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Table of contents

Table of Contents
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Introduction

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP products are distributed in form of a zip file that contains the

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Table of contents

Table of Contents
excludeTable of contents

Introduction

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP products are distributed in form of a zip file that contains the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP installation executable ("InstallShell.exe"). The InstallShell procedure offers the possibility to select several modules to install. It is recommended to install all modules (the default).

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP installation consists of the following steps:

  • Perform host system checks (hardware and software) to ensure the host platform meets minimum CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP installation requirements
  • Optionally, create a specific CHARON username with administrative privileges
  • Extract CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP installation procedure files from its archive
  • Install CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP

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  • by running "InstallShell.exe" installer and following the instructions
  • Install CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP

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  • Perform host system checks license (hardware and dongle or software ) to ensure the host platform meets minimum license)
  • Configure CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP installation requirements
  • Optionally, create a specific CHARON username with administrative privileges
  • Extract host system, for example, network adapter, host OS services, etc.


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Hardware Requirements

Number of CPU cores

Each CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP

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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 I/O operations and host operating system needs.

The following table shows the minimum and recommended number of CPUs required for VAX/PDP11 models:

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP

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Hardware Requirements

Number of CPU cores

Each CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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 I/O operations and host operating system needs.

The following table shows the minimum and recommended number of CPUs required for VAX/PDP11 models:

2

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP model

Minimal number of host CPU cores

Recommended number of host CPU cores

VAX 6610

2

4

VAX 6620

3

4

VAX 6630

4

6

VAX 6640

6

8

VAX 6650

8

12

VAX 6660

8

12

Other models2

model

Minimal number of host CPU cores

Recommended number of host CPU cores

VAX 6610

2

4

VAX 6620

3

4

VAX 6630

4

6

VAX 6640

6

8

VAX 6650

8

12

VAX 6660

8

12

Other models22

When starting, the CHARON-VAX software checks the available number of host CPU cores. Currently, this check is based on the maximum number of VAX CPUs that can be emulated, not on the number of the actually configured VAX CPUs. Therefore the number of host CPU cores recommended for the maximum number of emulated CPUs - as shown in the right column of the table above - must be available. If the available number of host CPU cores is below this number, CHARON-VAX will issue a warning message even if the requirements for the configured number of VAX CPUs are fulfilled. The CHARON-VAX software will work despite this warning if the requirements for the configured number of VAX CPUs are fulfilled.

Note

Hyperthreading must be switched off completely. Disable hyperthreading in the BIOS settings of the physical host or, for a VMware virtual machine, edit the virtual machine properties, select the Resources tab then select Advanced CPU. Set the Hyperthreaded Core Sharing mode to None.

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Note

In case of VMware-based CHARON host it is mandatory to use "E1000" virtual network adapter. Please avoid usage of "E1000E" adapter since it may lead to problems with some TCP/IP services!

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Software Requirements

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter Editions, 64 bit version
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard and Datacenter Editions, 64 bit version (please notice that only R2 revision is supported)
  • Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise Editions,  64 32 bit and 64 bit version
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1)  Standard and Enterprise Editions, 64 bit version (please notice that only R2 revision is supported)
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate (SP1) Editions, 32 bit and 64 bit versions
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional Edition, 32 and 64 bit versions
  • VMware ESXi 5.x and 5 and 6.x up to 6.0 5 (requires a supported Windows operating system on top of a ESXi virtual machine)
  • Microsoft Hyper-V (requires a supported Windows operating system on top of a Hyper-V virtual machine)

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Host system preparation

Note

All antivirus, screen saver, automatic (scheduled) backup and any other CPU consuming software as well as software that is able to temporarily lock CHARON files (such as automatic indexing) must be turned off, uninstalled and disabled. Alternatively it is also possible to exclude all CHARON executables and material folders from scanning for viruses, but please note that scanning slows down CHARON host anyway - it may be critical for some installations requiring maximum performance.

The power scheme must be set to "High Performance" with all the "Sleep" and "Standby" modes turned off.

The automatic installation of Microsoft updates must be disabled. MS updates to the CHARON host must be done only in specific service maintainence periods established by the system administrator. Before applying new updates one must shutdown the operating system running on CHARON and stop all the running CHARON instances and services.

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  • On server side (where network license will reside): open port 1947 for both TCP and UDP
  • On the client side, if broadcast search for remote licenses is to be used, UDP traffic from port 1947 of the license server to ports 30000-65535 of the client must be permitted.
  • Both on server and client sides: setup default gateway

Please consult with your Windows User's Guide on Windows online documentation for details.

Info

If stricter firewall rules are required, it is possible to open the ports 30000-65535 and 1947 only for the "Sentinel HASP License Manager" (hasplms.exe) service (it will be installed by CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP11).

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  1. Type "regedit" in the search field under "Start" menu or press Windows+R and enter "regedit"; press Enter to run the found applet.

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  2. Find the "AlwaysDisableMCN" parameter in the following way:


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    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
     + SYSTEM
        + CurrentControlSet
           + Enum
              + SCSI
                 + Disk&Ven_DEC&Prod_RWZ53_____(C)DEC  <- This one depends on Vendor and Model of your MO drive
                    + 5&fd233cf&0&000500 <- This one depends on hardware connection (SCSI ID of MO drive, location of SCSI HBA on the host's mainboard, etc ...)
                       + Device Parameters
                          + MediaChangeNotification
                             + AlwaysDisableMCN = DWORD:00000000


     

  3. Change the "AlwaysDisableMCN" parameter to "1", for example: "AlwaysDisableMCN = DWORD:00000001".

  4. Reboot the host system.

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Before installation

  1. Login as the local system administrator ("Administrator") on the host system.

  2. Create a special user for running CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP (optional). This user must have all the administrative privileges. Please consult with your Windows User's Guide on Windows online documentation for details.

