Version: 0 5 - Published:

04 Nov 2024 

Table of contents

Please review this document before proceeding with the installation of Charon-AXP.

The Release Notes apply to Charon-AXP for Windows version 4.12, up to build 210-0913.

Products included in the Charon-AXP 4.12 for Windows 64-bit

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¹⁾ Charon can be installed and will run, but Microsoft Windows versions are EOL and are not recommended for deployment.

Hosting hardware requirements and configuration recommendations

• CPU requirements:

  • The number of available x86/x64 compatible (Intel or AMD) CPU cores in the hosting server should be at least 150% of the number of emulated CPU cores.

  • The recommended number of available (Intel or AMD) CPU cores in the hosting server is twice the number of emulated CPU cores.

  • Intel Xeon E-series v3 and above with a CPU clock frequency from 3GHz; to achieve the best performance use the latest Intel Xeon CPUs from the Scalable Processors family.

• Memory requirements:

  • DDR4 RAM 2133 MHz and above is recommended for optimal Charon performance.

  • The minimum host memory size depends on the amount of emulated AXP memory and on the number of Charon instances running on one host. The minimum host memory = (2Gb +  the amount of HP Alpha memory emulated) per Charon-AXP instance.

• Mid range and high end RAID controllers with at least 1GB cache with write-back enabled and battery backup option is recommended.
  (Using low-end RAID controllers may cause significant performance degradation and Charon-AXP crash. RAID5 and similar configurations are not recommended.)

• Intel HT (Hyper-Threading Technology) should be disabled on the hosting server.

• The hosting server should always run at full speed. Power management, USB power saving management and the screen saver should be disabled on the hosting server.

• Windows UAC should be disabled.

• The Port Group Security Tab containing the Charon network adapter(s) must be set to Promiscuous mode, MAC Address Change and Forged Transmit=Accept.

New functionality

• Support for Windows 11, Windows Server 2022

Problems fixed

• power saving management and the screen saver should be disabled on the hosting server.

• Windows UAC should be disabled.

• The Port Group Security Tab containing the Charon network adapter(s) must be set to Promiscuous mode, MAC Address Change and Forged Transmit=Accept.

New functionality

• Support for Windows 11, Windows Server 2022

Problems fixed and other changes

Build 210-13

• Fix EISA configuration table in emulator to eliminate Tru64 UNIX on boot (ID#5844). Relevant for AlphaServer 2000/2100.

• Product kits now include PCI PassThrough drivers signed by Microsoft (ID#5846). This makes possible use of drivers with Windows 10 and Windows 11 and eliminates signature verification problem when loading the driver. Sample message in case the problem occurs:

  Code Block
  language text
  Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers required for this device. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicios software from an unknown source. (Code 52)

  
  

• Fix terminal emulator activation to pass user environment to the process created. In particular, this allows to use Reflection Workspace Terminal Emulator and eliminates Reflection TE startup problem. Sample message in case the proble occurs:

  Code Block
  language text
  (X) An application error occured. Please contact Technical Support. Details: Unable to access Micro Focus\Reflection\Desktop\v18.0.

  
  

Build 210-12

• Fix for AXP CPU emulation to avoid CPU halts due to KERNEL STACK NOT VALID exceptions, followed by CPUSANITY or CPUSPINWAIT BUGCHECKs in case of AXP configurations with more than one CPU or more than 4GB of RAM (ID#5836).

Build 210-11

• Update Stromasys End User License Agreement (EULA) to version issued on 16 February 2024.

Build 210-10

• Updated End User License Agreement (EULA) text.

Build 210-08

• Fix emulation of DIGI AccelePort multiplexors and host PCI bridges of various AXP chipsets so that DIGIDRIVER_7 can correctly recognize and initialize the PBXDA board running on OpenVMS 7.1 (ID#5787).

• Fix Network Control Center (NCC, NetDiag utility) to correctly obtain names of host network interfaces. The problem was observed on Windows 10 (ID#5789).

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• New End User License Agreement (EULA) text (ID#5782).

Build 210-05

• Add logging an error message indicating syntax error in storage container specification. Previously, such errors were quietly igored or the affected devices were set to offline (ID#5766).

• Cosmetic change to Charon Installation Utility (InstallShell) to correct message text: display Pre-4.8 version is installed instead of Old version is installed (ID#5768).

• Wrong version (6.80) of Microsoft NETVMINI driver was included in product kits (ID#5769, IE#5771). Replaced with version 6.30. Fixed product packaging.

• Fix EW network boot (MOP) of virtual AlphaServer 800 (ID#5773).

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• Charon VM Manager now recognizes disabled services (Virtual Machines), designates them with special icon and prevents attempts of starting them displaying a popup window rather than error message (ID#5687).

• Installation kit now contains correctly signed PCI PassThrough drivers, which eliminates errors Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers...(Code 52) while installing Charon PCI PassThrough driver (ID#5711).

