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Introduction

CHARON-VAX products are distributed in form of archive TAR.GZ files that contain RPM modules for different components. Generally it is recommended to install all the RPM modules but it is possible to omit some RPM files if they are not needed.

CHARON installation consists of the following steps:

Host system checks (hardware and software) to ensure the host platform meets the minimum CHARON-VAX installation requirements
Installation of any 3rd party material, for example, the utilities required for CHARON-VAX
Extracting CHARON-VAX RPM modules from the TAR.GZ archive and their individual installation
Installation of the CHARON-VAX license (hardware dongle or software license)
Configuration of the CHARON-VAX host system. It assumes creating a specific user, configuring the network, etc.

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Hardware Requirements

Number of CPU cores

Each CHARON 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. If several CHARON instances run in parallel, the required number of CPU cores is cumulative.

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The table below lists the minimum and recommended number of CPUs required for each product:

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CHARON-VAX model

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Minimal number of CPU cores

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Recommended number of CPU cores

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VAX 6610

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2

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4

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VAX 6620

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3

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4

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VAX 6630

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4

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6

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VAX 6640

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6

...

8

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VAX 6650

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8

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12

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VAX 6660

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8

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12

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Introduction

CHARON-VAX products are distributed in form of archive TAR.GZ files that contain RPM modules for different components. Generally it is recommended to install all the RPM modules but it is possible to omit some RPM files if they are not needed.

CHARON installation consists of the following steps:

Host system checks (hardware and software) to ensure the host platform meets the minimum CHARON-VAX installation requirements
Installation of any 3rd party material, for example, the utilities required for CHARON-VAX
Extracting CHARON-VAX RPM modules from the TAR.GZ archive and their individual installation
Installation of the CHARON-VAX license (hardware dongle or software license)
Configuration of the CHARON-VAX host system. It assumes creating a specific user, configuring the network, etc.

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Hardware Requirements

Number of CPU cores

Each CHARON 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. If several CHARON instances run in parallel, the required number of CPU cores is cumulative.

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The table below lists the minimum and recommended number of CPUs required for each product:

CHARON-VAX model	Minimal number of CPU cores	Recommended number of 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 models	2	2

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
Hyper-threading must be switched off completely. Disable hyper-threading 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 Hyper-threaded Core Sharing mode to None.

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When virtual disks/tapes are used to represent physical disk drives / magnetic tapes, the disk/tape image files have the same size as their hardware equivalent, regardless of their degree of utilization.

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Ethernet adapters

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

It is also possible to use virtual network interfaces but for performance considerations, it is recommended to use physical ones only.

Note
For VMware based CHARON hosts, it is mandatory to use "E1000" virtual network adapters. "E1000E" adapters are not supported.

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only.

Note
For VMware based CHARON hosts, it is mandatory to use "E1000" virtual network adapters. "E1000E" adapters are not supported.

Info

Starting with ESXi 6.5, it is not possible to select E1000 adapter when a new virtual machine is created using Windows Server 2012 and 2016 templates.

The following workarounds are available:

Import the virtual machine from an older version of ESXi
Do not select "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit)" nor "CentOS 7 (64-bit)" during virtual machine creation but select "Linux" as "Guest OS family" and "Other 3.x Linux (64-bit)" as Guest OS version".

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Software Requirements

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x, 64bit
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 - 6.89, 64bit
CentOS 7.x, 64bit
VMware ESXi 5.5 and 6.x and up to 6.0 7 (requires a supported Linux operating system on top of a ESXi virtual machine)

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Note
For CentOS, a connection to the internet is required to install the `glibc.i686` package which is not included in the Standard distribution DVD. If there's no connection available, please use the "Everything" distribution DVD.

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Host system preparation

Info
The automatic installation of updates must be disabled. Updates to the CHARON host must be done only in specific service maintenance 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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Info
If stricter firewall rules are required, it is possible to open the ports 30000-65535 and 1947 only for the "`/usr/sbin/hasplmd`" daemon.

