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Version: 0 5 - Published:

Warning
WORK IN PROGRESS

04 Nov 2024

Products included in the Charon-AXP

...

4.12 for Windows 64-bit

In this document the terms Charon and Charon-AXP are used to refer to following Charon products to be run on a Linux Charon host system:

...

¹⁾Charon can be installed and will run, but Microsoft Windows versions are EOL and are not recommended for deployment.

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Hosting hardware requirements and configuration recommendations

...

Support for Windows 11, Windows Server 2022

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Problems fixed and other changes

Build 210-

...

Fix emulation of DIGI AccelePort multiplexors and host PCI bridges of various AXP chipsets so that DIGIDRIVER_7 can correctly recognize and initialize the PBXDA board running on OpenVMS 7.1 (ID#5787).
Fix Network Control Center (NCC, NetDiag utility) to correctly obtain names of host network interfaces. The problem was observed on Windows 10 (ID#5789).

Build 210-07

Updated End User License Agreement (EULA) text (ID#5782).

Build 210-06

New End User License Agreement (EULA) text (ID#5782).

Build 210-05

Add logging an error message indicating syntax error in storage container specification. Previously, such errors were quietly igored or the affected devices were set to offline (ID#5766).
Cosmetic change to Charon Installation Utility (InstallShell) to correct message text: display Pre-4.8 version is installed instead of Old version is installed (ID#5768).
Wrong version (6.80) of Microsoft NETVMINI driver was included in product kits (ID#5769, IE#5771). Replaced with version 6.30. Fixed product packaging.
Fix EW network boot (MOP) of virtual AlphaServer 800 (ID#5773).

Build 210-04

The hasp_view utility has been fixed to correctly report software licenses in case of no hardware dongles are available (ID#5759).

Build 210-03

Charon Installation Utility (InstallShell) has been improved to better handle de-installing old versions of products (ID#5752).
Fixes to products and utilities so that to correctly differentiate Windows 10 and Windows 11, and Windows Server 2016, 2019 and 2022 (ID#5753).

Build 210-02

A fix has been provided so that log flush period is correctly maintained during initial license acquisition. With this fix, a failure to acquire license at startup is reported with (periodic) log flush rather than on emulator exit due to missing license (ID#5747).

Build 210-01

Installation kit now brings a copy of Microsoft NETVMINI drivers, which help to organize Virtual Ethernet link between host and/or Charon Virtual Machine(s). Driver is copyed to local disk drive, but is not installed automatically. Provided AS IS, without any warranty (ID#5724).

Build 210-00

Charon VM Manager now recognizes disabled services (Virtual Machines), designates them with special icon and prevents attempts of starting them displaying a popup window rather than error message (ID#5687).
Installation kit now contains correctly signed PCI PassThrough drivers, which eliminates errors Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers...(Code 52) while installing Charon PCI PassThrough driver (ID#5711).
The processing of the following HASP licensing errors was changed such that the emulator will no longer terminate immediately but instead observe the grace period (ID#5717):
- HASP_SHARING_VIOLATION (HASP runtimer error code 84)
- HASP_DEVICE_ERR (HASP runtime error code 43)
- HASP_SCOPE_RESULTS_EMPTY (HASP runtime error code 50)
Charon VM Manager now does not ask for confirmation on Exit (ID#5730).
Default identification of FC attached virtual disks ($1$DGAxxx drives attached through KGPSA) has been changed to "DEC HSG80" following the hardware original (ID#5731).
Fix mkdskcmd utility to avoid reporting negative virtual disk size (ID#5735).
Fix Charon Installation Utility (InstallShall) to correctly remove shortcuts from Programs/StartUp menu on product de-installation (ID#5736).
Emulation of the TOY has been fixed to provide correct synchronization of the guest's time when it is intentionally set to a time in the past (relative to the host) (ID#5737).

Configuration changes required when upgrading from previous versions of Charon-AXP to version 4.12

Charon license update is required before upgrading. Stromasys might request a HASP dongle state (c2v file) or a host fingerprint taken by HASP Update Service (which is included in the Charon kit) in order to issue a license update. Please refer to License Update Service for details
Due to a Charon installation procedure update, if you upgrade from a version older than 4.8, it is required to uninstall all Charon products before installing Charon-AXP version 4.11. Please use the Windows Control Panel to perform the operation.
If you upgrade from version 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 or 4.11 (previous build):
- It is not necessary to save boot parameters at the SRM level (console). Parameters will be kept.
- It is mandatory to update all existing Charon Virtual Machines to make them run the latest version using the Virtual Machines Manager, VM Configuration tab.
The following Microsoft Windows update has to be installed on Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 in order to support new Charon drivers signed with SHA2 signature:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityAdvisories/2015/3033929
If VMware is used, it must be upgraded to a supported version.
The Tru64 kernel might require a rebuild for some emulated AXP models that are included in the Charon-AXP/4100 product.
It is recommended to archive the old Charon logs before starting the new version in order to avoid mixing character encoding in the log files.
Intelligent packet processing should be switched off for the network adapters dedicated to Charon with "Network Control Center" (NCC) utility. Please refer to FTP, NFS, and general network issues with CHARON-AXP and CHARON-VAX on Windows for details.
The user that runs Charon-AXP must have local administrator privileges and be a member of Charon-GRP group (which is created during the Charon installation).
Charon executables, libraries and data (disk container files) files should be excluded from all the antivirus checks, including on-the-fly checks and scheduled scans.
HT (Hyper-Threading Technology) should be disabled on the hosting server.
Power management, USB power saving management and screen saver should be switched off on the hosting server.
The Charon-AXP configuration file should be reviewed if migrating from Charon-AXP for Linux. Linux specific configuration parameters (for example, network adapter references) should be changed to Windows specific parameters. Please refer to the user manual for details.
Please note that the actual network communication speed and mode are determined by the Windows network speed and mode settings.
If Charon-AXP is being moved to another hosting platform and direct SCSI access method is used to access some SCSI devices, the new hosting platform SCSI drivers should support the SCSIport method. If drivers supporting SCSIport method are not available, direct SCSI access cannot be used. This is a case for all Windows Server 2012 (R2) and Windows 8.1 systems, and is often seen for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) systems. The recommended workaround for disk access is to use the \\.\PhysicalDriveX method.
If any other SCSI device is involved, please contact Stromasys. Charon-AXP for Linux can be considered to work around the limitation.
For network connections, interface="connection:..." syntax is preferred in the Charon configuration file.
The packet_port keyword in the Charon configuration file can be used on any hosting platform instead of the platform specific keywords ndis5_chpack_port and ndis6_chpack_port.
For example, the Charon configuration file lines:

...

load ndis5_chpack_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."

and

...

load ndis6_chpack_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."

can be replaced with:

...

load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."

For the emulated network adapters the communication speed and mode is recommended to be commented out (set to automatic). If it is necessary, see the example below:

...

load DE500BA/dec21x4x EWA interface=EWA0
load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
set EWA adapter_mode="100BaseT-FD"

On VMware, legacy_mode should be set in the Charon configuration for emulated AXP network adapters if Promiscuous mode cannot be set (this solution does not work in multi-instance configurations).
The console definition syntax has been changed in the configuration file starting with v4.9. Please read the User's Guide for instructions on how to apply it if you currently use a Charon version prior to v4.9.
If "IDLE" utility is going to be used, perform the following commands after its installation:

$ @sys$startup:charoncp_startup $ charoncp set idle /enable

Notes related to upgrade from previous version

Software licenses have to be renewed as they are not compatible with previous version (prior to 4.11) even if your software license was 4.11 ready.

Known restrictions of version 4.12

Despite the fact that Charon is already optimized for a wide range of the guest OS tasks, there may be some situations (for example OpenVMS compilation tasks) when a performance degradation of about 50% compared to version 4.8 may occur. In this case the following solutions can be applied:

Enlarging ACE cache size

Try this solution first. It is recommended to enlarge the ACE cache size at least in 2 times as it is shown in the following example:

set ace cache_size = 2048

If this solution does not work for the specific guest OS tasks, apply also the next solution.

Setting specific ACE host options

Set the following set of options in the configuration file:

set session n_of_io_cpus = <N> set ace num_translators = <N> set ace host_options = "--fixed-variant=0 --x64-nooptimize"

where <N> is number of the I/O CPUs dedicated to Charon.

Other restrictions:

Network and tape booting is not currently supported.
The total number of devices (both controllers and units, including disks) displayed by Charon SRM console is limited to 48. However more devices are available to VMS and Tru64. Note that it does not affect the actual number of configured devices provided to Charon guest OS.
It is impossible to mount physical tape on some new physical devices (ID#5488),
The Charon installation may fail with the error message "The installation process cannot replace hasplms.exe because the file is in use". It is known problem of the Sentinel HASP driver installer included in the Charon installation procedure as a 3rd party software. If you face this issue stop the hasplms.exe process manually and re-run Charon installation procedure. See the Installation chapter below for more information.
In certain situations, mapping to a SAN using the Pass Through method may not be possible. In that case use the presentation mode instead (ID#5424).
The Charon emulated console supports only 80 symbols in one line.
In some situations, the virtual disks descriptions can be displayed as "Virtual SCSI Disk (C)SRI" in the SRM console. This problem does not affect the Charon functionality (ID#4729).
Charon cannot correctly define the total number of available CPUs on multi CPU groups systems (NUMA architecture, etc) - it reports only a number of the CPUs found in its first group. This problem will be fixed in future releases.
As a workaround, enable "Node interleaving" in the BIOS (if available) to make the BIOS report the total number of available CPUs (as a part of one consolidated NUMA group) to the operating system.
For example, on HP Proliant servers, the configuration sequence is the following:
- Boot the server, press F9 and enter BIOS setup.
- Select "Advanced Options" -> "Advance Performance Tuning Options" -> "Node Interleaving", set it to "Enabled".
- Boot Windows.
Hardware partitioning is not supported by Charon. However the same hardware layout can be emulated with multiple Charon instances on the same host.
The SRM console shows the configured virtual disk names differently for the same *.vdisk containers on each Charon start (ID#4498).
The OpenVMS/AXP Version 8.4 installation CD media is not mountable under VMS V7.2-1H1. It is a VMS version restriction (ID#4054).
Older AMD and Intel CPUs without support of the CMPXCHG16B instruction could run Charon-AXP translated code incorrectly. It is recommended not to use those CPUs. If such CPUs are detected on the hosting server, Charon-AXP writes the following message in its log file:

...

WARN :1:0000033B:axpcpu.cxx( 462): Host CPU feature 'CMPXCHG16B' not implemented by the host CPU - performance limited.

