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When a CHARON Virtual Machine (VM) is created from a template using the CHARON Virtual Machine Manager, it has to be updated to meet the desired configuration.
This configuration is represented as a text file ("configuration file") containing some specific keywords to define the main settings such as the text-based configuration file is copied from a template file. This configuration file must be customized for your specific configuration. The configuration file consists of directives written in the Charon-AXP "configuration syntax" which define all aspects of the emulated system, including amount of memory, number of CPUs, peripheral devices as well as specifics of CHARON VM executions such as name of VM log file, number of host CPUs used for emulation, etc.To change , the location of various associated files, to name some examples.

To edit the configuration file, open the CHARON Virtual Machine Manager from its shortcut on Desktop / Start menu or from the tray menu item, select the target CHARON VM and press the "Edit Configuration" button:

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Alpha model specification

The first configuration statement is the specification of the exact HP Alpha hardware model to emulate, for example:

set session hw_model = AlphaServer_ES40

You must leave this line untouchedThis line must not be changed.

If you create the CHARON VM configuration file from scratch, it must be the very first uncommented line in the configuration file.

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set session log_method = append
#set session log_method = overwrite
#set session log = "AlphaServer_ES40.log"

Rotating log (default)

By default the CHARON VM default CHARON utilizes a so-called "rotating log" methodmechanism. This means that a new default log file is always created each time the CHARON VM starts and can switch to another log file if the size of the log file exceeds 64Kb (previous log files are keptthis behavior can be changed with the "set session log_file_size" and "set session log_rotation_period" parameters; see more details in the "General Settings" chapter of this guide).

This mode is turned on if all the log parameters above are disabled (commented out) or the "session_log" parameter is pointing to a directory rather than to a file. If a directory is specified, the log files will be created in that directory.

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Note that the number of the specified host CPUs must correspond to the number of the emulated CPUs (one host CPU for one emulated CPU; this value is specific for each HP Alpha model) and number of CPUs needed for CHARON application itself ("n_of_io_cpus").

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The example above directs CHARON VM to use 2 host CPUs for CHARON I/O operations.

Note that the number of the specified CPUs dedicated to CHARON VM I/O operations must correspond to the total number of available for CHARON CPUs (restricted by "affinity" parameter if needed) and the number of the virtual HP Alpha CPUs to be emulated.

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Setting a specific

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Alpha model

CHARON-AXP allows to specify an exact model of HP Alpha.

For example for HP AlphaServer ES40 family the template configuration file contains the following options:

#============================================================================
#
#

AlphaServer

ES40

6/500
#
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------

#set

ace

cpu_architecture

=

EV6
#set

rom

dsrdb[0]

=

1816

system_name

=

"AlphaServer

ES40

6/500"
#set

rom

version[1]

=

1.98-4

version[2]

=

1.92-5

#============================================================================
#
#

AlphaServer

ES40

6/667
#
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------

set

ace

cpu_architecture

=

EV67
set

rom

dsrdb[0]

=

1820

system_name

=

"AlphaServer

ES40

6/667"

Just uncomment the provided lines to apply a certain model (It is "AlphaServer ES40 6/667" in the example above).

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If the CHARON host does not contain enough CPUs to emulate full range of the CPUs provided by a certain HP Alpha model, it is possible to direct the CHARON VM to reduce the number of emulated Alpha CPUs:

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This parameter can also be used to avoid warning messages in the log if the number of CPUs allowed by the license is less than the default number of CPUs of the emulated HP Alpha model.

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The TOY and ROM containers have to be configured. Their presence depends on the HP Alpha model. It is always recommended to enable them. If a container file of the given name does not exist, starting the CHARON VM will create it.

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The amount of RAM is specified in MB. It cannot exceed or be lower than certain values specific for each HP Alpha model. It is very important to keep the listed predefined increment between possible memory values.

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Note that in some particular orders your license may restrict the maximum RAM amount of each HP Alpha model.

