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General Description

Before build 204-13

Configuration of CHARON-VAX serial lines is performed in 3 steps:

1. Loading virtual serial lines controller, for example:

   load DHV11/DHV11 TXA

   In this example, an instance of a  "DHV11" serial line controller is loaded and named "TXA"

   Note that VAX console adapters ("UART", "QUART") do not need to be loaded; they are preloaded.
    

2. Mapping an object type to host resources, for example:

   load physical_serial_line TTA1 set OPA0 line="/dev/ttyS1"

   In this example the object "physical_serial_line" is loaded, named "TTA1", and mapped to the "/dev/ttyS1" host physical serial port.
    

3. Connect the loaded virtual line controller and the mapped object:

   set TXA line[5]=TTA1

   In this example, the 6th line of the DHV11 controller "TXA" loaded at step 1 is connected to the mapping object "TTA1" loaded at the step 2.

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Console

CHARON-VAX offers a one- or four-port serial console depending on the specified VAX model. The one line serial line controller is identified in CHARON-VAX with the name UART. The four serial lines controller is identified in CHARON-VAX with the name QUART. 

UART is used in Qbus systems only (e.g. the MicroVAX/VAXserver 3600/3900).

QUART is used in SCSI (e.g. MicroVAX 3100 model 96/98, VAXstation 4000 model 90) and SCSI/Qbus systems (e.g. VAX4000 model 106/108). The last QUART line (line[3]) is the console port (known in VAX/VMS as OPA0). 

CHARON-VAX console ports can be configured to connect to an external terminal via the host system COM/TTY port or can be connected via TCP/IP.

rts

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dsr

...

• "On" - always reports DSR signal asserted
• "Off" - always reports DSR signal deasserted
• "DSR" - use DSR signal of physical serial line (if configured)
• "CD", "DCD", "RLSD" - use CD (carrier detect) signal of physical serial line (if configured)

communication

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line

...

...

All the values in this table are case insensitive.

Example:

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set QUART rts[2]="DTR"
set QUART dsr[2]="On"
set QUART communication[2]="binary"

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Serial line controllers

Asynchronous serial line multiplexers are capable of serving up to 8 asynchronous serial lines (the DHW42-BA supports 16 lines).The following asynchronous serial line multiplexers are supported:

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The following names are used for the multiplexers:

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The following example loads an instance of an asynchronous serial line multiplexer:

The multiplexers offer the following configuration parameters, specified with the "set" command:

address

...

Specifies CSR address. The address must be valid QBUS 22-bit wide address in I/O space.Default values are 017760440 for DHV11-family controllers and 017760100 for DZV11/DZQ11, which are the factory settings for asynchronous serial line multiplexers.

vector

...

Specifies interrupt vector.Default value is 0300 which is the factory setting for asynchronous serial line multiplexers.

line

...

line[N]

N=0…3 (7,15)

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communication

...

communication[N]

N=0…4 (7,15)

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• "ASCII" - for connection to terminals  (default)
• "BINARY" - for serial lines carrying binary (packet) protocols, which are used mainly for communicating with PLCs

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rts

...

rts[N]

 N=0…3 (7,15)

...

Controls RTS signal of the Nth line of the multiplexer. 

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dsr

...

dsr[N]

N=0…(7,15)

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• "On" - always reports DSR signal asserted
• "Off" - always reports DSR signal deasserted
• "DSR" - use DSR signal of physical serial line (if configured)
• "CD", "DCD", "RLSD" - use CD (carrier detect) signal of physical serial line (if configured)

tx_q_max_depth

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This syntax is still supported after build 204-13 but using it will not provide the new features provided by this build.

Starting with build 204-13

Configuration of the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP serial lines is performed as detailed below:

Example for MicroVAX II, 3600, 3900, VAX 4000-700/705:

 The first line above is optional as Charon-VAX presets UART's alias to OPA0

Example for MicroVAX 3100-96/98, VAX 4000-106/108, and VAXstation 4000-90:

 The first line above is optional as Charon-VAX presets UART's alias to OPA0

Console

CHARON-VAX offers a one- or four-port serial console depending on the specified VAX model. The one line serial line controller is identified in CHARON-VAX with the name UART. The four serial lines controller is identified in CHARON-VAX with the name QUART. 