Charon-AXP does not emulate the LSI 53C810 SCSI controller. Charon-AXP emulates the Qlogic KZPBA SCSI controller, which is the reason for the earliest supported VMS version to be 6.2-1H3, earliest supported Tru64 version to be 3.2. (ID#2291).
If the driver for KZPBA is installed on an earlier version of VMS or Tru64 before system transfer to Charon-AXP, it will function on Charon-AXP.
The OPA0 console of the Charon service does not appear if a non "Administrator" user starts the service (ID#3209).
DS20 initialization might take a long time on Windows Server 2008 R2 (ID#3194).
Digital UNIX 4.0g fails to install on AS4100 if FC is configured. Specific Tru64 patches and firmware versions might be required. SAN device should be set to SCSI-2 mode (ID#3191).
The DE500BA device error count after boot is not 0 on OpenVMS 8.2/8.3 (ID#2963). There are no negative side effects.
Direct SCSI access only supports Windows SCSI devices which use a SCSIport driver. These include most of the device drivers on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (R2), but does not work on Windows 7 and Server 2008 (R2). If SCSIport is not supported (and Storport method is used instead), direct SCSI access cannot be used.
This is most likely to be the case for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) platforms.
Performance tests could hang VMS 6.2-1H3 on an emulated AS400.
Charon-AXP does not emulate VGA adapters, thus OPA0 is always a system console. Applications hard-coded to use OPA0 and TTA0 as their own interfaces may not function correctly.
Network speed auto negotiation works with some restrictions (see the table below). It is always recommended to use full duplex mode on the hosting server.

...

Host settings

...

VMS (autodetect mode)

...

Tru64 (autodetect mode)

...

1 Gbps full duplex

...

100 Mbps full duplex

...

100 Mbps full duplex

...

1 Gbps half duplex

...

100 Mbps half duplex

...

100 Mbps half duplex

...

13

Fix EISA configuration table in emulator to eliminate Tru64 UNIX on boot (ID#5844). Relevant for AlphaServer 2000/2100.

Product kits now include PCI PassThrough drivers signed by Microsoft (ID#5846). This makes possible use of drivers with Windows 10 and Windows 11 and eliminates signature verification problem when loading the driver. Sample message in case the problem occurs:

Code Block

language	text

Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers required for this device. 
A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, 
or that might be malicios software from an unknown source. (Code 52)

Fix terminal emulator activation to pass user environment to the process created. In particular, this allows to use Reflection Workspace Terminal Emulator and eliminates Reflection TE startup problem. Sample message in case the proble occurs:
Code Block
language text
(X) An application error occured. Please contact Technical Support. Details: Unable to access Micro Focus\Reflection\Desktop\v18.0.

Build 210-12

Fix for AXP CPU emulation to avoid CPU halts due to KERNEL STACK NOT VALID exceptions, followed by CPUSANITY or CPUSPINWAIT BUGCHECKs in case of AXP configurations with more than one CPU or more than 4GB of RAM (ID#5836).

Build 210-11

Update Stromasys End User License Agreement (EULA) to version issued on 16 February 2024.

Build 210-10

Updated End User License Agreement (EULA) text.

Build 210-08

Fix emulation of DIGI AccelePort multiplexors and host PCI bridges of various AXP chipsets so that DIGIDRIVER_7 can correctly recognize and initialize the PBXDA board running on OpenVMS 7.1 (ID#5787).
Fix Network Control Center (NCC, NetDiag utility) to correctly obtain names of host network interfaces. The problem was observed on Windows 10 (ID#5789).

Build 210-07

Updated End User License Agreement (EULA) text (ID#5782).

Build 210-06

New End User License Agreement (EULA) text (ID#5782).

Div

class	pagebreak

Build 210-05

Add logging an error message indicating syntax error in storage container specification. Previously, such errors were quietly igored or the affected devices were set to offline (ID#5766).
Cosmetic change to Charon Installation Utility (InstallShell) to correct message text: display Pre-4.8 version is installed instead of Old version is installed (ID#5768).
Wrong version (6.80) of Microsoft NETVMINI driver was included in product kits (ID#5769, IE#5771). Replaced with version 6.30. Fixed product packaging.
Fix EW network boot (MOP) of virtual AlphaServer 800 (ID#5773).

Build 210-04

The hasp_view utility has been fixed to correctly report software licenses in case of no hardware dongles are available (ID#5759).

Build 210-03

Charon Installation Utility (InstallShell) has been improved to better handle de-installing old versions of products (ID#5752).
Fixes to products and utilities so that to correctly differentiate Windows 10 and Windows 11, and Windows Server 2016, 2019 and 2022 (ID#5753).

Build 210-02

A fix has been provided so that log flush period is correctly maintained during initial license acquisition. With this fix, a failure to acquire license at startup is reported with (periodic) log flush rather than on emulator exit due to missing license (ID#5747).

Build 210-01

Installation kit now brings a copy of Microsoft NETVMINI drivers, which help to organize Virtual Ethernet link between host and/or Charon Virtual Machine(s). Driver is copyed to local disk drive, but is not installed automatically. Provided AS IS, without any warranty (ID#5724).

Build 210-00

Charon VM Manager now recognizes disabled services (Virtual Machines), designates them with special icon and prevents attempts of starting them displaying a popup window rather than error message (ID#5687).
Installation kit now contains correctly signed PCI PassThrough drivers, which eliminates errors Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers...(Code 52) while installing Charon PCI PassThrough driver (ID#5711).
The processing of the following HASP licensing errors was changed such that the emulator will no longer terminate immediately but instead observe the grace period (ID#5717):
- HASP_SHARING_VIOLATION (HASP runtimer error code 84)
- HASP_DEVICE_ERR (HASP runtime error code 43)
- HASP_SCOPE_RESULTS_EMPTY (HASP runtime error code 50)
Charon VM Manager now does not ask for confirmation on Exit (ID#5730).
Default identification of FC attached virtual disks ($1$DGAxxx drives attached through KGPSA) has been changed to "DEC HSG80" following the hardware original (ID#5731).
Fix mkdskcmd utility to avoid reporting negative virtual disk size (ID#5735).
Fix Charon Installation Utility (InstallShell) to correctly remove shortcuts from Programs/StartUp menu on product de-installation (ID#5736).
Emulation of the TOY has been fixed to provide correct synchronization of the guest's time when it is intentionally set to a time in the past (relative to the host) (ID#5737).

Div

class	pagebreak

Configuration changes required when upgrading from previous versions of Charon-AXP to version 4.12

Charon license update is required before upgrading. Stromasys might request a HASP dongle state (c2v file) or a host fingerprint taken by HASP Update Service (which is included in the Charon kit) in order to issue a license update. Please refer to License Update Service for details
Due to a Charon installation procedure update, if you upgrade from a version older than 4.8, it is required to uninstall all Charon products before installing Charon-AXP version 4.11. Please use the Windows Control Panel to perform the operation.
If you upgrade from version 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 or 4.11 (previous build):
- It is not necessary to save boot parameters at the SRM level (console). Parameters will be kept.
- It is mandatory to update all existing Charon Virtual Machines to make them run the latest version using the Virtual Machines Manager, VM Configuration tab.
The following Microsoft Windows update has to be installed on Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 in order to support new Charon drivers signed with SHA2 signature:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityAdvisories/2015/3033929
If VMware is used, it must be upgraded to a supported version.
The Tru64 kernel might require a rebuild for some emulated AXP models that are included in the Charon-AXP/4100 product.
It is recommended to archive the old Charon logs before starting the new version in order to avoid mixing character encoding in the log files.
Intelligent packet processing should be switched off for the network adapters dedicated to Charon with "Network Control Center" (NCC) utility. Please refer to FTP, NFS, and general network issues with CHARON-AXP and CHARON-VAX on Windows for details.
The user that runs Charon-AXP must have local administrator privileges and be a member of Charon-GRP group (which is created during the Charon installation).
Charon executables, libraries and data (disk container files) files should be excluded from all the antivirus checks, including on-the-fly checks and scheduled scans.
HT (Hyper-Threading Technology) should be disabled on the hosting server.
Power management, USB power saving management and screen saver should be switched off on the hosting server.
The Charon-AXP configuration file should be reviewed if migrating from Charon-AXP for Linux. Linux specific configuration parameters (for example, network adapter references) should be changed to Windows specific parameters. Please refer to the user manual for details.
Please note that the actual network communication speed and mode are determined by the Windows network speed and mode settings.
If Charon-AXP is being moved to another hosting platform and direct SCSI access method is used to access some SCSI devices, the new hosting platform SCSI drivers should support the SCSIport method. If drivers supporting SCSIport method are not available, direct SCSI access cannot be used. This is a case for all Windows Server 2012 (R2) and Windows 8.1 systems, and is often seen for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) systems. The recommended workaround for disk access is to use the \\.\PhysicalDriveX method.
If any other SCSI device is involved, please contact Stromasys. Charon-AXP for Linux can be considered to work around the limitation.
For network connections, interface="connection:..." syntax is preferred in the Charon configuration file.
The packet_port keyword in the Charon configuration file can be used on any hosting platform instead of the platform specific keywords ndis5_chpack_port and ndis6_chpack_port.
For example, the Charon configuration file lines:

load ndis5_chpack_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."

and

load ndis6_chpack_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."

can be replaced with:

load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."

For the emulated network adapters the communication speed and mode is recommended to be commented out (set to automatic). If it is necessary, see the example below:

load DE500BA/dec21x4x EWA interface=EWA0
load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
set EWA adapter_mode="100BaseT-FD"

On VMware, legacy_mode should be set in the Charon configuration for emulated AXP network adapters if Promiscuous mode cannot be set (this solution does not work in multi-instance configurations).
The console definition syntax has been changed in the configuration file starting with v4.9. Please read the User's Guide for instructions on how to apply it if you currently use a Charon version prior to v4.9.
If "IDLE" utility is going to be used, refer to the user's guide for further information.

Notes related to upgrade from previous version

Software licenses have to be renewed as they are not compatible with previous version (prior to 4.11) even if your software license was 4.11 ready.

Known restrictions of version 4.12

Despite the fact that Charon is already optimized for a wide range of the guest OS tasks, there may be some situations (for example OpenVMS compilation tasks) when a performance degradation of about 50% compared to version 4.8 may occur. In this case the following solutions can be applied:

Enlarging ACE cache size

Try this solution first. It is recommended to enlarge the ACE cache size at least in 2 times as it is shown in the following example:

set ace cache_size = 2048

If this solution does not work for the specific guest OS tasks, apply also the next solution.

Setting specific ACE host options

Set the following set of options in the configuration file:

set session n_of_io_cpus = <N> set ace num_translators = <N> set ace host_options = "--fixed-variant=0 --x64-nooptimize"

where <N> is number of the I/O CPUs dedicated to Charon.