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The next step is the specification of the HP Alpha console (OPA0) serial line.

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Option	Description
line	Mapping to host serial line, "COM<n>:".
port	Mapping to an IP port of the CHARON host. Using this mapping it is possible to connect to the CHARON console and disconnect from it at any time.
application	Starting some application (typically terminal emulator) with its specific options and switches to communicate to CHARON using the IP port defined by the "port" parameter (see above)
alias	Define some meaningful name for "COM1" and "COM2". Usually it is "OPA0" for "COM1" and "TTA0" for "COM2" (see below)

The second console line "TTA0" can be also optionally configured (for 1 CPU models such as HP AlphaServer 400, HP AlphaServer 800, HP AlphaServer 1000, HP AlphaServer 1000A, HP AlphaServer DS10, HP AlphaServer DS10L and HP and AlphaServer DS15):

#set COM2 alias = TTA0 line = "COM2:" #set COM2 alias = TTA0 port = 10000 #set COM2 alias = TTA0 port = 10000 application = "tta0.ht" set COM2 alias = TTA0 port = 10000 application = "putty -load TTA0 -P 10000" #set COM2 alias = TTA0 port = 10000 application = "c:\kea\user\tta0.ktc"

Note that additional parameters for the CHARON VM serial lines configuration can be added. Follow this link for details.

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Exit on pressing F6 button

Despite the fact that the CHARON VM can stop with the "power off" command entered at SRM console level, it is recommended to set a hot key to stop the VM from the console (when the console is accessed remotely for example):

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This line allows the CHARON VM to be stopped by pressing the "F6" keyThe following directive configures the emulator to exit immediately when the F6 key sequence is sent to the emulator console:

set OPA0 stop_on = F6

This means that if the F6 key is pressed in the terminal emulator being used to connect to the console (PuTTY, for example), the emulator will exit immediately.

Please note that the emulator can be stopped when at the SRM prompt ("P00>>>") by type power off, as well as from the Virtual Machine Manager. To shut down the guest safely, Stromasys recommends the following procedure:

Shut down the guest OS (OpenVMS/Tru64 UNIX)
Wait for the SRM prompt ("P00>>>")
Type power off at the SRM prompt
The connection to the console will be lost when the emulator exits, which means the terminal emulator window will probaly disappear.
At this point you can stop or restart the emulator host safely

Stromasys does not recommend enabling this feature. It means that any person (or software) which connects to the console port on the emulator host can stop the emulator and thus "pull the virtual power cable" from the OpenVMS or Tru64 UNIX guest. In particular, many organizations have deployed automated port scanners in their datacenters to discover open ports on the systems in the network. Many such port-scanning solutions, if they are able to connect to an open port, will next try to send data to the port. In many cases this data can be interpreted as the stop sequence and cause the emulator to exit.

If you must allow incoming connections to the console port, you should configure the Windows firewall with a "whitelist" of IP addresses from which such connections are allowed, and disallow all other addresses.

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Some network adapters available in CHARON-AXP are preloaded (for example, HP AlphaServer DS15 contains 2 preloaded adapters EWA and EWB), so their configuration in CHARON VM is even more simple:

load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface = "connection:Charon"

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Please note:

CHARON supports VLAN adapters. If used, proceed with their installation and configuration according to the network adapter vendor User's Guide and then use the resulting VLAN interface the same way as the regular network interface.

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The AlphaServer DS15 and DS25 contain two built-in PCI Ethernet adapters. Models and names (EI* or EW*) of them depend on configuration addon. Choose one of the two or none, but not both. The first instantiates onboard network interfaces as EIA and EWA. While the second - EWA and EWB (enabled by default for backward compatibility)
Example:
#include ds25-onboard-nics.icfg include ds25-onboard-nics-ew.icfg

Follow this link for more details of CHARON-AXP network controllers configuration.