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Before installation

Login as the superuser ("root") on the host system. Because Sentinel HASP runtime relies on 32-bit compatibility libraries to run on Linux, the 32-bit compatibility libraries must be installed before continuing. If the emulator host has access to a package repository, either local or remote, use the following command:
# yum install glibc.i686
Sometimes it is not possible to use an online repository for the installation of 32-bit glibc package. In this case the procedure described in the appendixes has to be used: glibc.i686 installation without Internet connection
.
Create a directory for the CHARON-VAX distribution, copy the TAR.GZ files there and change to this directory as shown in the following example:

# mkdir /charon_dist
# cp /tmp/charon-vax-4.89-1830219402.el71el74.tar.gz /charon_dist
# cd /charon_dist

Warning

title	WARNING

If you plan to install CHARON-AXP on the same server, both products, CHARON-AXP and CHARON-VAX, will have to be the same build number.
If you upgrade from a previous version of CHARON-VAX, please stop all running CHARON virtual machines and uninstall CHARON products before proceeding with the installation steps described below.

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Distribution preparation

Extract the content of the distribution TAR.GZ files to the current directory:

# tar -xvzf charon-vax-<VER>-<BN>.<ZZ>.tar.gz

where:

Description

VER

Version of CHARON-VAX product, for example 4.89

BN

Build Number of CHARON-VAX product, for example 1830219402

ZZ

CHARON-VAX target operating system identifier.

For CentOS 7.x 'ZZ' value is 'el71el74', for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x the value is 'el71el74' and for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 to 6.8 9 the value is 'el65'.

Example:

# tar -xvzf charon-vax-4.89-1830219402.el71el74.tar.gz

As result, a new directory "charon-vax-<VER>-<BN>.<VC>.<ZZ>" will be created.

Switch to that directory:
# cd charon-vax-<VER>-<BN>.<ZZ>
Example:
# cd charon-vax-4.89-1830219402.el71el74
The distribution directory contains the following RPM files:
File name
Description
charon-vax-VER-BN.ZZ.x86_64.rpm CHARON-VAX
aksusbd-27.563-1.i386.rpm
HASP Run-time
charon-license-VER-BN.ZZ.x86_64.rpm
CHARON Libraries
charon-utils-VER-BN.ZZ.x86_64.rpm
CHARON Utilities
Example:
# ls
aksusbd-27.563-1.i386.rpm charon-vax-4.89-1830219402.el71el74.x86_64.rpm charon-license-4.89-1830219402.el71el74.x86_64.rpm charon-utils-4.89-1830219402.el71el74.x86_64.rpm
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Installation

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Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
================================================================================
Installing:
aksusbd i386 27.563-1 /aksusbd-27.563-1.i386 2.9 M
charon-vax x86_64 4.89-18302 19402 /charon-vax-4.89-1830219402.68704.el71el74.x86_64 260 M
charon-license
x86_64 4.89-18302 19402 /charon-license-4.89-1830219402.68704.el71el74.x86_64 2.9 M
charon-utils
x86_64 4.89-18302 19402 /charon-utils-4.89-1830219402.68704.el71el74.x86_64 1.8 M

Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install 4 Packages

Total size: 267 M
Installed size: 267 M
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y

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Downloading packages: Running transaction check Running transaction test Transaction test succeeded Running transaction (shutdown inhibited) Installing : aksusbd-27.563-1.i386 1/4 Starting aksusbd (via systemctl): [ OK ] Installing : charon-utils-4.89-1830219402.x86_64 2/4 Installing : charon-license-4.89-1830219402.x86_64 3/4 Installing : charon-vax-4.89-1830219402.x86_64 4/4 Verifying : aksusbd-27.563-1.i386 1/4 Verifying : charon-license-4.89-1830219402.x86_64 2/4 Verifying : charon-vax-4.89-1830219402.x86_64 3/4 Verifying : charon-utils-4.89-1830219402.x86_64 4/4 Installed: aksusbd.i386 0:27.563-1 charon-vax.x86_64 0:4.89-18302 19402 charon-license.x86_64 0:4.89-18302 19402 charon-utils.x86_64 0:4.89-18302 19402 Complete!

