Versions Compared

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

Anchor
TOC
TOC
Include Page
KBCOMMON:KB-CSSstyle
KBCOMMON:KB-CSSstyle

...

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP model

Minimal number of host CPU cores

Recommended number of host CPU cores

VAX 6610

2

4

VAX 6620

3

4

VAX 6630

4

6

VAX 6640

6

8

VAX 6650

8

12

VAX 6660

8

12

Other models22

When starting, the CHARON-VAX software checks the available number of host CPU cores. Currently, this check is based on the maximum number of VAX CPUs that can be emulated, not on the number of the actually configured VAX CPUs. Therefore the number of host CPU cores recommended for the maximum number of emulated CPUs - as shown in the right column of the table above - must be available. If the available number of host CPU cores is below this number, CHARON-VAX will issue a warning message even if the requirements for the configured number of VAX CPUs are fulfilled. The CHARON-VAX software will work despite this warning if the requirements for the configured number of VAX CPUs are fulfilled.

Note

Hyperthreading must be switched off completely. Disable hyperthreading in the BIOS settings of the physical host or, for a VMware virtual machine, edit the virtual machine properties, select the Resources tab then select Advanced CPU. Set the Hyperthreaded Core Sharing mode to None.

...

Info

Starting with ESXi 6.5, it is not possible to select E1000 adapter when a new virtual machine is created using Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 and 2016 templates.

The following workarounds are available:

  • Import the virtual machine from an older version of ESXi
  • Do not select "Windows Server 2012", "Windows Server 2016" or "Windows 10/64bit" during virtual machine creation but select "Windows Server 2008" or "Other/Other 64bit" for example.

...

Note

All antivirus, screen saver, automatic (scheduled) backup and any other CPU consuming software as well as software that is able to temporarily lock CHARON files (such as automatic indexing) must be turned off, uninstalled and disabled. Alternatively it is also possible to exclude all CHARON executables and material folders from scanning for viruses, but please note that scanning slows down CHARON host anyway - it may be critical for some installations requiring maximum performance.

The power scheme must be set to "High Performance" with all the "Sleep" and "Standby" modes turned off.

The automatic installation of Microsoft updates must be disabled. MS updates to the CHARON host must be done only in specific service maintainence periods established by the system administrator. Before applying new updates one must shutdown the operating system running on CHARON and stop all the running CHARON instances and services.


Note

Save Secure boot is not supported by CHARON at the moment since in this case host OS will not accept signature of distributed NDIS drivers needed for CHARON networking. Disable save secure boot or use CHARON without networking (select "Ignore" when installation procedure reports that NDIS driver is not signed).


Div
classpagebreak



In case a network-wide license (red dongle or software license) is going to be used, the following operations have to be performed:

  • On server side (where network license will reside): open port 1947 for both TCP and UDP
  • On the client side, if broadcast search for remote licenses is to be used, UDP traffic from port 1947 of the license server to ports 30000-65535 of the client must be permitted.
  • Both on server and client sides: setup default gateway

Please consult with Windows online documentation for details.

Info

If stricter firewall rules are required, it is possible to open the ports 30000-65535 and 1947 only for the "Sentinel HASP License Manager" (hasplms.exe) service (it will be installed by CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP11).

...

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

  2. Create a special user for running CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP (optional). This user must have all the administrative privileges. Please consult with Windows online documentation for details.

    Note

    The CHARON installation procedure will create a special group called CHARON-GRP and the current user will be automatically included to this group. Do not remove this group and do not remove any CHARON user from it, otherwise a problem with virtual memory allocation may appear on CHARON startup.

    The created user may belong to some domain, but please note that in this case you have to add this user to the CHARON-GRP manually as it is described in this article and then reboot CHARON host.


  3. Stay logged in as local system administrator ("Administrator") or log off and login as the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP user having administrative privileges (if this option has been chosen).

  4. Create a special directory for the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP distribution kit and copy the provided files there.

Div
classpagebreak


Upgrade cases:

From versionAction
4.7 and belowFirst uninstall all CHARON products.
4.8

The version 4.9 can be installed directly.

(warning) Please note 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 - otherwise they will remain at V4.8.


Include Page
KBCOMMON:DOC-GoToToc
KBCOMMON:DOC-GoToToc

...

Directory

Description

Build_XXX\x86 (and Build_XXX\x64 on x64 systems)

Contains product executables and libraries

Drivers

Contains the CHARON drivers

Chapi

Contains CHARON API files used for creating new emulated devices

InstallShell

Contains the CHARON installation procedure executables

Logs

Contains the CHARON installation log

RedistributablesContains the redistributables needed for CHARON running (already installed, except the license alert script)
Virtual Machines ManagerContains the most up-to-date version of CHARON Virtual Machines Manager
Virtual Machine TemplatesContains templates for creating CHARON Virtual Machines
Virtual MachinesContains the CHARON Virtual Machines
Virtual Disk ImagesContains the CHARON virtual disk images, for example "charoncp012" and "idle_vms_pkg_v3.0"

...

If a remote license server is to be used:

  • Copy the file "hasp_install\haspdinst.zip" from the CHARON distribution to any directory on the server, for example "C:\Temp".
  • Extract the content of this archive to the same directory.
  • Login as "Administrator" on the server and open "cmd.exe" from the "Start" menu.
  • Switch to that directory.
  • Install the extracted file.


    Example:

    ...> cd c:\temp
    c:\temp> haspdinst.exe -fr -kp -nomsg
    c:\temp> haspdinst.exe -install -cm


  • Copy the file "hasp_install\hasplib.zip" from the CHARON distribution to any directory on the server, for example "C:\Temp".
  • Extract the contents of this archive to the same directory.
  • Copy the file "haspvlib_68704.dll" to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Aladdin Shared\HASP" (in case of x64 host) or "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Aladdin Shared\HASP" (in case of x86 host)
  • Connect the network HASP dongle to the server USB port.

...

Software licenses can also be uninstalled using the method, described in the "Removing CHARON-VAX Software Licenses" chapter of this Guide.

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

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

...

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

  2. Create a special user for running CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP. This user must have administrative or standard privileges (in this case login as Administrator for manging NDIS drivers and running NCC utility). Please consult with Windows online documentation for details.

  3. Add this user to the CHARON-GRP group as it is described in this article and then reboot CHARON host.

  4. Login as the created user.

...