    Note

    The CHARON installation procedure will create a special group called CHARON-GRP and the current user will be automatically included to this group. Do not remove this group and do not remove any CHARON user from it, otherwise a problem with virtual memory allocation may appear on CHARON startup.

    The created user may belong to some domain, but please note that in this case you have to add this user to the CHARON-GRP manually as it is described in this article and then reboot CHARON host.


  3. Stay logged in as local system administrator ("Administrator") or log off and login as the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP user having administrative privileges (if this option has been chosen).

  4. Create a special directory for the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP distribution kit and copy the provided files there.

  5. Due to CHARON installation procedure update, it is required to uninstall all CHARON products before installing CHARON-VAX version 4.8

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Distribution preparation

  1. Extract the content of the distribution archive to the current directory or copy the content of the provided distribution directory to the current directory.

  2. Run the "InstallShell.exe" file:

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Installation

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Once done, press the "Next" button to start the installation of the selected components.

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During the CHARON installation procedure, you will have to confirm the installation of the CHARON-specific network driver. Press the "Install" button:

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Once the installation is done, the following dialog will be displayed:

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(warning) It is strongly recommended to reboot the CHARON host system immediately: leave the "Reboot computer now" box checked and press the "Finish" button.

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Once the host system is up again, you will notice a new shortcut, "CHARON Virtual Machines Manager", created on the desktop during the installation procedure:

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The CHARON Virtual Machines Manager is an essential utility for CHARON management. CHARON installation always keeps most up-to-date version of CHARON Virtual Machines Manager provided by all the installed kits.

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The CHARON installation procedure has created the following structure under the "Start" menu:

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CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP home directory

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The "Virtual Machine Templates" directory contains template configuration files to build CHARON Virtual Machine using the CHARON Virtual Machines Manager. We will focus our attention on this subject in the next chapter.

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License installation

Regular HASP USB dongle

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  • Copy the file "hasp_install\Sentinel_LDK_Run-time_cmd_line_X.XX.zip" from the CHARON distribution to any directory on the server, for example "C:\Temp".
  • Extract the content of this archive to the same directory.
  • Login as "Administrator" on the server and open "cmd.exe" from the "Start" menu.
  • Switch to that directory.

  • Install the extracted file.

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    Example:

    ...> cd c:\temp
    c:\temp> haspdinst.exe -fr -kp -nomsg
    c:\temp> haspdinst.exe -install -cm


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Info

Network HASP (red dongles) licenses have no restrictions with respect to remote access.


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Software license

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

  1. Double click the "CHARON Virtual Machines Manager" icon on the desktop or select this utility in the tray menu; select the "Host Information and Utilities" section and press the "License Update Tool" button:

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    The following default dialog window will appear:



    Info

    If you're installing a "Provisional" (demo) license, jump to step 5


  2. Ensure no license dongle is connected, select the "Installation of new protection key" radio-box and press the "Collect Information" button. The following window will appear:

     

    Specify the directory and name of the system "fingerprint" file to be created then press the "Save" button.

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  3. The "License Update Service" will save the fingerprint file under the given name and report the status:



  4. Send the resulting file to STROMASYS. In return STROMASYS will provide you with a ".v2c" file, for example "Your License.v2c".
     

  5. Copy the received v2c file to CHARON host in the folder of your choice and select the "Apply License File" tab:

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  6. Press the "..." button and browse for the received v2c file.
    Example:



    Press the "Open" button to apply the license. 
  7. From the "CHARON Virtual Machines Manager" utility (see above) select the "Host Information and Utilities" section and press the "Sentinel Admin Control Center" button or (optionally) 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 licenses.
  8. Ensure that the software license is now visible in the "Sentinel Keys" section of the ACC.

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Info

Software licenses are always network licenses. Hence, they have no restrictions with respect to being displayed or accessed via a remote connection.


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License validity verification

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Info

It is possible to have several licenses available to CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP at the same time. In this case you have to specify in the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP configuration file the key ids to be used.

Example:

set session license_key_id[0]=1877752571

It is also possible to have one "main" and one "backup" license in case the main license becomes unavailable:

set session license_key_id[0]=1877752571 license_key_id[1]=354850588

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP checks its licenses from time to time starting with the main license. If it is not available, it attempts to access the backup license.

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Network configuration

If the CHARON virtual machine needs access to the network, one or more dedicated network interfaces cleared from any other protocols including TCP/IP will have to be defined.

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Configuring the network is done with the "Network Control Center" (NCC) utility. Double click the "CHARON Virtual Machines Manager" icon on the desktop or select this utility in the tray menu; select the "Host Information and Utilities" section and press the "Network Control Center" button:


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In the appearing dialog, select "Configure NIC":

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(warning) When the NIC properties are configured in Windows, a reboot of the CHARON host is required for the changes, specifically "offload" parameters, to take effect.


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After installation

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  1. Login as the local system administrator ("Administrator") on the host system.

  2. Create a special user for running CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP. This user must have administrative or standard privileges (in this case login as Administrator for manging NDIS drivers and running NCC utility). Please consult with your Windows User's Guide on Windows online documentation for details.

  3. Add this user to the CHARON-GRP group as it is described in this article and then reboot CHARON host.

  4. Login as the created user.

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