Other restrictions:

Network and tape booting is not currently supported.
The total number of devices (both controllers and units, including disks) displayed by Charon SRM console is limited to 48. However more devices are available to VMS and Tru64. Note that it does not affect the actual number of configured devices provided to Charon guest OS.
It is impossible to mount physical tape on some new physical devices (ID#5488),
The Charon installation may fail with the error message "The installation process cannot replace hasplms.exe because the file is in use". It is known problem of the Sentinel HASP driver installer included in the Charon installation procedure as a 3rd party software. If you face this issue stop the hasplms.exe process manually and re-run Charon installation procedure. See the Installation chapter below for more information.
In certain situations, mapping to a SAN using the Pass Through method may not be possible. In that case use the presentation mode instead (ID#5424).
The Charon emulated console supports only 80 symbols in one line.
In some situations, the virtual disks descriptions can be displayed as "Virtual SCSI Disk (C)SRI" in the SRM console. This problem does not affect the Charon functionality (ID#4729).
Charon cannot correctly define the total number of available CPUs on multi CPU groups systems (NUMA architecture, etc) - it reports only a number of the CPUs found in its first group. This problem will be fixed in future releases.
As a workaround, enable "Node interleaving" in the BIOS (if available) to make the BIOS report the total number of available CPUs (as a part of one consolidated NUMA group) to the operating system.
For example, on HP Proliant servers, the configuration sequence is the following:
- Boot the server, press F9 and enter BIOS setup.
- Select "Advanced Options" -> "Advance Performance Tuning Options" -> "Node Interleaving", set it to "Enabled".
- Boot Windows.
Hardware partitioning is not supported by Charon. However the same hardware layout can be emulated with multiple Charon instances on the same host.
The SRM console shows the configured virtual disk names differently for the same *.vdisk containers on each Charon start (ID#4498).
The OpenVMS/AXP Version 8.4 installation CD media is not mountable under VMS V7.2-1H1. It is a VMS version restriction (ID#4054).
Older AMD and Intel CPUs without support of the CMPXCHG16B instruction could run Charon-AXP translated code incorrectly. It is recommended not to use those CPUs. If such CPUs are detected on the hosting server, Charon-AXP writes the following message in its log file:

WARN :1:0000033B:axpcpu.cxx( 462): Host CPU feature 'CMPXCHG16B' not implemented by the host CPU - performance limited.

Charon-AXP does not emulate the LSI 53C810 SCSI controller. Charon-AXP emulates the Qlogic KZPBA SCSI controller, which is the reason for the earliest supported VMS version to be 6.2-1H3, earliest supported Tru64 version to be 3.2. (ID#2291).
If the driver for KZPBA is installed on an earlier version of VMS or Tru64 before system transfer to Charon-AXP, it will function on Charon-AXP.
The OPA0 console of the Charon service does not appear if a non "Administrator" user starts the service (ID#3209).
DS20 initialization might take a long time on Windows Server 2008 R2 (ID#3194).
Digital UNIX 4.0g fails to install on AS4100 if FC is configured. Specific Tru64 patches and firmware versions might be required. SAN device should be set to SCSI-2 mode (ID#3191).
The DE500BA device error count after boot is not 0 on OpenVMS 8.2/8.3 (ID#2963). There are no negative side effects.
Direct access to SCSI devices is not supported. Consider use of Charon-VAX for Linux instead, or call Stromasys for possible alternatives.
Performance tests could hang VMS 6.2-1H3 on an emulated AS400.
Charon-AXP does not emulate VGA adapters, thus OPA0 is always a system console. Applications hard-coded to use OPA0 and TTA0 as their own interfaces may not function correctly.
Network speed auto negotiation works with some restrictions (see the table below). It is always recommended to use full duplex mode on the hosting server.

Host settings	VMS (autodetect mode)	Tru64 (autodetect mode)
1 Gbps full duplex	100 Mbps full duplex	100 Mbps full duplex
1 Gbps half duplex	100 Mbps half duplex	100 Mbps half duplex
100 Mbps full duplex	100 Mbps full duplex	100 Mbps full duplex
100 Mbps half duplex	100 Mbps half duplex	100 Mbps half duplex
10 Mbps full duplex	10 Mbps full duplex	10 Mbps full duplex
10 Mbps half duplex	10 Mbps half duplex	10 Mbps half

duplex

The firmware does not support the command recall using the up/down arrow keys.
The VMS 7.x Monitor utility shows the maximum CPU quantity instead of actually configured quantity. It does not apply to VMS 8.x.
Running Alpha Linux on the virtual Alpha is not supported.
Use of IDE is limited to ATAPI CDROM on the host machine. No iSCSI support is planned for IDE. UETP may produce error messages if IDE emulation is used.
A Telnet session from OpenVMS running on emulated host freezes console output. The console output can hang when the virtual serial line sends XOFF/XON sequence. The TELNET client sends XOFF to the remote node's TELNET server to suspend output, but for unknown reason XON is discarded and remote node's TELNET server is unable to resume output. The console remains "frozen" as the remote site is not sending any output to it. When that happens, the local node is reachable over network, and can be unlocked by typing the 'break' character - usually "Ctrl-]" and exiting telnet session by typing "exit" at "TELNET>" prompt.
Emacs hangs if the OPA0 console is used. Emacs works fine over an SSH connection.
Charon-AXP does not support Microsoft virtual network adapters (i.e. MS bridges, etc.).
Charon-AXP has limited support for teamed network adapters. They can be used only if the MAC address of the virtual VMS or Tru64 network adapter is not changed during the Charon-AXP session. In which case the desired MAC address should not be set manually in the properties of the network team or in the Charon-AXP configuration file using the "station_address=XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX" configuration option.
VMS 7.2-1 should be patched to the latest level in order to use Emulex FC adapters in pass-through mode.
Please note that Charon-AXP has not been tested with SAN attached storage over 2TB per disk in size.
Tru64 temperature monitoring should be disabled. It could cause Tru64 version 5.x shutdown with the message: "system fan has failed, system is shutting down now". If installing Tru64 from scratch, do not install envmon package. If it is already installed, disable automatic startup by booting into SINGLE USER mode and issue the following commands:

...

# mount -u /
# mount /usr
# rcmgr set ENVMON_CONFIGURED 0

then "exit" (Ctrl-D) to multi user mode.

A "CRC error" appears when running "$ BACKUP/LIST/REW MKA100:..." on OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.4 (ID#2925).
Due to the change of "Charon Virtual Machines Manager" to "Charon Virtual Machine Manager", an upgrade from a version prior to 4.11 will create a new shortcut on the desktop and will not remove the one pointing to "Charon Virtual Machines Manager". This then has to be done manually. Please note that both shortcuts point to the same executable file.

New functionality introduced in previous versions

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-14

Feature Request: 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, OPA0 console mainly. To allow other hosts to connect to the virtual line, add the "set OPA0 access_control = disable" line in the configuration file (ID#5707). Please note: this requires to use the new syntax to define OPA0. Please read the user's guide "Console" chapter.

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-11

Log file numbering implemented when log rotating is used: when starting the Charon emulator the first log file name will be like <configuration_name>-YYYY-MM-DD-hh-mm-ss-xxxxxxxxx.log where xxxxxxxxx will be 000000000, this number will increase with each log rotation (ID#5702)
The emulator UPTIME is reported on every log rotation (ID#5683, ID#32702)
Example: 20210916:000000:INFO :0:00000479:ethane.cxx(3479): "ds10test" started at Wed Sep 15 17:28:14 2021 (uptime 0 06:31:46).
Consolidating update to PBXGA: additional parameter "application", multi-screen support, 8bit graphics (ID#5589, ID#5609, ID#5692)

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-10

Added support for 8-bit depth on PBXGA-AA (ID#5667).
PBXGA-AA and PBXGA-BA (ZLXp-E2) can now be used with the Charon Virtual Machine Manager using the provided PBXGA_TV.exe application (see PBXGA graphics card chapter in the user's guide).

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-09

...

Charon Network Packet NDIS Signed driver for Windows 10, Windows Server 2016/2019 working with Secure Boot enabled.

...

Sentinel Runtime upgraded to version 8.13.

...

Implemented serial line logging capability for serial lines attached through virtual PBXDA (DIGI board).

...

Implemented support for booting AXP emulators via MOP. MOPv3 (DECnet) and MOPv4 (LANCP) are supported. Both EW and EI adapters are supported for MOP network boot.

...

The parameter "log_flush_period" is available on all serial line implementations (ID#5633).

...

New parameter "connection_override" for console that allows new connection to override existing connection, if any.

...

New version of PuTTY, supporting "-title" option and new way of storing/loading sessions definitions in the registry to avoid unnecessary duplication of session definitions for each user (ID#5590).

...

MkDisk utility logo is updated (ID#5246).

...

Sample configuration files are updated (ID#5246, #5622).

...

"Charon Virtual Machines Manager" is changed to "Charon Virtual Machine Manager" (ID#5246). Note: if you're upgrading from a previous version, the "Charon Virtual Machines Manager" icon has to be removed manually.

...

The NDIS driver is upgradable: during installation of a Charon kit, a newer driver version is installed automatically (ID#5585).

...

A specific dialog is added for recommended actions if a container cannot be extracted in the process of a Charon installation (ID#5586).

...

All relevant Charon components are installed independently by each Charon build to be installed on the host if these components are not "upgradable" (shared between builds) (ID#5504).

...

Charon installation procedure graphics are updated to display correct slogan (ID#5558).

...

duplex

The firmware does not support the command recall using the up/down arrow keys.
The VMS 7.x Monitor utility shows the maximum CPU quantity instead of actually configured quantity. It does not apply to VMS 8.x.
Running Alpha Linux on the virtual Alpha is not supported.
Use of IDE is limited to ATAPI CDROM on the host machine. No iSCSI support is planned for IDE. UETP may produce error messages if IDE emulation is used.
A Telnet session from OpenVMS running on emulated host freezes console output. The console output can hang when the virtual serial line sends XOFF/XON sequence. The TELNET client sends XOFF to the remote node's TELNET server to suspend output, but for unknown reason XON is discarded and remote node's TELNET server is unable to resume output. The console remains "frozen" as the remote site is not sending any output to it. When that happens, the local node is reachable over network, and can be unlocked by typing the 'break' character - usually "Ctrl-]" and exiting telnet session by typing "exit" at "TELNET>" prompt.
Emacs hangs if the OPA0 console is used. Emacs works fine over an SSH connection.
Charon-AXP does not support Microsoft virtual network adapters (i.e. MS bridges, etc.).
Charon-AXP has limited support for teamed network adapters. They can be used only if the MAC address of the virtual VMS or Tru64 network adapter is not changed during the Charon-AXP session. In which case the desired MAC address should not be set manually in the properties of the network team or in the Charon-AXP configuration file using the "station_address=XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX" configuration option.
VMS 7.2-1 should be patched to the latest level in order to use Emulex FC adapters in pass-through mode.
Please note that Charon-AXP has not been tested with SAN attached storage over 2TB per disk in size.
Tru64 temperature monitoring should be disabled. It could cause Tru64 version 5.x shutdown with the message: "system fan has failed, system is shutting down now". If installing Tru64 from scratch, do not install envmon package. If it is already installed, disable automatic startup by booting into SINGLE USER mode and issue the following commands:

# mount -u /
# mount /usr
# rcmgr set ENVMON_CONFIGURED 0

then "exit" (Ctrl-D) to multi user mode.