Re-login (as "root") to apply the PATH settings or execute the following command:

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Info

Note that the "charon-utils" package has the following dependencies:

ethtool
bridge-utils
net-tools
iproute
NetworkManager

During "ncu" installation using "yum", these packages will be installed automatically if some of them are absent on the host system.

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CHARON-VAX home directory

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The most important at this stage is the "/cfg" directory since it contains template configuration files with examples of typical configuration parameters and comments. We will focus our attention on this subject in the next chapter.

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Specific user account creation

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Warning
The specific account created above does not allow to use physical consoles "`/dev/tty<N>`" as CHARON consoles. If you plan to map CHARON console to "`/dev/tty<N>`" use only "root" account for CHARON running.

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License installation

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If a remote license server is to be used:

Copy the aksusbd-27.563-1.i386.rpm and charon-license-4.89-<build>.<OS identifier>.x86_64.rpm files (see above) to the server, for example "/tmp"
Login as "root" to the server.
Switch to that directory.
Install the copied files using "yum".
Example:
# cd /tmp
# yum install aksusbd* charon-license-*

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Info
A "Provisional" (demo) license does not require collecting a fingerprint. For its installation start at step 3 in the sequence above

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License validity verification

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Text of the license is displayed correctly by the hasp_srm_view utility, no error messages are shown.
The content of the license looks correct. For example: license number, major and minor versions, minimum and maximum build numbers, CHARON-VAX products and allowed hardware (CHARON-VAX models) should be checked. More details on the license content can be found in the CHARON-VAX Licensing chapter of this Guide.

Example:

Removing licenses can be done by physical disconnection of the corresponding USB HASP keys from CHARON host and physical disconnection of the network HASP keys from all hosts on the local network (or by disabling remote access to network licenses from the CHARON host - see detailed explanations below).

It is also possible to disable access to network licenses if only a local license is to be used: Click on the "Configuration" link to open the "Configuration for Sentinel Manager" page.

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# hasp_srm_view

License Manager running at host: dlao.msc.masq
License Manager IP address: 192.168.1.129

HASP Net key detected

The Physical KeyId: 1422726238
CHARON Sentinel HASP License key section
Reading 4032 bytes

The License Number: 000.msc.sanity.tests
The License KeyId: 1422726238
The Master KeyId: 827774524
Release date: 12-SEP-2016
Release time: 15:15:15
Update number: 1
End User name: MSC
Purchasing Customer name: STROMASYS
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If multiple licenses are available, it is possible to check them using the "-all" parameter with the hasp_srm_view utility in the following way:

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It it also possible to display the license content for one specific key using the "-key" parameter and specifying the Key Id (see "# hasp_srm_view -h" for more)

Note
Reminder: If the CHARON host is accessed over a remote connection, please note that regular HASP licenses cannot be displayed and used in this case. As a workaround it is possible to install CHARON as a daemon (service). This procedure will be described later.

Troubleshooting

If the CHARON license content cannot be displayed by the hasp_srm_view utility or it is incorrect, check the license is available and correctly used:

Invoke the system default web browser and enter the URL http://localhost:1947 to display the "Sentinel Admin Control Center" (ACC) web interface.
Click on "Sentinel Keys" link to open the corresponding page.
Make sure that one and only one CHARON HASP or SL license is present.

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The Master KeyId: 827774524
Release date: 12-MAY-2018
Release time: 15:15:15
Update number: 1
End User name: MSC
Purchasing Customer name: STROMASYS
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Note

If multiple licenses are available, it is possible to check them using the "-all" parameter with the hasp_srm_view utility in the following way:

# hasp_srm_view -all

It it also possible to display the license content for one specific key using the "-key" parameter and specifying the Key Id (see "# hasp_srm_view -h" for more)

Note
Reminder: If the CHARON host is accessed over a remote connection, please note that regular HASP licenses cannot be displayed and used in this case. As a workaround it is possible to install CHARON as a daemon (service). This procedure will be described later.

