 7.x

3. On RHEL/CentOS 7 and 8, the "libev" package is required. If it is reported as missing during Charon CHARON installation on RHEL 7.x /8, check that the repository "extras" is included and enabled, if not, include and enable it. Please refer to your Linux distribution administrator's guide.
   Example for RHEL 7.x:

   # yum-config-manager --enable rhel-7-server-extras-rpms

   
   

Distribution preparation

Extract the contents of the distribution TAR.GZ files to the current directory:

...

Copy the download kit (in /tmp for example) to the folder created in the previous chapter:

where:

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Example:

...

Extract the contents of the distribution .tar.gz file to the current directory:

Example:

As a result, the new directory "

...

charon-axp-<VER>-<BN>.<ZZ>" will be created.

...

...

Switch to that directory:

...

Example:

...

...

The distribution directory contains the following RPM files:

...

...

...

...

Charon Libraries

...

...

Example:

...

Example:

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Installation

Issue the following command to install all the RPM files present in the directory:

Enter "y" to agree to install all the listed packages.

...

...

Re-login (as "root") to apply the PATH settings or execute the following command:

If "putty" terrminl terminal emulator is going to be used as an additional option copy the following file to your home directory:

...

...

CHARON-AXP home directory

By default Charon CHARON is installed in the "/opt/Charoncharon" directory. It has the following subdirectories:

The most important directory at this stage is the "/cfg" directory since it contains template configuration files with examples of typical configuration parameters and comments. We will focus our attention on this subject in the next chapter.

Specific user account creation

Create a specific user account named "Charoncharon" for running CharonCHARON:

Any existing user can also be used to run CharonCHARON. In this case issue the following command to include this existing user into these specific groups:

Example:

Re-login to apply changes.

...

License installation

Regular HASP USB dongle

If the Charon CHARON license is located on a regular USB dongle, just connect it to the host USB port.

Network HASP USB dongle

If the Charon CHARON license is a network license (red USB dongle), it is possible either to connect it to the host USB port (to use it locally and provide it to other hosts on the local network at the same time) or to install it on a local network "license server" for remote access from this particular host.

...

• Copy the aksusbd-7.63-1.i386.rpm and Charoncharon-license-4.9-<build>.<OS identifier>.x86_64.rpm files (see above) to the server, for example to "/tmp".
• Login as "root" on the server.
• Switch to that directory.

• Install the copied files using "yum".
  Example:

  # cd # cd /tmp # yum # yum install aksusbd* Charoncharon-license-*

  
  

• Connect the network HASP dongle to one of the server USB ports.

...

Software license

If the Charon CHARON license is a software license (SL), it is installed on the host using the following procedure:

1. Run the hasp_srm_view utility in the following way to get the host fingerprint file ("my_host.c2v" in this example):

   # hasp_srm_view -fgp my_host.c2v

   
   

2. Send the resulting file to StromasysSTROMASYS. In return Stromasys STROMASYS will provide you with a ".v2c" file, for example "your_license.v2c".
3. Copy the received file to any folder on the Charon CHARON host, invoke the system default web browser and enter the URL http://localhost:1947 to display the "Sentinel Admin Control Center" (ACC) web interface. This interface allows you to view and manage the Charon CHARON licenses.
4. In the ACC perform the following steps: select Update/Attach from the menu on the left pane then use the Browse button to select the received file and click on the Apply File button to install the license.
5. Ensure that the software license is now visible in the "Sentinel Keys" section of the ACC.

...

License validity verification

To check the Charon CHARON license validity, invoke the hasp_srm_view utility to make sure that the Charon CHARON license is visible and is correct:

• Text of the license is displayed correctly by the hasp_srm_view utility, no error messages are shown.
• The content of the license looks correct. For example: license number, major and minor versions, minimum and maximum build numbers, CharonCHARON-AXP products and allowed hardware (CharonCHARON-AXP models) should be checked. More details on the license content can be found in the CharonCHARON-AXP Licensing chapter of this Guide.

...

Troubleshooting

If the Charon CHARON license content cannot be displayed by the hasp_srm_view utility or it is incorrect, check the license is available and correctly used:

1. Invoke the system default web browser and enter the URL http://localhost:1947 to display the "Sentinel Admin Control Center" (ACC) web interface.
2. Click on "Sentinel Keys" link to open the corresponding page.
3. Make sure that one and only one Charon CHARON HASP or SL license is present.