UART is used in Qbus systems only (e.g. the MicroVAX/VAXserver 3600/3900).

QUART is used in SCSI (e.g. MicroVAX 3100 model 96/98, VAXstation 4000 model 90) and SCSI/Qbus systems (e.g. VAX4000 model 106/108). The last QUART line (line[3]) is the console port (known in VAX/VMS as OPA0). 

CHARON-VAX console ports can be configured to connect to an external terminal via the host system COM/TTY port or can be connected via TCP/IP.

alias

rts

dsr

communication

line

Serial line controllers

Asynchronous serial line multiplexers are capable of serving up to 8 asynchronous serial lines (the DHW42-BA supports 16 lines).The following asynchronous serial line multiplexers are supported:

The following names are used for the multiplexers:

The following example loads an instance of an asynchronous serial line multiplexer:

The multiplexers offer the following configuration parameters, specified with the "set" command:

address

vector

line

To load several instances of Qbus multiplexers, use the "address" and "vector" parameters. Both "address" and "vector" parameter values must be unique for every instance of a QBUS multiplexer. Read the VAX hardware documentation and the VM system management documentation to understand how to correctly assign the "address" and "vector" parameters.

Example of loading 2 instances of DHV11:

communication

Example of loading DHW42CA:

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load DHW42CA/DHV11 TXA
set TXA communication[0]="binary" 

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Mapping Serial line controllers to system resources

Types of serial line mapping

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physical_serial_line

line

...

• "/dev/tty<N>" - virtual serial lines
• "/dev/ttyS<N>" - onboard serial lines
• "/dev/ttyUSB<N>" - modem or usb serial lines adapters
• "/dev/tty<XXX>" - proprietary (depending on a driver) devices such as DIGI or MOXA cards

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baud

...

Forces the baud rate of the corresponding TTY port to a specified value.The variety of supported values depends on the underlying physical communication resource (TTY port).

The most widely used values are: 300, 1200, 9600, 19200, 38400.

Example:

set OPA0 baud=38400

break_on

...

Specifies what byte sequences received over the physical serial line will trigger a HALT command.

This parameter works only for the console line (for the one UART line and "line[3]" of QUART).

Specify the following values: "Ctrl-P", "Break" or "none" ("none" disables triggering HALT condition).

Example:

set OPA0 break_on="Ctrl-P"

stop_on

...

Specifies what byte sequences received over the physical serial line will trigger a STOP condition.

 This parameter works only for the console line (for the one UART line and "line[3]" of QUART).

The STOP condition causes CHARON-VAX to exit.Specify the value as the following: “F6” or “none” ("none" disables triggering STOP condition).

Example:

set OPA0 stop_on="F6"

The default value is "none".

Setting "F6" triggers the STOP condition upon receipt of the "<ESC>[17~" sequence. Terminals usually send these sequences on pressing F6 button

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log

...

A string specifying a file name to store content of console sessions or a directory where log files for each individual session will be stored.If an existing directory is specified, CHARON-VAX automatically enables creation of individual log files for each session.

If the "log" parameter is omitted, CHARON-VAX does not create a console log. 

Examples 1:

set OPA0 log="log.txt"

Examples 2:

set OPA0 log="/opt/charon/logs"

log_file_size

...

If log rotation is enabled, the log_file_size parameter determines the log file size threshold at which the log is automatically rotated.

• "unlimited" or "0" (default) - the feature is disabled
• "default" - default size is used (4Mb)
• <size>[KMG] - size of the current log file in bytes with additional multipliers:

  • K - Kilobyte - multiply by 1024

  • M - Megabyte - multiply by 1024*1024

  • G - Gigabyte - multiply by 1024*1024*1024

Example 1:

set OPA0 log_file_size="default"

Example 2:

set OPA0 log_file_size=10M

 Minimum log file size is 64K, maximum is 1G. Setting size less then 64K effectively makes the log file unlimited.

