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Each model of CHARON-AXP has a symbolic link defined to point to the corresponding CHARON executable (see the table below). If the PATH is correctly defined, you can start a virtual machine by specifying the link followed by the configuration file. This is described further.

Running CHARON-AXP emulators

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For multiple instances, please use only absolute paths and unique names to all the files referenced in the configuration file of each CHARON-AXP instance (log, toy clock, rom files and all the other data such as disk images [Exception: clustering] - all these objects will be explained later in this document) and check the hardware devices (the CDROM drive for example) are used by only one instance at a time (not shared).

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Example:

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If for some reason CHARON-AXP refuses to start, please look for files with .log extension (CHARON-AXP log files) located in the directory from where CHARON-AXP was started, open them with an editing tool and analyze their content. In most cases those files contain very helpful information on what may possibly went wrong.

To exit from the CHARON-AXP emulator use the following methods:

 Please note that before stopping CHARON-AXP, a clean shutdown of the operating system running on the virtual machine has to be performed.

Options for running CHARON-AXP from console

If "-h" of "--help" option is specified when running CHARON-AXP from console, it displays a list of additional available options:

Usage:

  <program-name> [options] [<configuration-file-name>]

Command line options:

  -l,--log <file-name>             - write log to the file (overwrite),
                                     until configuration is loaded;
  -la,--log-append <file-name>     - write log to the file (append),
                                     until configuration is loaded;
  -f,--configuration <file-name>   - read configuration from the file;
  -d,--daemon                      - run detached;
  -h,--help                        - display this text

Note that configuration file must be supplied either as a command line
operand <configuration-file-name> or using '-f' command line option followed
by name of the configuration file.

Options to use with CHARON Manager:

  -a,--alias <alias-name>          - virtual machine alias name;
  -s,--shm-name <shm-name>         - name of shared memory section

The last 2 options are used for running CHARON-AXP in Baremetal environment,

Running as system service (daemon)

It is possible to run CHARON-AXP as a daemon (service). In this case the CHARON-AXP process will be detached from its parent process and from the terminal window in which it runs.

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1. Copy the sample script "/opt/charon/bin/charon.service" ( "/opt/charon/bin/charon" for Red Hat  Linux 6.x) to the "/usr/lib/systemd/system/" directory (or to your home directory for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x).

   Example:

   Red Hat Linux 6.x	$ cp /opt/charon/bin/charon /my_services/es40_service $ chmod 755 /my_services/es40_service
   Red Hat Enterprise Linux

   7.x and

   /CentOS 7

   .x

   & 8	$ cp /opt/charon/bin/charon.service /usr/lib/systemd/system/es40.service $ chmod 755 /usr/lib/systemd/system/es40.service

   
   

2. Edit the renamed file to replace sample values of the following parameters.

   Example:

   Red Hat Linux 6.x	exec="/opt/charon/bin/es40" prog="my_es40" config="/my_services/es40-service.cfg"
   Red Hat Enterprise Linux

   7.x and

   /CentOS 7

   .x

   & 8	ExecStart=/opt/charon/bin/es40 -d /my_services/es40-service.cfg WorkingDirectory=/my_services

    "my_es40" is a service name in the example above

             

3. Create and edit the configuration file ( "/my_services/es40-service.cfg" in the examples above) the way it was described before and make sure the following pre-requisites are met:

   • OPA0 must be configured as a virtual port or physical console, not as an operator console.

     Example:

     set COM1 alias=OPA0 port=10003 #set COM1 alias = OPA0 line = (console)

     
     

   • Use only absolute paths to log, toy clock, nvram files and all the other data such as disk images, etc. The names of the references files must be unique.

     Example:

     ... set session log="/CharonInstances/1st_es40.log" set rom container="/CharonInstances/1st_es40.bin" set toy container="/CharonInstances/1st_es40.dat" set PKA container[0]="/CharonInstances/1st_es40_boot_disk.vdisk" ...

     
     

   • Make sure the same physical devices are not used by other CHARON-AXP daemons and the OPA0 console port number is unique across the CHARON server.
     
     

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Once the configuration file is ready, execute the following commands (based on the examples above) to install and start CHARON-AXP as a daemon:

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To stop a CHARON-AXP daemon, use the following commands.

Example:

Please note that before stopping a CHARON-AXP service, a clean shutdown of the operating system running on the virtual machine has to be performed.

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To remove a CHARON-AXP daemon use the following commands.

Example:

 Please note that before removing a CHARON-AXP service, a clean shutdown of the operating system running on the virtual machine has to be performed and the service has to be stopped.

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