Troubleshooting

If the CHARON license content cannot be displayed by the hasp_srm_view utility or it is incorrect, check the license is available and correctly used:

Invoke the system default web browser and enter the URL http://localhost:1947 to display the "Sentinel Admin Control Center" (ACC) web interface.
Click on "Sentinel Keys" link to open the corresponding page.
Make sure that one and only one CHARON HASP or SL license is present.

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Problem	Action
No license is displayed	Make sure that all the recommendations above about remote access to the host are fulfilled (if remote access takes place), that the HASP USB key is not broken and its LED indicator is lit (meaning that it is used by the host).
Only one License key / SL is seen and its content is incorrect	Contact STROMASYS to request a new license update.
Several License keys / SLs are displayed	Remove all of them except the one provided by STROMASYS for the just installed version of CHARON.

Removing licenses can be done by physical disconnection of the corresponding USB HASP keys from CHARON host and physical disconnection of the network HASP keys from all hosts on the local network (or by disabling remote access to network licenses from the CHARON host - see detailed explanations below).

For license servers accessible only via non-broadcast search it is also possible to disable access to network licenses if only a local license is to be used: Click on the "Configuration" link to open the "Configuration for Sentinel Manager" page.

Uncheck the "Allow Access to Remote Licenses" checkbox from the "Access to Remote License Managers" tab then press the "Submit" button to apply changes.

Note

Starting with Charon-AXP/VAX 4.9 for Linux and Charon-AXP/VAX version 4.8 for Windows the Charon emulator products do not follow the settings in the Sentinel ACC with respect to querying remote license servers and network visibility. They perform a broadcast search for network licenses even if this has been disabled in the Sentinel ACC. If this behavior has to be prevented for specific reasons, the network access of the system has to be temporarily restricted or disabled, for example by blocking the relevant traffic in a firewall. Another possibility would be to block access to the network license at the license server side.

Note that such methods can negatively impact other functions of the system or, in the case of blocking access to a network license on the server, even the functions on other license clients.

Info

It is also possible to leave several licenses available to CHARON-VAX at the same time but in this case they have to be specified in the configuration file.

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]="1877752571,354850588"

CHARON-VAX checks its licenses from time to time starting with main license. If it becomes unavailable, it attempts to access the backup license.

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Network configuration

In most cases CHARON will use a network. In this case CHARON requires one or more dedicated network interfaces with any other protocols including TCP/IP removed at the host level.

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# cat offload_off_eth1.txt >> /etc/rc.d/rc.local

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Final steps

Reboot the host system
Login as user "charon"
Verify the offload parameters are effective

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Upgrade to new version

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Ensure your license allows you to upgrade to that version. If not, please generate a C2V file and send it to STROMASYS for update. See CHARON-VAX for Linux utilities - 'hasp_srm_view' utility
Prepare the new kit RPM files as it is described in "Before Installationinstallation" and "Distribution preparation" sections.
Stop all running CHARON-VAX instances.
Make sure that no template files (i.e. "mv3k6.cfg.template") have been used for your specific configuration otherwise copy those files to a dedicated folder.
Login as "root" user.
Remove the old CHARON-VAX version as described in the "CHARON-VAX for Linux deinstallation" chapter.
Proceed with the same instructions on the new kit installation as described in the "Installation" section.
Install the license for the new CHARON-VAX as described in the "License installation" section.
Start all the CHARON-VAX services stopped at step #3.

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Versions Compared

Old Version 31

New Version Current

Key

Table of contents

Introduction

Hardware Requirements

Number of CPU cores

Table of contents

Introduction

Hardware Requirements

Number of CPU cores

Ethernet adapters

Software Requirements

Host system preparation

Before installation

Distribution preparation

Installation

CHARON-VAX home directory

Specific user account creation

License installation

License validity verification

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Network configuration

Final steps

Upgrade to new version

File name	Description
charon-vax-VER-BN.ZZ.x86_64.rpm	CHARON-VAX
aksusbd-27.563-1.i386.rpm	HASP Run-time
charon-license-VER-BN.ZZ.x86_64.rpm	CHARON Libraries
charon-utils-VER-BN.ZZ.x86_64.rpm	CHARON Utilities