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Extract the CHARON-AXP installation procedure files from its archive
Install CHARON-AXP by running "InstallShell.exe" installer and follow the instructions
Install CHARON-AXP license (hardware dongle or software license)
Configure CHARON-AXP host system, for example, network adapter, disable some Windows features (see Host system preparation further), etc.

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Each CHARON-AXP emulated CPU requires a corresponding physical core. The total number of 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 fulfil host operating system needs. If several CHARON instances run in parallel, the required number of CPU cores is summarized.

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

CHARON-AXP product	Minimal number of host CPU cores	Recommended number of host CPU cores
CHARON-AXP/4100	2	2
CHARON-AXP/DS10	2	2
CHARON-AXP/DS20	4	4
CHARON-AXP/ES40	6	8
CHARON-AXP/GS80	10	16
CHARON-AXP/GS160	18	32
CHARON-AXP/GS320	34	48

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.

CPU type and speed

Since CHARON-AXP utilizes LAHF instructions during the HP Alpha CPU emulation, please avoid using early (pre-2005) AMD64 and Intel 64 CPUs for the CHARON host system since they lack this capability. AMD Athlon 64, Opteron and Turion 64 revision D processors from March 2005 and Intel Pentium 4 G1 stepping from December 2005 are LAHF instruction capable.

Concerning CPU speed, the general recommendation is that higher CPU frequency is better since it allows better emulated HP Alpha performance. The minimal recommendation is at least 3 GHz.

Operative memory

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When starting, the CHARON-AXP software checks the available number of host CPU cores. Currently, this check is based on the maximum number of AXP CPUs that can be emulated, not on the number of the actually configured AXP 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-AXP will issue a warning message even if the requirements for the configured number of AXP CPUs are fulfilled. The CHARON-AXP software will work despite this warning if the requirements for the configured number of AXP 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.

CPU type and speed

Since CHARON-AXP utilizes LAHF instructions during the HP Alpha CPU emulation, please avoid using early (pre-2005) AMD64 and Intel 64 CPUs for the CHARON host system since they lack this capability. AMD Athlon 64, Opteron and Turion 64 revision D processors from March 2005 and Intel Pentium 4 G1 stepping from December 2005 are LAHF instruction capable.

Concerning CPU speed, the general recommendation is that higher CPU frequency is better since it allows better emulated HP Alpha performance. The minimal 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 CHARON-AXP instances to be run on one host.
The minimum host memory is calculated according to the following formula:

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

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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

Windows Server 2012 ( R2 ) Standard Edition , 64 bit version
Windows 8.1 Pro and Enterprise Editions, 64 bit versions
Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate (SP1) Editions, 64 bit versions
Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1) Standard and Enterprise Editions, 64 bit version

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

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Guide 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-AXP ).

In case if any magneto-optical (MO) drive installed on host system is going to be used with CHARON (mapped as "\\.\PhysicalDrive<N>" to some of CHARON emulated disk controllers) the host "MediaChangeNotification" (MSN) service must be switched off manually for this drive according to the following procedure:

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

Find the "AlwaysDisableMCN" parameter in the following way:

Code Block

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

Change the "AlwaysDisableMCN" parameter to "1", for example: "AlwaysDisableMCN = DWORD:00000001".
Reboot the host system.

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

Create a special user for running CHARON-AXP (optionally). This user must have all the administrative privileges. Please consult with your Windows User's Guide on details.

Note

For correct work of CHARON the 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 extract CHARON user from it, otherwise a problem with virtual memory allocation may appear on CHARON start.

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.

Stay loggen on logged in as local system administrator ("Administrator") or log off and login as the CHARON-AXP user having administrative privileges (if this option has been chosen).
Create a special directory for the CHARON-AXP distribution kit and copy the provided files there.
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Press the "Next" button.

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Read the license, check "Agree" if you agree and press the "Next" button.

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Select a directory to be used for the CHARON installation or use the default. The path can either be entered manually or selected using the "Browse" button. Once done, press the "Next" button.

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The CHARON installation procedure will install the software packages required for CHARON-AXP, for example, Microsoft Visual C++ redistributive software and Sentinel HASP Run-time:

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Once the packages are installed, the setup procedure will display a dialog for the chosen CHARON product(s) components:

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It is strongly recommended to leave the selection as it is unless you clearly understand what you're doing if you uncheck some modules.

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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 host system is up again, you will notice new shortcuts that were created, on the desktop, during the installation procedure. For example:

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Once the CHARON-AXP license is installed normally (see below) and the configuration file has been modified to map devices, clicking a shortcut will start the corresponding model of the HP Alpha emulator.

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CHARON-AXP home directory

By default CHARON-AXP is installed in the "C:\Program Files\CHARON" directory (it may also use "C:\Program Files (x86)\CHARON" directory if CHARON-AXP products have been installed on the host prior to CHARON-AXP). It has the following subdirectories:

Directory	Description
Auxiliary	Contains auxiliary material
Build_XXX\x64	Contains product executables, libraries and templates of the configuration files
Drivers	Contains the CHARON drivers
HASP_X.XX	Contains the Sentinel HASP Run-time installation (already installed)
InstallShell	Contains the CHARON installation procedure executables
Logs	Contains the CHARON installation log
Redistributables	Contains the redistributables needed for CHARON running (already installed)
Utilities_X.X.XXXXX\x64	Contains the CHARON utilities designed for Windows x64
Utilities_X.X.XXXXX\x86	Contains the CHARON utilities initially designed for Windows x86
Virtual Disk Images	Contains the CHARON virtual disk images, for example "idle_vms_pkg_v3.0"

The "Build_XXX\x64" directory contains template configuration files with examples of typical configuration parameters and commentaries. The template files are used to build the emulator instance. We will pay our attention to this subject in the next chapter.