A "CRC error" appears when running "$ BACKUP/LIST/REW MKA100:..." on OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.4 (ID#2925).

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New functionality introduced in previous versions

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-15

The Charon installer (InstallShell.exe) now records the latest installation kit location and installation date/time in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\CHARON\Installation) to help in case an installation repair must be performed. This information in reported in the Charon Report Utility starting with version 1.40 (ID#5734).

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-14

Feature Request: 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, OPA0 console mainly. To allow other hosts to connect to the virtual line, add the "set OPA0 access_control = disable" line in the configuration file (ID#5707). Please note: this requires to use the new syntax to define OPA0. Please read the user's guide "Console" chapter.

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-11

Log file numbering implemented when log rotating is used: when starting the Charon emulator the first log file name will be like <configuration_name>-YYYY-MM-DD-hh-mm-ss-xxxxxxxxx.log where xxxxxxxxx will be 000000000, this number will increase with each log rotation (ID#5702)
The emulator UPTIME is reported on every log rotation (ID#5683, ID#32702)
Example: 20210916:000000:INFO :0:00000479:ethane.cxx(3479): "ds10test" started at Wed Sep 15 17:28:14 2021 (uptime 0 06:31:46).
Consolidating update to PBXGA: additional parameter "application", multi-screen support, 8bit graphics (ID#5589, ID#5609, ID#5692)

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-10

Added support for 8-bit depth on PBXGA-AA (ID#5667).
PBXGA-AA and PBXGA-BA (ZLXp-E2) can now be used with the Charon Virtual Machine Manager using the provided PBXGA_TV.exe application (see PBXGA graphics card chapter in the user's guide).

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-09

Charon Network Packet NDIS Signed driver for Windows 10, Windows Server 2016/2019 working with Secure Boot enabled.
Sentinel Runtime upgraded to version 8.13.
Implemented serial line logging capability for serial lines attached through virtual PBXDA (DIGI board).
Implemented support for booting AXP emulators via MOP. MOPv3 (DECnet) and MOPv4 (LANCP) are supported. Both EW and EI adapters are supported for MOP network boot.
The parameter "log_flush_period" is available on all serial line implementations (ID#5633).
New parameter "connection_override" for console that allows new connection to override existing connection, if any.
New version of PuTTY, supporting "-title" option and new way of storing/loading sessions definitions in the registry to avoid unnecessary duplication of session definitions for each user (ID#5590).
MkDisk utility logo is updated (ID#5246).
Sample configuration files are updated (ID#5246, #5622).
"Charon Virtual Machines Manager" is changed to "Charon Virtual Machine Manager" (ID#5246). Note: if you're upgrading from a previous version, the "Charon Virtual Machines Manager" icon has to be removed manually.
The NDIS driver is upgradable: during installation of a Charon kit, a newer driver version is installed automatically (ID#5585).
A specific dialog is added for recommended actions if a container cannot be extracted in the process of a Charon installation (ID#5586).
All relevant Charon components are installed independently by each Charon build to be installed on the host if these components are not "upgradable" (shared between builds) (ID#5504).
Charon installation procedure graphics are updated to display correct slogan (ID#5558).
MkDisk utility graphics are updated to display correct slogan (ID#5562).

Div

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New functionality introduced in version 4.10 build 202-03

Charon stability is improved (ID#5483, 5331).
Support of modern SAN (MSA-2050) is improved over Emulex PT (ID#5421).
Log is flushed regularly and asynchronously to facilitate online LOG monitoring by third-party tools (ID#5532).
Correct installation of x64 HostPrint utility in all Charon products is implemented (in the folder beside the corresponding executables) (ID#5570).
VMware Ethernet adapters: in addition to the E1000, E1000E and VMXNETx adapters are now fully supported.
Copyright notes are updated in all sample configuration files (ID#5399).
EXE/DLL copyright is updated (ID#5503).
The value of "log_repeat_filter" parameter is "off" by default (ID#5405).
Licensing mechanism is improved (ID#5375, 5458, 5459).
Network License management processing changes (ID#4631).
Redistributable Visual C++ runtime is upgraded (ID#5385).
Installation procedure detects inconsistent and/or damaged installation and deals with it properly (ID#5476).
In "Repair" mode installation, the procedure keeps the current Charon installation in case of errors (ID#5477).
All Charon components are installed independently for every build (ID#5504).
Patches to Charon kits are able to keep all the previous executables independent from each other (ID#5506).
Backup patch scripts are installed for each build independently (ID#5517).
Virtual Machines renaming feature is disabled (ID#5394).
"hasp_view" command line mode is extended to output all available licenses details to a file (ID#5442).
NCC utility is improved (ID#5497).

New functionality introduced in version 4.

...

9 build

...

Charon stability is improved (ID#5483, 5331).
Support of modern SAN (MSA-2050) is improved over Emulex PT (ID#5421).
Log is flushed regularly and asynchronously to facilitate online LOG monitoring by third-party tools (ID#5532).
Correct installation of x64 HostPrint utility in all Charon products is implemented (in the folder beside the corresponding executables) (ID#5570).
VMware Ethernet adapters: in addition to the E1000, E1000E and VMXNETx adapters are now fully supported.
Copyright notes are updated in all sample configuration files (ID#5399).
EXE/DLL copyright is updated (ID#5503).
The value of "log_repeat_filter" parameter is "off" by default (ID#5405).
Licensing mechanism is improved (ID#5375, 5458, 5459).
Network License management processing changes (ID#4631).
Redistributable Visual C++ runtime is upgraded (ID#5385).
Installation procedure detects inconsistent and/or damaged installation and deals with it properly (ID#5476).
In "Repair" mode installation, the procedure keeps the current Charon installation in case of errors (ID#5477).
All Charon components are installed independently for every build (ID#5504).
Patches to Charon kits are able to keep all the previous executables independent from each other (ID#5506).
Backup patch scripts are installed for each build independently (ID#5517).
Virtual Machines renaming feature is disabled (ID#5394).
"hasp_view" command line mode is extended to output all available licenses details to a file (ID#5442).
NCC utility is improved (ID#5497).

New functionality introduced in version 4.9 build 194-02

Security improvements
- To address security issues, new Sentinel LDK 7.6 is used for building this release; most up-to-date Sentinel run-time (v7.63) is included (ID#5211, ID#5227)
Performance improvements
- Network performance and stability has been significantly improved (ID#5111, ID#4987).
- Built-in serial lines (OPA0 and TTA0) have been re-considered and alternative implementation is provided to resolve multiple issues (ID#4844, Case #00028691).
- USB physical drive support is improved (ID#3323).
- Deep queuing of disk I/O requests is implemented (ID#3144).
New configuration options and configuration changes
- Virtual PBXDA serial lines controller is implemented (ID#4776).
- DS15 and DS25 preloaded network adapter model (EW* or EI*) can be specified (ID#4886).
- New feature for the AXP emulator SRM console has been implemented to allow booting Tru64 from SAN volumes having no UDID (ID#5238).
- "\\.\Scsi<N>:<X>:<Y>:<Z>" notation is not used anymore (ID#5051).
- Soft limit on the required host CPU number is set according to the "n_of_cpus" parameter (ID#5137).
- User part of Charon configuration (set by CFG file) is reflected in the log (ID#5156).
- Some improvements of the messages in the log (ID#5356).
New licensing options.
- Hard-coded upper limit on license check interval to 168 hours is increased (ID#5031, Case #00029470).
- Hard-coded host system limits are replaced with limits encoded in the license's memory block (ID#3263).
- New configuration options "license_use_any_key" and "license_id" are implemented (ID#5289).
Installation improvements
- Charon installation wizard (InstallShell) is improved (ID#4231, ID#4915, ID#5081, ID#5176).
Charon utilities
- Charon VM Manager is improved (ID#4989, ID#4990, ID#5032, ID#5063, ID#5064, ID#5223, ID#5244, ID#5016, ID#5349).
- TapeUtil (CharonCP) is improved (ID#3589).
- "mkdskcmd" and MkDisk utilities are improved (ID#5033, ID#5142, ID#5143, ID#5225).
- "HASP License Details" is improved (ID#5027, ID#5047, ID#5214, ID#5242).
- LOGMOND utility is improved (LOGMOND invokes license_changed.bat when it sees message with code 0000040B) (ID#5000)
- Charon Network Control Center is able to display configuration options for DE500AA, DEBNI and PMAD-AA network cards (ID#5362).

New functionality introduced in version 4.8 build 183-02

New platform support
- Windows 10 Professional and Enterprise Editions, 64-bit version
- VMware ESXi 6.5
Performance improvements
- Performance is improved (ID#2381, ID#3144).
- HASP libraries have been upgraded (ID#4709, ID#4450).
- Instruction scheduling is updated with Ivy Bridge and Haswell tables (ID#4619).
- Preserving console saved state across product upgrades is implemented (ID#4782).
New configuration options and configuration changes
- Charon must be installed as a Virtual Machine service using the new "Charon VM Manager" utility. This utility also provides a central point to access all Charon utilities (ID#4870, ID#4872).
- PCI I/O Bypass controller is available. It allows to specify disk controllers as DI<x>, DR<x> and DU<x>, where x is selected according to VMS naming scheme (ID#4786).
- The default log mode has been set to "append" in the configuration templates (ID#4752).
- Updated CFG template files copyright message to year 2016 (ID#4720).
- CFG template files are updated to provide correct examples for "hw_model", "system_name", "architecture" and "dsrdb" parameters (ID#4697).
- Windows Registry path for Charon products is updated to "HKLM:\Software\Charon" (ID#4746).
New licensing options
- Field Test and Production builds offer identical functionality (ID#4552).
- One license can serve Charon instances on one host or different hosts by choice (ID#4884).
- A special utility "License Alert" is added. It monitors Charon license expiration date and warns user about it (ID#4903). 20 Jul 2017 Note: automatic installation removed when installing Charon-AXP. It has now to be installed manually.
- Software License transfer feature is disabled (ID#4787).
Installation improvements
- New installation procedure is introduced starting from this version. It is not compatible with old Charon installations, so the previous versions of Charon must be uninstalled first.
- Installation procedure is able to collect logs from the executables it runs during installation/deinstallation (ID#4756).
- New icons for utilities are introduced (ID#4973).
Charon utilities
- New Charon Virtual Machine Manager is introduced (ID#4836).
- Tape Utilities package is added (ID#3589).
- Network Control Center is not allowed anymore to change the configuration of a disabled network adapter (ID#4725).
- MkDisk utility graphics have been updated (ID#4743).
- Network Control Center is able to save log (ID#4755).
- MTD utility supports Charon-SMA format (ID#4842).
- LOGMOND utility provides sample scripts (ID#4902).