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File representing a physical disk of the HP Alpha system (disk image)
- "<file-name>.vdisk"
  These files can be created from scratch with "MkDisk" utility. Data and OS disks backups are transferred from the original system via tapes or network and restored into these container files.
  Mapping may also include the full path, for example: "C:\My disks\my_boot_disk.vdisk". If the path is not specified, the disk images are expected to be in the CHARON VM home directory.
  WarningUsing
  Important note: using compressed folders to store virtual disks and tapes is not supported
  .
Physical disk
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive<N>"
  Be careful not to destroy all the information from the disk dedicated to CHARON VM by mistake.
  These disks must not be formatted by the host OS.
  .
Physical disk by its WWID
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID =XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX)"
  Be careful not to destroy all the information from the disk dedicated to CHARON VM by mistake.
  These disks must not be formatted by the host OS.
  DevID addresses the target physical disk by its WWID (hexadecimal 128-bit identifier assigned to the disk drive by its manufacturer/originator).
  Example:
  set PKA container[100]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID= 6008-05F3-0005-2950-BF8E-0B86-A0C7-0001)"
  .
iSCSI disks
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget = <iSCSI target>, LUN = <LUN number>)"
  
  Parameter Description
  iScsiTarget Addresses the disk by its iSCSI target name.
  LUN Specifies the LUN on the connected iSCSI disk.
  Example:
  
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  set PKA container[200]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget= iqn.2008-04:iscsi.charon-target-test1, LUN= 1)"
  
  .

SCSI device unknown to Windows for direct mapping, for example, a SCSI disk or tape reader

"\\.\Scsi<N>:<X>:<Y>:<Z>"
The values of N, X, Y and Z can be collected using special utility "Host Device Check" included in the CHARON distributive - or manually by investigation of the devices connected to CHARON host in the "Device Manager" applet.

Parameter	Description
N	A logical number assigned by host operating system (Microsoft Windows) to logical or host’s physical storage resource such as physical SCSI HBA
X	An internal SCSI bus number (usually 0) on host’s physical SCSI HBA
Y	A SCSI ID of physical SCSI target device attached to host’s physical SCSI HBA
Z	A logical unit number inside physical SCSI target device attached to host’s physical SCSI HBA

.

CD-ROM device
- "\\.\CdRom<N>"
  .
ISO file for reading distribution CD-ROM image
- "<file-name>.iso"
  Mapping may also include the full path, for example: "C:\My disks\vms_distributive.iso". If the path is not specified, the CD-ROM images are expected to be in the CHARON VM home directory.
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Host tape device
- "\\.\Tape<N>"
  .
File representing the tape (tape image)
- Using
  "<file-name>.vtape"
  These files are created automatically.
  Mapping may also include a full path, for example: "C:\My tapes\backup.vtape". If the path is not specified, the tape images are expected to be in the CHARON VM home directory.
  Warning
  
  Important note: using compressed folders to store virtual disks and tapes is not supported.
  .
Floppy drive
- "\\.\A:"
  .
Other type of drive, for example magneto-optical drive
- "\\.\<N>:"
  .

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It is possible to load several KZPBA controllers: DKB, DKC, etc. by configuring specific placement for them on the PCI bus. It is discussed in details in the "Configuration details" chapter of this Guide.

Some HP Alpha systems emulated by CHARON-AXP have already one or two KZPBA controllers pre-loaded. If the system has only one preloaded controller, the template configuration file usually provides some sample line on how to add another one. For example:

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They can be configured in 3 modes:

Below is an example of a KGPSA-CA controller loading:

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Follow this link for details on the KGPSA-CA controllers configuration.