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Copy "hasp_install\Sentinel_LDK_Run-time_cmd_line_X.XX.zip" file from CHARON distributive to the server in any directory, for example "C:\Temp"
Extract the contents 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:
Example:
...> cd c:\temp
c:\temp> haspdinst.exe -fr -kp -nomsg
c:\temp> haspdinst.exe -install -cm

Connect the network HASP dongle to the server USB port.

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Info
Network HASP (red dongles) licenses have no restrictions with remote access

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Press the Start button, select "All programs", "Charon" then the Charon product/version folder, "Utilities" and execute the "License Update Service" program:

The following default dialog window will appear:
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; press "Save".
The "License Update Service" will save the fingerprint file under the given name and report the status:
Send the resulting file to STROMASYS. In return STROMASYS will provide you with a "*.v2c" file, for example "Your License.v2c"
Copy the received v2c file to the CHARON host in a folder of your choice and select the "Apply License File" tab:
Press the "..." button and browse for the received v2c file.
Example:

Press "Open" to apply the license.
Invoke the system default web browser and enter URL http://localhost:1947 to display "Sentinel Admin Control Center" (ACC) web interface. This interface allows you to view and manage CHARON licenses.
Ensure that the software license appears now in the "Sentinel Keys" menu of the ACC.

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Network-wide software licenses have no restrictions with remote access, whereas regular software licenses cannot be displayed or used in this case

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A so-called "Provisional" (demo) license does not require a collected fingerprint. For its installation, proceed directly with action (5) of the sequence above
Info
Some CHARON-AXP distributives may be equipped with a "driverless" Sentinel HL dongle (both regular and network). In this situation, perform the CHARON-AXP installation normally and then manually remove the installed Sentinel drivers from the host to start using that specific key. This operation is described in details in the CHARON-AXP Licensing chapter of this Guide.called "Provisional" (demo) license does not require a collected fingerprint. For its installation, proceed directly with action (5) of the sequence above

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Info

It is possible to have several licenses available to CHARON-AXP at the same time. In this case you have to specify in the CHARON-AXP configuration file what license is 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 not accessible:

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

CHARON-AXP checks its licenses from time to time starting with the main license. If it is not accessible, CHARON tries to access the backup license.

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Network configuration

In most cases, CHARON will use a network. If so, CHARON requires a dedicated network interface cleared from any other protocols including TCP/IP.

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Start the "Network Control Center" utility and select "Configure NIC" in the first dialog window:

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Press the "Next" button, the following dialog will appear:

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Info

CHARON supports VLAN adapters. If you are going to use them, proceed with their installation and configuration according to the network adapter vendor User's Guide and then select the VLAN interface in the dialog shown above, the same as you do for a regular network interface. There is no difference in configuration between a regular network adapter and a VLAN one, so all the provided instructions are fully applicable for VLAN adapters as well.

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After a few seconds the chosen interface will be assigned to CHARON:

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Note that it is possible to release the interface back to the CHARON host. To do that, select the target interface and press the "Release adapter to HOST" button.

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The next step displays text to be included in the CHARON configuration file for the interface dedicated to CHARON. Select the target interface and press the "Next" button. The following dialog will appear:

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Press the "Cancel" button to exit from the "Network Control Center" utility.

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Restart the

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Restart the "Network Control Center" utility again and select "Disable TCP chimney offload for CHARON":

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Press the "Next" button to apply the "offload" parameters settings.

Press the "Cancel" button to exit from the "Network Control Center" utility again and select .

Note
At the moment please do not use the "Disable TCP chimney

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Press the "Next" button to apply the "offload" parameters settings.

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offload" feature since it may lead to some critical problems relevent to CHARON license checking. If for any reason you have already used this feature proceed with the following:

Run CMD with administrative privileges
Issue the command: netsh interface tcp show chimneyapplications
Then for each installed CHARON executable from the list run the following command: netsh inter tcp delete chimneyapplication "C:\<full path to CHARON executable.exe>"

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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title	More information and details on disabling TCP chimney offload...

Include Page

	PDC:Disable TCP Chimney Offload
	PDC:Disable TCP Chimney Offload

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After installation

If you plan to use local system administrator ("Administrator") or the CHARON-AXP user having administrative privileges no other actions are required.

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Login as the local system administrator ("Administrator") on the host system.
Create a special user for running CHARON-AXP. This user must have standart standard privileges. Please consult with your Windows User's Guide on details.
Add this user to the CHARON-GRP group as it is described in this article and then reboot CHARON host.
Login as the created user.

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Versions Compared

Old Version 25

New Version Current

Key

CPU type and speed

Operative memory

CPU type and speed

Operative memory

Software Requirements

CHARON-AXP home directory

Network configuration

After installation