To facilitate troubleshooting, Stromasys recommends to enable logging from the Sentinel Admin Control Center as described in this article: Enabling logging in Sentinel Admin Control Center.

Removing licenses can be done by physical disconnection of the corresponding USB HASP keys from the Charon CHARON host and physical disconnection of the network HASP keys from all hosts on the local network (or by disabling remote access to network licenses from the Charon CHARON host - see detailed explanations below).

...

Network configuration

In most cases Charon CHARON will use a network. In this case Charon CHARON requires one or more dedicated network interfaces with any other protocols including TCP/IP removed at the host level.

...

The first way is recommended. Use the manual approach only in absence of the "ncu" utility or if it impossible to use it.

Configuration with NCU utility

Login as root and enter "ncu". The following menu will appear:

The utility lists the available network interfaces (both physical and virtual) and indicates whether they are dedicated to the host or to Charon CHARON and whether they are currently in use by the host operating system.

...

"ncu" offers several options:

• Dedicate interface to Charon CHARON (option "1")
• Release interface to host (option "2")
• Create a bridge between a chosen physical network interface and the Linux virtual network and create a number of virtual network interfaces (option "3")
• Remove the Linux virtual network and all the created virtual network interfaces (option "4")
• Add VLAN (option "5")
• Remove VLAN (option "6")
• Print status (option "7") - use it to display status of network interfaces and the menu shown above
• Exit (option "8")

...

Let's dedicate the interface "eth1" to CharonCHARON-AXP.

Enter "1" then "eth1":

select action:
1 - Dedicate to CharonCHARON
2 - Release to host
3 - Create Bridge with TAPs
4 - Remove Bridge
5 - Add VLAN
6 - Remove VLAN
7 - Print status
8 - Exit

Now the interface "eth1" is dedicated to CharonCHARON-AXP:

select action:
1 - Dedicate to CharonCHARON
2 - Release to host
3 - Create Bridge with TAPs
4 - Remove Bridge
5 - Add VLAN
6 - Remove VLAN
7 - Print status
8 - Exit

...

Now "eth1" can be used by CharonCHARON-AXP.

Manual Configuration

Choosing a network interface

To choose an interface to be used for Charon CHARON networking, do the following:

Choose an interface to be used by CharonCHARON, for example "eth1"

Designation of network interface to

...

CHARON

To designate the chosen interface to Charon CHARON open up the file "/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ethN" (where N is the number of the interface to be used for CharonCHARON, in this case it is "1") and make sure that all the IP-setup related parameters are removed. The file must look like this:

Switching off the offload parameters

Determine what additional parameters are currently set to "on" on the host network adapter to be used by Charon CHARON using the following command:

Example:

Use "ethtool" to switch off all the offload parameters:

Example:

...

Let's suppose the name of the file is "offload_off_eth1.txt". To execute it on system startup, execute the following command (example):

Final steps

• Reboot the host system
• Login as user "Charoncharon"
• Verify the offload parameters are effective

Upgrade

...

from previous version

To upgrade an already installed CharonCHARON-AXP kit to a more recent one:

1. Ensure your license allows you to upgrade to that version. If not, please generate a C2V file and send it to Stromasys STROMASYS for update. See CharonCHARON-AXP for Linux utilities - 'hasp_srm_view' utility
2. Prepare the new kit RPM files as it is described in "Before installation695402677" and "Distribution preparation695402677" sections.
3. Stop all running CharonCHARON-AXP instances.
4. Make sure that no template files (i.e. "es40.cfg.template") have been used for your specific configuration otherwise copy those files to a dedicated folder.
5. Login as "root" user.
6. Remove the old CharonCHARON-AXP version as described in the "CharonCHARON-AXP for Linux deinstallation" chapter and reboot the Linux server (recommended).
7. Proceed with the instructions on the new kit installation as described in the "Charon-AXP for Linux installation#Installation695402677" section.Install the license
8. Once installation is completed, it is recommended to reboot the Linux server (possible issues with licenses detection could occur).

9. Install the license for the new CharonCHARON-AXP as described in the "License installation695402677" section.

10. Start all the CharonCHARON-AXP services stopped at step #3.