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File representing a physical disk of the HP Alpha system (disk image)
- "<file-name>.vdisk"
  These files can be created from scratch with "MkDisk" utility. Data and OS disks backups are transferred from the original system via tapes or network and restored into these container files.
  Mapping may also include the full path, for example: "C:\My disks\my_boot_disk.vdisk". If the path is not specified, the disk images are expected to be in the CHARON VM home directory.
  WarningUsing
  Important note: using compressed folders to store virtual disks and tapes is not supported.
  .
Physical disk
- "\\.\PhysicalDriveN"
  Be careful not to destroy all the information from the disk dedicated to CHARON VM by mistake.
  These disks must not be formatted by the host OS.
  .
Physical disk by its WWID
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID =XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX)"
  Be careful not to destroy all the information from the disk dedicated to CHARON VM by mistake.
  These disks must not be formatted by the host OS.
  DevID addresses the target physical disk by its WWID (hexadecimal 128-bit identifier assigned to the disk drive by its manufacturer/originator).
  Example:
  set PKA container[100]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID= 6008-05F3-0005-2950-BF8E-0B86-A0C7-0001)"
  .
iSCSI disks
- "\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget = <iSCSI target>, LUN = <LUN number>)"
  iScsiTarget addresses the disk by its iSCSI target name. LUN specifies LUN on the connected iSCSI disk.
  Example:
  
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  set PKA container[200]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget= iqn.2008-04:iscsi.charon-target-test1, LUN= 1)"
  
  .

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Pay attention to the proper placement of the emulated DEFPA adapter on the virtual HP Alpha PCI bus (it is controlled by "bus", "device", "function", "irq" and "irq_bus" parameters). Refer to this chapter of this Guide for more information.

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Optionally it is possible to configure the folIowing models of PBXDA-xx family controllers.

VIrtual PBXDA-xx

Syntax for loading PBXDA-xx family serial lines adapters:

#load PBXDA/DIGI <name>
#load PBXDA_BA/DIGI <name> #load PBXDA_BB/DIGI <name> #load PBXDA_AC/DIGI <name>

Example:

load PBXDA_AC/DIGI TXA

The adapter instance name ("TXA" in the example above) is used then for parametrization, for example:

set TXA line[2]="COM1:"
set TXA port[3]=1706

The numbers in the square brackets represent line number on the virtual PBXDA adapter starting from 0.

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Pay attention to the proper placement of the emulated PBXDA-xx adapter on the virtual HP Alpha PCI bus (it is controlled by "bus", "device", "function", "irq" and "irq_bus" parameters). Refer to this chapter of this Guide for more information.

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Non-US-EN installations of Windows may present “Location:” string in local language, but "host_bus_location" parameter requires English notation, so the words “PCI”, “bus”, “device”, and “function” must be specified in English.

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Auto boot

The CHARON VM Charon-AXP can be configured to automatically boot an operating system at start up immediately after it has started by specifying the default boot device and setting the 'auto_action' parameter to 'restart' from the console.

Example: dka0 is defined as the default boot device

>>>P00>>>set bootdef_dev dka0
>>>P00>>>set auto_action restart

Network boot

Charon-AXP can be configured to boot on network if the legacy operating system allows it via MOP. MOPv3 (DECnet) and MOPv4 (LANCP) are supported.

Usage/example:

P00>>>boot [-flags ...] [-file ...] ewa0

Both EW and EI adapters are supported for MOP network boot.

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Versions Compared

Old Version 57

New Version Current

Key

Alpha model specification

Rotating log (default)

Setting a specific

Alpha model

Exit on pressing F6 button

Anchor
KGPSACA1
KGPSACA1
KGPSA-CA mapping to the host resources

VIrtual PBXDA-xx

Auto boot

Network boot

Parameter	Description
iScsiTarget	Addresses the disk by its iSCSI target name.
LUN	Specifies the LUN on the connected iSCSI disk.

Page Comparison

Versions Compared

Old Version 57

New Version Current

Key

Alpha model specification

Rotating log (default)

Setting a specific

Alpha model

Exit on pressing F6 button

AnchorKGPSACA1KGPSACA1KGPSA-CA mapping to the host resources

VIrtual PBXDA-xx

Auto boot

Network boot

Anchor
KGPSACA1
KGPSACA1
KGPSA-CA mapping to the host resources