New functionality introduced in version 4.7 build 171-01

New platform support
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (please note that Server 2012 is not supported)
- VMware ESXi 6.0
- Microsoft Hyper-V on Server 2012 R2
- Please note that Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are not supported (ID#4498)
Charon product packaging
- All emulated AXP models are installed by default. Allowed AXP models are controlled by Charon license (ID#4711)
- New icons and graphical design for Charon executables, utilities and installation procedure (ID#4586, 4587, 4588, 4688)
Performance improvements
- General performance improvement up to 10% for some usage scenarios (ID#4474)
- Deep I/O queuing is implemented for virtual SCSI adapters. Using up to 8 parallel I/O threads per disk and up to 16 per controller can significantly improve I/O performance if guest applications can benefit from multi threaded I/O (ID#3144)
- Internal Charon-AXP performance counters for various subsystems (CPU, DIT, Network I/O, and Disk I/O) may be streamed to the Charon log file. The log has to be sent to Stromasys for analysis (ID#4141)
- Stability in FC Presentation mode has been improved (ID#4294)
New configuration options and configuration changes
- MPIO storage path support is implemented (ID#4328)
- Write-through caching of virtual disks is implemented; it can be set with a parameter "use_io_file_buffering = write-through". By default it is switched off. (ID#4613)
- VLANs are supported (ID#4401)
- Sample configuration files are updated with correct values for "hw_model", "system_name", "architecture" and "dsrdb" parameters (ID#4697)
- The log file language is set to English (ID#4509)
- CARON log file format switched to UTF-8 (ID#4188)
- Rotating log file switch can be configured to be triggered by maximum file size and time period (ID#4639)
- Charon console log rotation has been implemented (ID#4639)
New licensing options. Please refer to User Manual and online Knowledge Base for details, technical restrictions, and best practices (ID#2856, #4137, #4285)
- Software licensing (SL) is available. Software license is bound to physical system hardware components or virtual machine hardware components (ID#4344)
- Network licensing is available, for both hardware dongles (requires special dongle) and software licensing
- Charon instance counter on a Network license switched to instance mode from station/instance mode, which allows Charon instances to be spread around the network at user convenience. For example, a Network license with 6 Charon instances allows to run 3 instances on a first hosting server, 2 instances on a second hosting server, and one instance in a third hosting server. In the previous versions of Charon Network license controlled number of hosting systems and Charon instances per host system.
- Charon license check order can be managed via configuration file, Production and Backup license IDs can be specified (ID#4249)
- Software License can be relocated to another host
- New parameter "license_key_lookup_retry" has been introduced allowing to set a number of license retries with specified time interval for the license checks on Charon startup (ID#4399)
- License protection run time package (Sentinel) has been upgraded to the current stable version (ID#4209, 4711)
- Please note that Charon HASP runtime environment is customized by Stromasys. Environment downloaded directly from SafeNet would not provide full functionality (specifically, Software Licensing will not work). Stromasys will maintain and distribute HASP environment updates as Charon product patches if necessary
Charon utilities
- Logmond supports multi instance and rotating log configurations
- MTD utility supports SCSI Passthrough mode for tapes without Windows driver (ID#3927)
- DE602 network adapter is added to Network Control Center configuration page (ID#4655)
- Network Control Center (Network Control Center) performs Charon network driver cleanup on request (ID#4610)
- Charon utilities fully support mixed encoding in log files (ID#4642, 4646)
- mkdskcmd utility does not allow to reduce vdisk size (ID#4506)

New functionality introduced in version 4.6 build 163-03

New "HASP View" utility is able to show all the available license keys and the content of the license they contain (ID#4461)
Charon log is created in English language only, the rest of localization are disabled (ID#4509)
DS10 emulator is added to Charon-AXP/DS10 product (ID#4176)
EI device support - DE602 (Compaq NC3131) network adapter is added (ID#4185)
Sentinel Software Licensing (SL) is fully supported (ID#4344)
HASP View utility is able to display the multi site configuration license parameters and it is improved (ID#4059, 4165)
PCI device multifunction is fully supported (ID#4007)
CPU IDLEing is enabled for all Alpha emulators on OpenVMS (ID#4090)
Charon licenses can be controlled via CFG file now: it is possible to specify main and backup key (ID#4249)
PCI-to-PCI bridges are supported (ID#4428)
"license_key_lookup_retry" parameter is introduced. It allows for a number of retries with specified interval while accessing Charon license at guest startup before Charon stops. (ID#4399)
Charon supports disabling network offload features with a special option in Network Control Center (Network Control Center) (ID#4298)
Charon can be monitored by specific counters with a help of an external diagnostic data collection (ID#4385)
Since this release Charon uses UNICODE for its log files (ID#4188)
Charon license protection has been significantly improved (ID#4209)
Statistics counters for storage and network subsystems are implemented (ID#4141)
Log file messages are extended with indications of CPU "Halt"/"Run" transitions (ID#4264)
New parameter "sync_to_host" is implemented. It allows to keep TOY time always synchronized with the host's time and disable undesirable updates to the TOY from guest OS. (ID#4144)
Charon-AXP SRM console "halt" command is implemented (ID#4239)
CFG templates have been corrected and updated (ID#4240, 4369, 4377)
MkDisk utility is able to extend the existing disk container size without destroying its content (ID#4329)
EIx0_MODE environment variables of DE602 (Compaq NC3131) are implemented (ID#4366)
HASP driverless mode is supported (ID#4455)
"logmond" utility is significantly improved. Now it supports Charon rotating log and multi-instances configurations - it is able to monitor log files of all Charon instances running as services on host.
Networking part (carrier sense logic) is improved (ID#4339)
Network Control Center supports VLAN (ID#4453)
Physical PCI Fiber Channel Presentation Mode is supported (ID#4294)
The performance improvement package included into the kit is updated (ID#4424)

New functionality introduced in version 4.5 build 153-07

Charon-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi from version 4.1 Update 1 up to version 5.5
New emulated models AlphaServer DS15, AlphaServer DS25 and AlphaServer ES45 have been added to corresponding products Charon-AXP/DS10, Charon-AXP/DS20, and Charon-AXP/ES40 (ID#3523)
Configurable WWID for virtual KGPSA adapter (ID#3875)
DG devices may contain up to 5 digits in their names, for example DGA15000 (ID#3790)
SRM Console version, OpenVMS PALcode version and Tru64 UNIX PALcode version can be explicitly set (ID#3870)
All the help files have been converted to CHM format (ID#3818)
"PhysicalDrive" specification may include drive number, serial number or WWID (ID#3667)
"system_serial_number" setting is introduced to set AlphaServer's serial number (ID#4096)
Command line version of the Mkdisk utility is able to report progress of disk creation (ID#3793)
PCI board (HBA) model is logged in Charon log file (ID#3801)
InstallShell is able to upgrade old NDIS5/6 driver installed by other Charon kit (ID#3819)
"hasp_view" utility has been improved for Sentinel SL (EMS) HASP AdminMode license (ID#3847)

New functionality introduced in version 4.4 build 148-02

Charon-AXP version changed to 4.5. A license update is required (ID#3701)
Charon-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 5.1
Charon Production license dongle could be replaced with Backup or Spare dongle, and vice versa, without stopping Charon. The backup/spare dongle is only accepted if Charon instance configuration parameters remain unchanged (ID#3690)
Charon license expiration date can be updated without stopping Charon. Please note that Charon instance configuration parameters for active instances should remain unchanged (amount of CPU's etc.) (ID #2966, #3206)
Network license protection is supported by Charon-AXP. Network licensing is available from Stromasys as a service (ID#3095, 3546)
HASP_View utility is improved in order not to decrease Backup license counter (for Sentinel HASP section only), to detect Remote Desktop sessions and to view Network licenses (ID#3310, 3742, 3757, 3539, 3637)
Log rotation mechanism and improved log filtering is implemented. New log file is created once a week (ID#2281, 2608, 2989)
Missing license on startup is now logged (ID#3116, 3775)
Console log can be stored in a separate file (ID#3587)
Console variable "date" is implemented in order to read date and time from the host OS (ID#2743)
"geometry" CFG file option is introduced to specify size of tape image and, optionally, size of "early-warning" area at the end of tape image (ID#2561)
\\Changer device class has been implemented to provide access to tape changer devices on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 (ID#3369)
Installation procedure is improved, silent (batch) mode is implemented (ID#3618, 3532, 3388)
Charon Emulex PassThrough driver supports HP 82E 8Gb Dual-port PCI-e FC HBA (ID#3739)
Configuration templates are updated; CPU architecture, AXP model, system ID, and LURT could be set in the config file. Charon rejects illegal set of parameters (ID#3260, 3307, 3511, 3541)
Network Control Center reports critical issues even in silent mode (ID#3617)

New functionality introduced in version 4.2 build 142-02

Charon-AXP version changed to 4.2.
Charon-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 5.0
Emulated DEC-KGPSA-CA (Emulex LP8000 FC PCI) controller is introduced, providing users with ability to access container files and physical drives/LUNs as virtual SAN disks. Please refer to the user manual for the configuration details
Shared storage clustering support based on shared physical SCSI storage is introduced for Tru64
Shared storage clustering support based on emulated SAN disks/LUNs is introduced. VMS and Tru64 5.1 shared storage clusters are supported. Tru64 4.x shared disk clusters are not supported in the current release.
NetApp SAN storage support is introduced
"geometry" option has been added to the KZPBA controller (ID#3330)
Disk I/O performance is improved by deep queuing of I/O requests
TL891 hardware tape library support is introduced
Virtual tape size could be limited through Charon-AXP configuration file
Virtual CDROM container file can be replaced without stopping Charon
SRM console variable "date" is introduced. Accessing this variable from VMS/Tru64 provides them with the time read from the hosting server
Charon-AXP automatically replaces the old .ROM file with a new one on the first run after Charon-AXP upgrade. Please note that ROM parameters have to be reconfigured
Charon-AXP installation and uninstallation does not require Charon-AXP license to be present
Charon-AXP Spare license is supported (limited by support contract expiration date and execution counter). License viewing utility is updated
Some Charon-AXP DIT cache parameters are configurable. Those options are available under Stromasys field engineering supervision only
A standalone utility to monitor Charon log file and trigger an external batch in case of Charon-AXP license failure is introduced (ID#2415)
Charon-AXP configuration templates are updated to reflect new configuration options

New functionality introduced in version 4.1 build 129-04

Charon-AXP version changed to 4.1.
Charon-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 4.1 update 1.
Charon-AXP comes with the maximum amount of RAM allowed by emulated model. Please refer to the product SPDs for the details.
The following license information could be updated without stopping Charon-AXP: expiration date and backup time counter. This change allows Charon evaluation or annual licenses to be updated "on the fly" to the permanent production licenses or to the next year annual licenses. Please note that other Charon configuration parameters should remain unchanged.
Additional Charon-AXP instances and products could be added to the license "on the fly".
New Alpha emulated models are added to Charon-AXP/4100 product:
- AlphaServer 800 (single AXP CPU)
- AlphaServer 1000 (single AXP CPU)
- AlphaServer 1000A (single AXP CPU)
- AlphaServer 1200 (dual AXP CPUs).
IDLE Utility is supported for single CPU Alpha emulators.
Charon network packet driver name "packet_port" in Charon configuration file has been made platform independent. It is still possible to use "ndis5_chpack_port" and "ndis6_chpack_port" names of the driver, however it is recommended to update Charon-AXP configuration file (see section 5).
All network connections have "Half Duplex 10BaseT" mode by default.
The Installation procedure displays the End User Agreement and asks user to agree with it in order to proceed.
The Charon Service Management Utility has been changed to be present in the Windows Tray at all times. It can be accessed and used to manage Charon-AXP application