Example of mapping a console line to an onboard serial line:

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virtual_serial_line

host

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A remote host’s IP address or a host name (and optional remote TCP/IP port number) for the virtual serial line connection.

If omitted, the virtual serial line does not initiate a connection to the remote host and will listen for incoming connection requests.

Specify the value in the following form:

set OPA0 host="<host-name>[:<port-no>]"

If "<port-no>" is not specified, the virtual serial line uses the TCP/IP port number specified by the "port" parameter (see below).

port

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application

...

A command line for calling some host application for communication to Charon on a given serial line.

Example:

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

# cp /opt/charon/putty/sessions/CHTERM-VT100 $HOME/.config/putty/sessions

break_on

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Specifies what byte sequences received over virtual serial line must trigger HALT command.

This parameter works only for console line (for CHARON-VAX it is the only line of UART and the "line[3]" of QUART).

Specify the following values: "Ctrl-P", "Break" or "none" to disable triggering HALT condition.

Example:

set OPA0 break_on="Ctrl-P"

The default value is "Break" for line 3 of QUART and "none" for other lines.

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stop_on

...

Specifies what byte sequences received over the virtual serial line will trigger a STOP condition. The STOP condition causes CHARON-VAX to exit.

This parameter works only for console line (for CHARON-VAX it is the only line of UART and the "line[3]" of QUART).

Specify the value as the following: “F6” or “none” ("none" disables triggering STOP condition).

Example:

set OPA0 stop_on="F6"

The default value is "none".Setting "F6" triggers the STOP condition upon receipt of the "<ESC>[17~" sequence.

log

...

A string specifying a file name to store content of console sessions or a directory where log files for each individual session will be stored.If an existing directory is specified, CHARON-VAX automatically enables creation of individual log file for each session.

If the "log" parameter is omitted CHARON-VAX does not create any console log.

Example 1:

set OPA0 log="log.txt"

Example 2:

set OPA0 log="/opt/charon/logs"

log_file_size

...

If log rotation is enabled, the log_file_size parameter determines the log file size threshold at which the log is automatically rotated.

• "unlimited" or "0" (default) - the feature is disabled
• "default" - default size is used (4Mb)
• <size>[KMG] - size of the current log file in bytes with additional multipliers:

  • K - Kilobyte - multiply by 1024

  • M - Megabyte - multiply by 1024*1024

  • G - Gigabyte - multiply by 1024*1024*1024

Example 1:

set OPA0 log_file_size="default"

Example 2:

set OPA0 log_file_size=10M

 Minimum log file size is 64K, maximum is 1G. Setting size less then 64K effectively makes the log file unlimited.

log_flush_period

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• <period-in-seconds>

Defines a period of flushing log to disk.

Default period is 60 seconds (it means that every minute log file is flushed to disk)

Example:

set OPA0 log_flush_period=30

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log_flush_period

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• <period-in-seconds>

Defines a period of flushing log to disk.

Default period is 60 seconds (it means that every minute log file is flushed to disk)

Example:

set OPA0 log_flush_period=30

Example of mapping a console line to an onboard serial line

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Notes on "virtual_serial_line" options:
 

Use the combination of "port" and "host" parameters as follows to connect a 3rd party terminal emulator or similar program.

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It is possible to specify a port on a remote host (note that CHARON always acts as a server). The syntax is:

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Note that the examples above are mainly used for inter-CHARON communications. They are used to connect CHARON-VAX to an application that communicates to CHARON-VAX as described below. 

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operator_console

break_on, stop_on

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These two parameters are hard-coded to the following values and cannot be changed:

stop_on="F6"

break_on="Ctrl-P,F5"

Example:

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"ttyY" notation specifics

Note that the "ttyY" notation can have different forms depending on the nature of the device used:

1. Linux virtual tty (switchable by alt+F1 - atl+F12 on a text console) – are represented as "/dev/tty<N>" where N is from 0 to 11. Those tty devices must be free from the Linux "getty/mgetty" and similar programs (specified in "/etc/inittab")
2. Onboard serial lines are represented as "/dev/ttyS<N>" where N is a number. For example "/dev/ttyS1"
3. Proprietary (depending on a driver) devices are represented as "/dev/tty<XXX>" where XXX is a complex letter/number notation. For example "/dev/ttyR01" is the first port of a MOXA card and "/dev/ttyaa" stands for the first port of a DIGI card.