• The processing of the following HASP licensing errors was changed such that the emulator will no longer terminate immediately but instead observe the grace period (ID#5717):
  • HASP_SHARING_VIOLATION (HASP runtimer error code 84)
  • HASP_DEVICE_ERR (HASP runtime error code 43)
  • HASP_SCOPE_RESULTS_EMPTY (HASP runtime error code 50)
• Charon VM Manager now does not ask for confirmation on Exit (ID#5730).
• Default identification of FC attached virtual disks ($1$DGAxxx drives attached through KGPSA) has been changed to "DEC HSG80" following the hardware original (ID#5731).
• Fix mkdskcmd utility to avoid reporting negative virtual disk size (ID#5735).

• Fix Charon Installation Utility (InstallShell) to correctly remove shortcuts from Programs/StartUp menu on product de-installation (ID#5736).

• Emulation of the TOY has been fixed to provide correct synchronization of the guest's time when it is intentionally set to a time in the past (relative to the host) (ID#5737).

Configuration changes required when upgrading from previous versions of Charon-AXP to version 4.12

• Charon license update is required before upgrading. Stromasys might request a HASP dongle state (c2v file) or a host fingerprint taken by HASP Update Service (which is included in the Charon kit) in order to issue a license update. Please refer to License Update Service for details

• Due to a Charon installation procedure update, if you upgrade from a version older than 4.8, it is required to uninstall all Charon products before installing Charon-AXP version 4.11. Please use the Windows Control Panel to perform the operation.

•  If you upgrade from version 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 or 4.11 (previous build):

  • It is not necessary to save boot parameters at the SRM level (console). Parameters will be kept.

  • It is mandatory to update all existing Charon Virtual Machines to make them run the latest version using the Virtual Machines Manager, VM Configuration tab.

• The following Microsoft Windows update has to be installed on Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 in order to support new Charon drivers signed with SHA2 signature:
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityAdvisories/2015/3033929

• If VMware is used, it must be upgraded to a supported version.

• The Tru64 kernel might require a rebuild for some emulated AXP models that are included in the Charon-AXP/4100 product.

• It is recommended to archive the old Charon logs before starting the new version in order to avoid mixing character encoding in the log files.

• Intelligent packet processing should be switched off for the network adapters dedicated to Charon with "Network Control Center" (NCC) utility. Please refer to FTP, NFS, and general network issues with CHARON-AXP and CHARON-VAX on Windows for details.

• The user that runs Charon-AXP must have local administrator privileges and be a member of Charon-GRP group (which is created during the Charon installation).

• Charon executables, libraries and data (disk container files) files 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.

• Power management, USB power saving management and screen saver should be switched off on the hosting server.

• The Charon-AXP configuration file should be reviewed if migrating from Charon-AXP for Linux. Linux specific configuration parameters (for example, network adapter references) should be changed to Windows specific parameters. Please refer to the user manual for details.

• Please note that the actual network communication speed and mode are determined by the Windows network speed and mode settings.

• If Charon-AXP is being moved to another hosting platform and direct SCSI access method is used to access some SCSI devices, 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 a case for all Windows Server 2012 (R2) and Windows 8.1 systems, and is often seen for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) systems. The recommended workaround for disk access is to use the \\.\PhysicalDriveX method.
  If any other SCSI device is involved, please contact Stromasys. Charon-AXP for Linux can be considered to work around the limitation.

• For network connections, interface="connection:..." syntax is preferred in the Charon configuration file.

• The packet_port keyword in the Charon configuration file can be used on any hosting platform instead of the platform specific keywords ndis5_chpack_port and ndis6_chpack_port.
  For example, the Charon configuration file lines:

and

can be replaced with:

• For the emulated network adapters the communication speed and mode is recommended to be commented out (set to automatic). If it is necessary, see the example below:

• On VMware, legacy_mode should be set in the Charon configuration for emulated AXP network adapters if Promiscuous mode cannot be set (this solution does not work in multi-instance configurations).

• The console definition syntax has been changed in the configuration file starting with v4.9. Please read the User's Guide for instructions on how to apply it if you currently use a Charon version prior to v4.9.

• If "IDLE" utility is going to be used, refer to the user's guide for further information.

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• Network and tape booting is not currently supported.

• The total number of devices (both controllers and units, including disks) displayed by Charon SRM console is limited to 48. However more devices are available to VMS and Tru64. Note that it does not affect the actual number of configured devices provided to Charon guest OS.

• It is impossible to mount physical tape on some new physical devices (ID#5488),

• The Charon installation may fail with the error message "The installation process cannot replace hasplms.exe because the file is in use". It is known problem of the Sentinel HASP driver installer included in the Charon installation procedure as a 3rd party software. If you face this issue stop the hasplms.exe process manually and re-run Charon installation procedure. See the Installation chapter below for more information.

• In certain situations, mapping to a SAN using the Pass Through method may not be possible. In that case use the presentation mode instead (ID#5424).

• The Charon emulated console supports only 80 symbols in one line.

• In some situations, the virtual disks descriptions can be displayed as "Virtual SCSI Disk (C)SRI" in the SRM console. This problem does not affect the Charon functionality (ID#4729).

• Charon cannot correctly define the total number of available CPUs on multi CPU groups systems (NUMA architecture, etc) - it reports only a number of the CPUs found in its first group. This problem will be fixed in future releases.
  As a workaround, enable "Node interleaving" in the BIOS (if available) to make the BIOS report the total number of available CPUs (as a part of one consolidated NUMA group) to the operating system.
  For example, on HP Proliant servers, the configuration sequence is the following:
  - Boot the server, press F9 and enter BIOS setup.
  - Select "Advanced Options" -> "Advance Performance Tuning Options" -> "Node Interleaving", set it to "Enabled".
  - Boot Windows.

• Hardware partitioning is not supported by Charon. However the same hardware layout can be emulated with multiple Charon instances on the same host.

• The SRM console shows the configured virtual disk names differently for the same *.vdisk containers on each Charon start (ID#4498).

• The OpenVMS/AXP Version 8.4 installation CD media is not mountable under VMS V7.2-1H1. It is a VMS version restriction (ID#4054).

• Older AMD and Intel CPUs without support of the CMPXCHG16B instruction could run Charon-AXP translated code incorrectly. It is recommended not to use those CPUs. If such CPUs are detected on the hosting server, Charon-AXP writes the following message in its log file:

• Charon-AXP does not emulate the LSI 53C810 SCSI controller. Charon-AXP emulates the 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.

• The OPA0 console of the Charon service does not appear if a non "Administrator" user starts the service (ID#3209).

• DS20 initialization might take a long time on Windows Server 2008 R2 (ID#3194).

• Digital UNIX 4.0g fails to install on AS4100 if FC is configured. Specific Tru64 patches and firmware versions might be required. SAN device should be set to SCSI-2 mode (ID#3191).

• The DE500BA device error count after boot is not 0 on OpenVMS 8.2/8.3 (ID#2963). There are no negative side effects.

• Direct access to SCSI devices is not supported. Consider use of Charon-VAX for Linux instead, or call Stromasys for possible alternatives.

• Performance tests could hang VMS 6.2-1H3 on an emulated AS400.

• Charon-AXP does not emulate VGA adapters, thus OPA0 is always a system console. Applications hard-coded 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 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 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.

• 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.

• Charon-AXP does not support Microsoft virtual network adapters (i.e. MS bridges, etc.).

• Charon-AXP has limited support for teamed network adapters. They can be used only if the MAC address of the virtual VMS or Tru64 network adapter is not changed during the 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 per disk 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 SINGLE USER mode and issue the following commands:

then "exit" (Ctrl-D) to multi user mode.

• A "CRC error" appears when running "$ BACKUP/LIST/REW MKA100:..." on OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.4 (ID#2925).

New functionality introduced in previous versions

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• Charon Network Packet NDIS Signed driver for Windows 10, Windows Server 2016/2019 working with Secure Boot enabled.

• Sentinel Runtime upgraded to version 8.13.

• Implemented serial line logging capability for serial lines attached through virtual PBXDA (DIGI board).

• Implemented support for booting AXP emulators via MOP. MOPv3 (DECnet) and MOPv4 (LANCP) are supported. Both EW and EI adapters are supported for MOP network boot.

• The parameter "log_flush_period" is available on all serial line implementations (ID#5633).

• New parameter "connection_override" for console that allows new connection to override existing connection, if any.

• New version of PuTTY, supporting "-title" option and new way of storing/loading sessions definitions in the registry to avoid unnecessary duplication of session definitions for each user (ID#5590).

• MkDisk utility logo is updated (ID#5246).

• Sample configuration files are updated (ID#5246, #5622).

• "Charon Virtual Machines Manager" is changed to "Charon Virtual Machine Manager" (ID#5246). Note: if you're upgrading from a previous version, the "Charon Virtual Machines Manager" icon has to be removed manually.

• The NDIS driver is upgradable: during installation of a Charon kit, a newer driver version is installed automatically (ID#5585).

• A specific dialog is added for recommended actions if a container cannot be extracted in the process of a Charon installation (ID#5586).

• All relevant Charon components are installed independently by each Charon build to be installed on the host if these components are not "upgradable" (shared between builds) (ID#5504).

• Charon installation procedure graphics are updated to display correct slogan (ID#5558).

• MkDisk utility graphics are updated to display correct slogan (ID#5562).

New functionality introduced in version 4.10 build 202-03

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