New functionality introduced in version 2.4 build 118-05

A new product, Charon-AXP/GS320, is now available for AlphaServer GS320 replacements. Please refer to the SPD for details
A new emulated model AlphaServer 400 supporting 1 AXP CPU and up to 1 GB of memory is included into Charon-AXP/4100
Charon-AXP supports Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
The Network Control Center supports all AXP network interfaces
DCI-1100 is supported via the pass-through driver
Support of the PBXDA-BB and PBXDA-AC serial line adapters is available via the DIGI pass-through driver
Ctrl-P, CONTINUE and CRASH commands implemented in SRM console
Charon utilities support for simplified Chinese Windows has been introduced
Logging message format and content has been improved. Logfiles are opened in append mode by default
The 'repeated messages' logging filter is enabled by default
MkDisk utility has been expanded to handle .VDISK metadata
A full de-installation removes all Charon settings and files.
SRM Console and advanced network configuration settings have been documented

New functionality introduced in version 2.3 build 108-00

A new product, Charon-AXP/4100, has been introduced. It supports the emulation of AlphaServer 2000, 2100, 4000, and 4100. The earliest supported guest OS versions are: VMS 6.2-1H3 and Tru64 4.0F. SPD is available from http://www.stromasys.com. Please refer to the Charon-AXP manual for details.
Charon-AXP is now delivered with half of the CPUs available for the particular model by default. For example, Charon-AXP/GS80 can have up to eight AXP CPUs, hence the base license includes four CPUs.
Support for 64-bit Windows Server 2008 Standard and Enterprise (SP2) Editions and 64-bit Windows Vista Business (SP2) Edition.
Multiple instances of Charon-AXP can run on a hosting server simultaneously. Please refer to the Charon-AXP manual for details.
Connection to a physical FDDI network is supported using pass-through mechanism with physical DEPFA FDDI network adapter in the hosting server.
Emulated AXP CPU performance has been improved. Please see SPDs and Product Announcements for the details, which are available from http://www.stromasys.com
Significant network stability and performance gains after fixing a problem in the rx sequencer delay algorithm.
DE435 network adapter emulation has been introduced, supporting VMS versions 6.2-1H3 and later.
For disk and tape containers on KZPBA a particular type (for example, HSZ80) can be set using the media_type parameter, which may be necessary for Tru64 to recognize them.
The Internal disk table has been extended to recognize RZ1ED, RZ1EF disk types.

New functionality introduced in version 2.2 build 104-00

Fiber Channel (SAN attached) storage can be used with emulated PCI KGPSA adapter if a specific Emulex HBA is used in the hosting server. Please refer to the User Manual for the details. The SAN target has to be configured for Charon-AXP guest operating system. The configuration has been tested with both OpenVMS and Tru64.
SRM console functionality had been improved to include FC configuration and booting commands.
On Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP physical SCSI disks and SAN LUNs can be attached to Charon-AXP using \\.\ScsiN:X:Y:Z notation. Please check the manual for details. There are three formats supported:
\\.\SCSI<port-no>:<target-id>
\\.\SCSI<port-no>:<target-id>:<lun>
\\.\SCSI<port-no>:<path-no>:<target-id>:<lun>
iSCSI disks can be attached to KZPBA SCSI controller using \\.\PhysicalDrive notation provided that they are created with Microsoft iSCSI Initiator (other initiators have not been tested).
Charon-AXP has Simplified Chinese interface and logfile if installed on Windows with Simplified Chinese localization.

...

194-02

Security improvements
- To address security issues, new Sentinel LDK 7.6 is used for building this release; most up-to-date Sentinel run-time (v7.63) is included (ID#5211, ID#5227)
Performance improvements
- Network performance and stability has been significantly improved (ID#5111, ID#4987).
- Built-in serial lines (OPA0 and TTA0) have been re-considered and alternative implementation is provided to resolve multiple issues (ID#4844, Case #00028691).
- USB physical drive support is improved (ID#3323).
- Deep queuing of disk I/O requests is implemented (ID#3144).
New configuration options and configuration changes
- Virtual PBXDA serial lines controller is implemented (ID#4776).
- DS15 and DS25 preloaded network adapter model (EW* or EI*) can be specified (ID#4886).
- New feature for the AXP emulator SRM console has been implemented to allow booting Tru64 from SAN volumes having no UDID (ID#5238).
- "\\.\Scsi<N>:<X>:<Y>:<Z>" notation is not used anymore (ID#5051).
- Soft limit on the required host CPU number is set according to the "n_of_cpus" parameter (ID#5137).
- User part of Charon configuration (set by CFG file) is reflected in the log (ID#5156).
- Some improvements of the messages in the log (ID#5356).
New licensing options.
- Hard-coded upper limit on license check interval to 168 hours is increased (ID#5031, Case #00029470).
- Hard-coded host system limits are replaced with limits encoded in the license's memory block (ID#3263).
- New configuration options "license_use_any_key" and "license_id" are implemented (ID#5289).
Installation improvements
- Charon installation wizard (InstallShell) is improved (ID#4231, ID#4915, ID#5081, ID#5176).
Charon utilities
- Charon VM Manager is improved (ID#4989, ID#4990, ID#5032, ID#5063, ID#5064, ID#5223, ID#5244, ID#5016, ID#5349).
- TapeUtil (CharonCP) is improved (ID#3589).
- "mkdskcmd" and MkDisk utilities are improved (ID#5033, ID#5142, ID#5143, ID#5225).
- "HASP License Details" is improved (ID#5027, ID#5047, ID#5214, ID#5242).
- LOGMOND utility is improved (LOGMOND invokes license_changed.bat when it sees message with code 0000040B) (ID#5000)
- Charon Network Control Center is able to display configuration options for DE500AA, DEBNI and PMAD-AA network cards (ID#5362).

New functionality introduced in version 4.8 build 183-02

New platform support
- Windows 10 Professional and Enterprise Editions, 64-bit version
- VMware ESXi 6.5
Performance improvements
- Performance is improved (ID#2381, ID#3144).
- HASP libraries have been upgraded (ID#4709, ID#4450).
- Instruction scheduling is updated with Ivy Bridge and Haswell tables (ID#4619).
- Preserving console saved state across product upgrades is implemented (ID#4782).
New configuration options and configuration changes
- Charon must be installed as a Virtual Machine service using the new "Charon VM Manager" utility. This utility also provides a central point to access all Charon utilities (ID#4870, ID#4872).
- PCI I/O Bypass controller is available. It allows to specify disk controllers as DI<x>, DR<x> and DU<x>, where x is selected according to VMS naming scheme (ID#4786).
- The default log mode has been set to "append" in the configuration templates (ID#4752).
- Updated CFG template files copyright message to year 2016 (ID#4720).
- CFG template files are updated to provide correct examples for "hw_model", "system_name", "architecture" and "dsrdb" parameters (ID#4697).
- Windows Registry path for Charon products is updated to "HKLM:\Software\Charon" (ID#4746).
New licensing options
- Field Test and Production builds offer identical functionality (ID#4552).
- One license can serve Charon instances on one host or different hosts by choice (ID#4884).
- A special utility "License Alert" is added. It monitors Charon license expiration date and warns user about it (ID#4903). 20 Jul 2017 Note: automatic installation removed when installing Charon-AXP. It has now to be installed manually.
- Software License transfer feature is disabled (ID#4787).
Installation improvements
- New installation procedure is introduced starting from this version. It is not compatible with old Charon installations, so the previous versions of Charon must be uninstalled first.
- Installation procedure is able to collect logs from the executables it runs during installation/deinstallation (ID#4756).
- New icons for utilities are introduced (ID#4973).
Charon utilities
- New Charon Virtual Machine Manager is introduced (ID#4836).
- Tape Utilities package is added (ID#3589).
- Network Control Center is not allowed anymore to change the configuration of a disabled network adapter (ID#4725).
- MkDisk utility graphics have been updated (ID#4743).
- Network Control Center is able to save log (ID#4755).
- MTD utility supports Charon-SMA format (ID#4842).
- LOGMOND utility provides sample scripts (ID#4902).

New functionality introduced in version 4.7 build 171-01

New platform support
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (please note that Server 2012 is not supported)
- VMware ESXi 6.0
- Microsoft Hyper-V on Server 2012 R2
- Please note that Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are not supported (ID#4498)
Charon product packaging
- All emulated AXP models are installed by default. Allowed AXP models are controlled by Charon license (ID#4711)
- New icons and graphical design for Charon executables, utilities and installation procedure (ID#4586, 4587, 4588, 4688)
Performance improvements
- General performance improvement up to 10% for some usage scenarios (ID#4474)
- Deep I/O queuing is implemented for virtual SCSI adapters. Using up to 8 parallel I/O threads per disk and up to 16 per controller can significantly improve I/O performance if guest applications can benefit from multi threaded I/O (ID#3144)
- Internal Charon-AXP performance counters for various subsystems (CPU, DIT, Network I/O, and Disk I/O) may be streamed to the Charon log file. The log has to be sent to Stromasys for analysis (ID#4141)
- Stability in FC Presentation mode has been improved (ID#4294)
New configuration options and configuration changes
- MPIO storage path support is implemented (ID#4328)
- Write-through caching of virtual disks is implemented; it can be set with a parameter "use_io_file_buffering = write-through". By default it is switched off. (ID#4613)
- VLANs are supported (ID#4401)
- Sample configuration files are updated with correct values for "hw_model", "system_name", "architecture" and "dsrdb" parameters (ID#4697)
- The log file language is set to English (ID#4509)
- CARON log file format switched to UTF-8 (ID#4188)
- Rotating log file switch can be configured to be triggered by maximum file size and time period (ID#4639)
- Charon console log rotation has been implemented (ID#4639)
New licensing options. Please refer to User Manual and online Knowledge Base for details, technical restrictions, and best practices (ID#2856, #4137, #4285)
- Software licensing (SL) is available. Software license is bound to physical system hardware components or virtual machine hardware components (ID#4344)
- Network licensing is available, for both hardware dongles (requires special dongle) and software licensing
- Charon instance counter on a Network license switched to instance mode from station/instance mode, which allows Charon instances to be spread around the network at user convenience. For example, a Network license with 6 Charon instances allows to run 3 instances on a first hosting server, 2 instances on a second hosting server, and one instance in a third hosting server. In the previous versions of Charon Network license controlled number of hosting systems and Charon instances per host system.
- Charon license check order can be managed via configuration file, Production and Backup license IDs can be specified (ID#4249)
- Software License can be relocated to another host
- New parameter "license_key_lookup_retry" has been introduced allowing to set a number of license retries with specified time interval for the license checks on Charon startup (ID#4399)
- License protection run time package (Sentinel) has been upgraded to the current stable version (ID#4209, 4711)
- Please note that Charon HASP runtime environment is customized by Stromasys. Environment downloaded directly from SafeNet would not provide full functionality (specifically, Software Licensing will not work). Stromasys will maintain and distribute HASP environment updates as Charon product patches if necessary
Charon utilities
- Logmond supports multi instance and rotating log configurations
- MTD utility supports SCSI Passthrough mode for tapes without Windows driver (ID#3927)
- DE602 network adapter is added to Network Control Center configuration page (ID#4655)
- Network Control Center (Network Control Center) performs Charon network driver cleanup on request (ID#4610)
- Charon utilities fully support mixed encoding in log files (ID#4642, 4646)
- mkdskcmd utility does not allow to reduce vdisk size (ID#4506)

New functionality introduced in version 4.6 build 163-03

New "HASP View" utility is able to show all the available license keys and the content of the license they contain (ID#4461)
Charon log is created in English language only, the rest of localization are disabled (ID#4509)
DS10 emulator is added to Charon-AXP/DS10 product (ID#4176)
EI device support - DE602 (Compaq NC3131) network adapter is added (ID#4185)
Sentinel Software Licensing (SL) is fully supported (ID#4344)
HASP View utility is able to display the multi site configuration license parameters and it is improved (ID#4059, 4165)
PCI device multifunction is fully supported (ID#4007)
CPU IDLEing is enabled for all Alpha emulators on OpenVMS (ID#4090)
Charon licenses can be controlled via CFG file now: it is possible to specify main and backup key (ID#4249)
PCI-to-PCI bridges are supported (ID#4428)
"license_key_lookup_retry" parameter is introduced. It allows for a number of retries with specified interval while accessing Charon license at guest startup before Charon stops. (ID#4399)
Charon supports disabling network offload features with a special option in Network Control Center (Network Control Center) (ID#4298)
Charon can be monitored by specific counters with a help of an external diagnostic data collection (ID#4385)
Since this release Charon uses UNICODE for its log files (ID#4188)
Charon license protection has been significantly improved (ID#4209)
Statistics counters for storage and network subsystems are implemented (ID#4141)
Log file messages are extended with indications of CPU "Halt"/"Run" transitions (ID#4264)
New parameter "sync_to_host" is implemented. It allows to keep TOY time always synchronized with the host's time and disable undesirable updates to the TOY from guest OS. (ID#4144)
Charon-AXP SRM console "halt" command is implemented (ID#4239)
CFG templates have been corrected and updated (ID#4240, 4369, 4377)
MkDisk utility is able to extend the existing disk container size without destroying its content (ID#4329)
EIx0_MODE environment variables of DE602 (Compaq NC3131) are implemented (ID#4366)
HASP driverless mode is supported (ID#4455)
"logmond" utility is significantly improved. Now it supports Charon rotating log and multi-instances configurations - it is able to monitor log files of all Charon instances running as services on host.
Networking part (carrier sense logic) is improved (ID#4339)
Network Control Center supports VLAN (ID#4453)
Physical PCI Fiber Channel Presentation Mode is supported (ID#4294)
The performance improvement package included into the kit is updated (ID#4424)

New functionality introduced in version 4.5 build 153-07

Charon-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi from version 4.1 Update 1 up to version 5.5
New emulated models AlphaServer DS15, AlphaServer DS25 and AlphaServer ES45 have been added to corresponding products Charon-AXP/DS10, Charon-AXP/DS20, and Charon-AXP/ES40 (ID#3523)
Configurable WWID for virtual KGPSA adapter (ID#3875)
DG devices may contain up to 5 digits in their names, for example DGA15000 (ID#3790)
SRM Console version, OpenVMS PALcode version and Tru64 UNIX PALcode version can be explicitly set (ID#3870)
All the help files have been converted to CHM format (ID#3818)
"PhysicalDrive" specification may include drive number, serial number or WWID (ID#3667)
"system_serial_number" setting is introduced to set AlphaServer's serial number (ID#4096)
Command line version of the Mkdisk utility is able to report progress of disk creation (ID#3793)
PCI board (HBA) model is logged in Charon log file (ID#3801)
InstallShell is able to upgrade old NDIS5/6 driver installed by other Charon kit (ID#3819)
"hasp_view" utility has been improved for Sentinel SL (EMS) HASP AdminMode license (ID#3847)

New functionality introduced in version 4.4 build 148-02

Charon-AXP version changed to 4.5. A license update is required (ID#3701)
Charon-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 5.1
Charon Production license dongle could be replaced with Backup or Spare dongle, and vice versa, without stopping Charon. The backup/spare dongle is only accepted if Charon instance configuration parameters remain unchanged (ID#3690)
Charon license expiration date can be updated without stopping Charon. Please note that Charon instance configuration parameters for active instances should remain unchanged (amount of CPU's etc.) (ID #2966, #3206)
Network license protection is supported by Charon-AXP. Network licensing is available from Stromasys as a service (ID#3095, 3546)
HASP_View utility is improved in order not to decrease Backup license counter (for Sentinel HASP section only), to detect Remote Desktop sessions and to view Network licenses (ID#3310, 3742, 3757, 3539, 3637)
Log rotation mechanism and improved log filtering is implemented. New log file is created once a week (ID#2281, 2608, 2989)
Missing license on startup is now logged (ID#3116, 3775)
Console log can be stored in a separate file (ID#3587)
Console variable "date" is implemented in order to read date and time from the host OS (ID#2743)
"geometry" CFG file option is introduced to specify size of tape image and, optionally, size of "early-warning" area at the end of tape image (ID#2561)
\\Changer device class has been implemented to provide access to tape changer devices on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 (ID#3369)
Installation procedure is improved, silent (batch) mode is implemented (ID#3618, 3532, 3388)
Charon Emulex PassThrough driver supports HP 82E 8Gb Dual-port PCI-e FC HBA (ID#3739)
Configuration templates are updated; CPU architecture, AXP model, system ID, and LURT could be set in the config file. Charon rejects illegal set of parameters (ID#3260, 3307, 3511, 3541)
Network Control Center reports critical issues even in silent mode (ID#3617)

New functionality introduced in version 4.2 build 142-02

Charon-AXP version changed to 4.2.
Charon-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 5.0
Emulated DEC-KGPSA-CA (Emulex LP8000 FC PCI) controller is introduced, providing users with ability to access container files and physical drives/LUNs as virtual SAN disks. Please refer to the user manual for the configuration details
Shared storage clustering support based on shared physical SCSI storage is introduced for Tru64
Shared storage clustering support based on emulated SAN disks/LUNs is introduced. VMS and Tru64 5.1 shared storage clusters are supported. Tru64 4.x shared disk clusters are not supported in the current release.
NetApp SAN storage support is introduced
"geometry" option has been added to the KZPBA controller (ID#3330)
Disk I/O performance is improved by deep queuing of I/O requests
TL891 hardware tape library support is introduced
Virtual tape size could be limited through Charon-AXP configuration file
Virtual CDROM container file can be replaced without stopping Charon
SRM console variable "date" is introduced. Accessing this variable from VMS/Tru64 provides them with the time read from the hosting server
Charon-AXP automatically replaces the old .ROM file with a new one on the first run after Charon-AXP upgrade. Please note that ROM parameters have to be reconfigured
Charon-AXP installation and uninstallation does not require Charon-AXP license to be present
Charon-AXP Spare license is supported (limited by support contract expiration date and execution counter). License viewing utility is updated
Some Charon-AXP DIT cache parameters are configurable. Those options are available under Stromasys field engineering supervision only
A standalone utility to monitor Charon log file and trigger an external batch in case of Charon-AXP license failure is introduced (ID#2415)
Charon-AXP configuration templates are updated to reflect new configuration options

New functionality introduced in version 4.1 build 129-04

Charon-AXP version changed to 4.1.
Charon-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 4.1 update 1.
Charon-AXP comes with the maximum amount of RAM allowed by emulated model. Please refer to the product SPDs for the details.
The following license information could be updated without stopping Charon-AXP: expiration date and backup time counter. This change allows Charon evaluation or annual licenses to be updated "on the fly" to the permanent production licenses or to the next year annual licenses. Please note that other Charon configuration parameters should remain unchanged.
Additional Charon-AXP instances and products could be added to the license "on the fly".
New Alpha emulated models are added to Charon-AXP/4100 product:
- AlphaServer 800 (single AXP CPU)
- AlphaServer 1000 (single AXP CPU)
- AlphaServer 1000A (single AXP CPU)
- AlphaServer 1200 (dual AXP CPUs).
IDLE Utility is supported for single CPU Alpha emulators.
Charon network packet driver name "packet_port" in Charon configuration file has been made platform independent. It is still possible to use "ndis5_chpack_port" and "ndis6_chpack_port" names of the driver, however it is recommended to update Charon-AXP configuration file (see section 5).
All network connections have "Half Duplex 10BaseT" mode by default.
The Installation procedure displays the End User Agreement and asks user to agree with it in order to proceed.
The Charon Service Management Utility has been changed to be present in the Windows Tray at all times. It can be accessed and used to manage Charon-AXP application

New functionality introduced in version 2.4 build 118-05

A new product, Charon-AXP/GS320, is now available for AlphaServer GS320 replacements. Please refer to the SPD for details
A new emulated model AlphaServer 400 supporting 1 AXP CPU and up to 1 GB of memory is included into Charon-AXP/4100
Charon-AXP supports Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
The Network Control Center supports all AXP network interfaces
DCI-1100 is supported via the pass-through driver
Support of the PBXDA-BB and PBXDA-AC serial line adapters is available via the DIGI pass-through driver
Ctrl-P, CONTINUE and CRASH commands implemented in SRM console
Charon utilities support for simplified Chinese Windows has been introduced
Logging message format and content has been improved. Logfiles are opened in append mode by default
The 'repeated messages' logging filter is enabled by default
MkDisk utility has been expanded to handle .VDISK metadata
A full de-installation removes all Charon settings and files.
SRM Console and advanced network configuration settings have been documented

New functionality introduced in version 2.3 build 108-00

A new product, Charon-AXP/4100, has been introduced. It supports the emulation of AlphaServer 2000, 2100, 4000, and 4100. The earliest supported guest OS versions are: VMS 6.2-1H3 and Tru64 4.0F. SPD is available from http://www.stromasys.com. Please refer to the Charon-AXP manual for details.
Charon-AXP is now delivered with half of the CPUs available for the particular model by default. For example, Charon-AXP/GS80 can have up to eight AXP CPUs, hence the base license includes four CPUs.
Support for 64-bit Windows Server 2008 Standard and Enterprise (SP2) Editions and 64-bit Windows Vista Business (SP2) Edition.
Multiple instances of Charon-AXP can run on a hosting server simultaneously. Please refer to the Charon-AXP manual for details.
Connection to a physical FDDI network is supported using pass-through mechanism with physical DEPFA FDDI network adapter in the hosting server.
Emulated AXP CPU performance has been improved. Please see SPDs and Product Announcements for the details, which are available from http://www.stromasys.com
Significant network stability and performance gains after fixing a problem in the rx sequencer delay algorithm.
DE435 network adapter emulation has been introduced, supporting VMS versions 6.2-1H3 and later.
For disk and tape containers on KZPBA a particular type (for example, HSZ80) can be set using the media_type parameter, which may be necessary for Tru64 to recognize them.
The Internal disk table has been extended to recognize RZ1ED, RZ1EF disk types.

New functionality introduced in version 2.2 build 104-00

Fiber Channel (SAN attached) storage can be used with emulated PCI KGPSA adapter if a specific Emulex HBA is used in the hosting server. Please refer to the User Manual for the details. The SAN target has to be configured for Charon-AXP guest operating system. The configuration has been tested with both OpenVMS and Tru64.
SRM console functionality had been improved to include FC configuration and booting commands.
On Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP physical SCSI disks and SAN LUNs can be attached to Charon-AXP using \\.\ScsiN:X:Y:Z notation. Please check the manual for details. There are three formats supported:
\\.\SCSI<port-no>:<target-id>
\\.\SCSI<port-no>:<target-id>:<lun>
\\.\SCSI<port-no>:<path-no>:<target-id>:<lun>
iSCSI disks can be attached to KZPBA SCSI controller using \\.\PhysicalDrive notation provided that they are created with Microsoft iSCSI Initiator (other initiators have not been tested).
Charon-AXP has Simplified Chinese interface and logfile if installed on Windows with Simplified Chinese localization.

Div

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Problems fixed in previous versions

Problems fixed in version 4.11 build 204-15

Virtual Machine Manager: if a virtual machine startup type was set to disabled, an error occurred when trying to start it (error 1058). Disabled virtual machines have now a specific icon and cannot be started from the Virtual Machine Manager (ID#5687)
Virtual Machine Manager: disable confirmation on EXIT as this has no impact on running virtual machines (ID#5730)
The command 'mkdskcmd' with parameter '-l' now reports correctly disk sizes (ID#5735)
Example: C:\WINDOWS\system32>"C:\Program Files\CHARON\Build_20415\x86\MkDskCmd.exe" -l
Setup default identification DEC HSG80 V88F for FC-attached disks (KGPSA) / Case 00033770 (ID#5731)

Problems fixed in version 4.11 build 204-14

...

The message "Failed to locate the "TTAx" for the line xx" displayed for intentionally not configured TTA lines is removed (ID#2650)
Sometimes the "Failed to create symbolic link to the packet driver" error blocks Charon-AXP normal networking despite its configuration is correct (ID#2554, 3182)
UETP fails on a tape image if Charon runs on VMware (ID#2427)
Unable to install AS2x00/AS4x00 emulators ("--install" command) (ID#2294)
Windows Server 2008 CN: "Invisible" Installation Log (empty log file) (ID#2678)
ds10l.exe installation fails on Win2008 Chinese version (ID#2685)
DE435 is offline with VMS 6.2-1H3 on AS4100 (ID#2680)
The firmware does not detect DE450 adapter and therefore does not print it in the device list (ID#2652)
DE450 remains OFFLINE in VMS (ID#2653)
Problem using CDROM on an HP blade server via USB (ID#2651)
Digital UNIX 4.0B fails to install on AlphaServer 400 (ID#2631)
Console logs are not appended to by default (ID#2628)
AS400 Emulator crash while installing Digital UNIX 4.0F (ID#2619)
AS2000 and AS2100 unable to "create an instance of the component dec_21040" (ID#2597)
Incorrect behavior on HALT command in kernel mode (ID#2595)
ES40 Emulator crashed when performing the SWINGBENCH test (ID#2586)
"-FILE" boot option of the SRM console was not implemented (ID#2102)
A file "mkdisk.vtable" is absent in the kit -- without it MKDISK cannot start (ID#2589).
The configuration template for the AS400 model has incorrect HW_MODEL syntax and is missing the PKB bus (ID#2373).
Incorrect text encoding in the NetDiag help on Chinese systems (ID#2373).
Tru64 V5.1B was unable to load driver for DEC 21040 PCI Ethernet Adapter (ID#2304).
Charon-AXP crashed on UETP test (ID#2348).
Ticket #7079: Charon crashed on a production system with segmentation violation (ID#2389)
The old .BIN files lead to Charon misbehavior. It should be replaced for new one (ID#2447)
A disk device goes offline suddenly with the "mount verification in progress" message (ID#2512)
Tru64/tar utility is unable to write if the output device is a tape. (ID#2383)
Failed to unload the virtual tape on Tru64. (ID#2385)
VMS 7.2-1 booted on DS10L and DS20 with FC Pass-Through enabled hangs VMS. (ID#2390)
Some configured disks disappeared from the OpenVMS environment (SRM console) under Charon-AXP/B108 AS4100.(ID#2393)
Charon-AXP/ES40 is unable to boot Tru64 from FC attached disk (ID#2412).
TOY data (including data/time) is not saved (ID#2414).
Install procedure does not issue warnings when unsupported host platform is used (ID#2431).
Putty Console does not work (no proper session is available) when Charon-AXP runs as a service (ID#2452).
Ticket #7682: "BOOT EWA0" command in the SRM console leads to the emulators hanging (ID#2469).
ID#2470 - Ticket #7684: BOOT DKA500 may boot from wrong device.
ID#2471 - Ticket #7687: Pressing "F6" button terminates emulator. The default behavior has been changed to "none".
Ticket #7716: SRM console HELP command is missing (ID#2472).
Network Control Center utility does not recognize teamed interfaces (ID#2331)
Some license messages are absent in the LOG file, for example "the license is expired" (ID#2040)
NFS issue: "cp" command never ends and the "cp" process becomes zombie (ID#2257)
SRM variables get saved in wrong console variables (ID#2295)
Handling of some exceptional cases in DIT2 due to resource lock must be implemented to avoid possible overflow (ID#2404).
Grammar error in message text: some typos have been corrected (ID#2428)
Embedded network adapters and additional ones (having the same name) conflict without any notification (ID#2429)
System hangs OpenVMS 7.1-2 with printing jobs (ID#2441)
Compilation of C code using FP flags /FLOAT=IEEE /IEEE=DENORM result in zero values (ID#2446)
log_method="append" does not work if specified separately from the other configuration commands for the logging definition (ID#2450).
Utilities help does not start on "F1" on Windows 2008 / Vista operating systems (ID#2498)
Ultrium tape drive fails on all VMS commands (ID#2386)
Ticket #7774: Problems NDIS6 driver - memory leak was found (ID#2490)
Many question marks sometimes displayed in the Network Control Center Chinese help file (ID#2373)
Tape error: "-BACKUP-F-NOTANSI, tape is not valid ANSI format" (ID#2521)
Exception (C0000005): Segmentation violation occurs on different configuration and applications (ID#2527, 2528, 2534, 2510)
The OpenVMS V8.3 CPUSANITY bugcheck while performing KGPSA initialization
Outgoing FTP hang problem on GS80/GS160 models (ID#1999)
A problem with Fortran compiled code generating exceptions (ID#145)
Several problems with physical tapes including tape initialization, label handling, tape restore and Files-11 file system on the tape
A problem reporting version 2.2 instead of 2.3 in the SRM console
A problem with VMS freezing during shutdown
A problem with freezing VMS boot after "%PKQDRIVER-W- PKA0, Chip reset failed, trying again" error message
A problem with EW devices not showing up at AS2x00 CRM console
A problem with multi instance configuration preventing more than one Charon-AXP instance from running
A problem with certain CPU affinity configurations causing "division by zero" crash
"Back" button does not always work during installation
An error message could appear during uninstallation of Charon-AXP through Control Panel
Setting particular disk and tape types with media_type parameter on KZPBA is not supported for \\PhysicalDriveX configuration style
Emulated PCI network adapter DE435 is not recognized in the AXP SRM console, however it is recognized and works for the guest OS.
Charon-AXP may wrongly report that no license is present if the correct license is present.
Too many scheduled starts and stops of Charon-AXP service in a short period of time could cause Charon-AXP crash.
AlphaServer model 2100 could have problems with initializing of the network controller (DECchip 21040).
Charon Network Control Center utility does not have proper Simplified Chinese interface.
Ultrium SCSI-1 DAT-72 tape drives currently do not work with Charon-AXP.
Virtual tape cannot be unloaded and container file replaced on Tru64.

Page Comparison

Versions Compared

Old Version 4

New Version Current

Key

Table of contents

Products included in the Charon-AXP

4.12 for Windows 64-bit

Hosting hardware requirements and configuration recommendations

Problems fixed and other changes

Build 210-

Build 210-07

Build 210-06

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Build 210-04

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Configuration changes required when upgrading from previous versions of Charon-AXP to version 4.12

Notes related to upgrade from previous version

Known restrictions of version 4.12

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Build 210-08

Build 210-07

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Build 210-05

Build 210-04

Build 210-03

Build 210-02

Build 210-01

Build 210-00

Configuration changes required when upgrading from previous versions of Charon-AXP to version 4.12

Notes related to upgrade from previous version

Known restrictions of version 4.12

New functionality introduced in previous versions

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-14

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-11

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-10

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-09

New functionality introduced in previous versions

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-15

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-14

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-11

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-10

New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-09

New functionality introduced in version 4.10 build 202-03

New functionality introduced in version 4.

9 build

New functionality introduced in version 4.9 build 194-02

New functionality introduced in version 4.8 build 183-02

New functionality introduced in version 4.7 build 171-01

New functionality introduced in version 4.6 build 163-03

New functionality introduced in version 4.5 build 153-07

New functionality introduced in version 4.4 build 148-02

New functionality introduced in version 4.2 build 142-02

New functionality introduced in version 4.1 build 129-04

New functionality introduced in version 2.4 build 118-05

New functionality introduced in version 2.3 build 108-00

New functionality introduced in version 2.2 build 104-00

194-02

New functionality introduced in version 4.8 build 183-02

New functionality introduced in version 4.7 build 171-01

New functionality introduced in version 4.6 build 163-03

New functionality introduced in version 4.5 build 153-07

New functionality introduced in version 4.4 build 148-02

New functionality introduced in version 4.2 build 142-02

New functionality introduced in version 4.1 build 129-04

New functionality introduced in version 2.4 build 118-05

New functionality introduced in version 2.3 build 108-00

New functionality introduced in version 2.2 build 104-00

Problems fixed in previous versions

Problems fixed in version 4.11 build 204-15

Problems fixed in version 4.11 build 204-14

Related Documents