Linking serial controller port to host connection

The final step of CHARON-VAX serial line configuration is the association of each loaded serial port with a CHARON-VAX host connection instance as follows:

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Example:

This command connects the first serial line ("line[0]") of a "QUART" serial line controller to a CHARON-VAX connection instance named "TTA0". As explained earlier, TTA0 may be a virtual serial line connected to port, or a physical serial line connected to host serial port or virtual terminal. In an example below, the command connects the sixth serial line of a previously loaded controller (named "TXA") to "TTA1". "TTA1" could be defined, for example, as a physical serial line connected to COM/TTY port:

...

rts

dsr

tx_q_max_depth

To load several instances of Qbus multiplexers, use the "address" and "vector" parameters. Both "address" and "vector" parameter values must be unique for every instance of a QBUS multiplexer. Read the VAX hardware documentation and the VM system management documentation to understand how to correctly assign the "address" and "vector" parameters.

Example of loading 2 instances of DHV11:

Example of loading DHW42CA:

Mapping Serial line controllers to system resources

Types of serial line mapping

Example:

physical_serial_line

line

baud

break_on

stop_on

log

log_file_size

Example of mapping a console line to an onboard serial line:

virtual_serial_line

host

port

application

break_on

stop_on

log

log_file_size

log_flush_period

log_flush_period

connection_override

Parameter	connection_override
Type	text string
Value	"enable" Allows new connection to override existing connection, if any. Enabled connection override on OPA0 allows to intercept virtual serial console. When emulator detects new connection request on the port (10003 for the below example), it closes old connection, if any, and switches to the new one. Example: set OPA0 port = 10003 connection_override = enable This is implemented only for serial lines using the new syntax, not for lines using the legacy syntax (load virtual_serial_line ...).

access_control

Available only since build 204-13

Parameter	access_control
Type	text string
Value	"disable" Since build 204-14, Incoming connection requests are by default filtered for virtual serial lines and then allowed only for the localhost. This is to avoid security scanners that can block the port. Example: set OPA0 port = 10003 set OPA0 access_control = disable This is implemented only for serial lines using the new syntax, not for lines using the legacy syntax (load virtual_serial_line ...).

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Example of mapping a console line to an onboard serial line

Notes on "virtual_serial_line" options:
 

Note that the examples above are mainly used for inter-CHARON communications. They are used to connect CHARON-VAX to an application that communicates to CHARON-VAX as described below. 

operator_console

break_on, stop_on

Example:

"ttyY" notation specifics

Note that the "ttyY" notation can have different forms depending on the nature of the device used:

1. Linux virtual tty (switchable by alt+F1 - atl+F12 on a text console) – are represented as "/dev/tty<N>" where N is from 0 to 11. Those tty devices must be free from the Linux "getty/mgetty" and similar programs (specified in "/etc/inittab")
2. Onboard serial lines are represented as "/dev/ttyS<N>" where N is a number. For example "/dev/ttyS1"
3. Proprietary (depending on a driver) devices are represented as "/dev/tty<XXX>" where XXX is a complex letter/number notation. For example "/dev/ttyR01" is the first port of a MOXA card and "/dev/ttyaa" stands for the first port of a DIGI card.

Linking serial controller port to host connection

The final step of CHARON-VAX serial line configuration is the association of each loaded serial port with a CHARON-VAX host connection instance as follows:

Example:

This command connects the first serial line ("line[0]") of a "QUART" serial line controller to a CHARON-VAX connection instance named "TTA0". As explained earlier, TTA0 may be a virtual serial line connected to port, or a physical serial line connected to host serial port or virtual terminal. In an example below, the command connects the sixth serial line of a previously loaded controller (named "TXA") to "TTA1". "TTA1" could be defined, for example, as a physical serial line connected to COM/TTY port: