Please review this document before proceeding with installation of Charon-VAX
Products included in the Charon-VAX version 4.11 build 204-15 for Windows
In this document the terms Charon and Charon-VAX are used to refer to the products below:
Charon-VAX/XM version 4.11 build 204-15 for Windows
Charon-VAX/XM PLUS version 4.11 build 204-15 for Windows
Charon-VAX/XK PLUS version 4.11 build 204-15 for Windows
Charon-VAX/XL version 4.11 build 204-15 for Windows
Charon-VAX/XL PLUS version 4.11 build 204-15 for Windows
Charon-VAX/6610 PLUS version 4.11 build 204-15 for Windows
Charon-VAX/6620 PLUS version 4.11 build 204-15 for Windows
Charon-VAX/6630 PLUS version 4.11 build 204-15 for Windows
Charon-VAX/6660 PLUS version 4.11 build 204-15 for Windows
Supported software platforms
Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Standard and Datacenter Editions, 64-bit version
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter Editions, 64-bit version
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard and Datacenter Editions, 64-bit version (please note that only R2 revision is supported)
Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise Editions, 32-bit and 64-bit version
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1) Standard and Enterprise Editions, 64-bit version (please note that only R2 revision is supported)
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate (SP1) Editions, 64-bit version
Windows 8.1 Professional Edition, 64-bit version
VMware ESXi 5.5 and 6.x up to 6.7 (requires a supported Windows operating system on top of a ESXi virtual machine)
Microsoft Hyper-V (requires a supported Windows operating system on top of a Hyper-V virtual machine)
Hosting hardware requirements and configuration recommendations
CPU requirements:
The number of available x86/x64 compatible (Intel or AMD) CPU cores in the hosting server should be at least 150% of the number of emulated CPU cores.
The recommended number of available (Intel or AMD) CPU cores in the hosting server is twice the number of emulated CPU cores.
Intel Xeon E-series v3 and above with a CPU clock frequency from 3GHz; to achieve the best performance use the latest Intel Xeon CPUs from the Scalable Processors family.
Memory requirements:
DDR4 RAM 2133 MHz and above is recommended for optimal Charon performance.
The minimum host memory size depends on the amount of emulated VAX memory and on the number of Charon instances running on one host. The minimum host memory = (2Gb + the amount of VAX memory emulated) per Charon-VAX instance.
Mid range and high end RAID controllers with at least 1GB cache with write-back enabled and battery backup option is recommended. (Using low-end RAID controllers may cause significant performance degradation and Charon-VAX crash. RAID5 and similar configurations are not recommended.)
Intel HT (Hyper-Threading Technology) should be disabled on the hosting server.
The hosting server should always run at full speed. Power management and the screen saver should be disabled on the hosting server.
Windows UAC should be disabled.
The Port Group Security Tab containing the Charon network adapter(s) must be set to Promiscuous mode, MAC Address Change and Forged Transmit=Accept.
New functionality
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)
Problems fixed
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
KDM70 reports many LOST INTERRUPT errors while running multiple backup tests (ID#5732)
Configuration changes required when upgrading from previous versions of Charon-VAX to version 4.11 build 204-15
A 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-VAX version 4.11. Please use the Windows Control Panel to do 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 user that runs Charon-VAX 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 managementand screen saver should be switched off on the hosting server.
The Charon-VAX configuration file should be reviewed if migrating from Charon-VAX 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.
For network connections,interface="connection:..." syntax is preferred in the Charon configuration file.
The packet_portkeyword in the Charon configuration file can be used on any hosting platform instead of the platform specific keywords ndis5_chpack_portand ndis6_chpack_port.
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:
On VMware virtual appliance network adapters and vSwitch should be set to Promiscuous mode.
On VMware, legacy_mode should be set in the Charon configuration for emulated VAX network adapters if Promiscuous mode cannot be set (this solution does not work in multi-instance configurations).
The extension of the kfddb.cfg file, used to load extra pair of DSSI port on some VAX models, and kzdda.cfg file, used to load optional SCSI controller on some VAX models, has changed to .icfg. Existing configuration files have to be updated.
If you have any troubles with physical SCSI tape drives mapped to Charon, it is recommeded to change the corresponding instance name to "virtual_scsi_tape", for example, the original configuration
load physical_scsi_device pka_5 scsi_bus=pka scsi_id=5
set pka_5 container="\\.\Tape0"
must be changed to
load virtual_scsi_tape pka_5 scsi_bus=pka scsi_id=5
set pka_5 container="\\.\Tape0"
Note 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 license was 4.11 ready.
Known restrictions of version 4.11 build 204-15
Compiler bug check during code generation can occur using DEC C compiler: %VCG-F-BUGCHECK, Compiler bug check during code generation ( : a fix will be provided soon ).
Network booting is supported with exception of VAX6xxx models.
DLE works only once, right after CharonCP installation. As soon as VMS reboots, host CPU utilization returns to maximum and does not drop untill VMS shutdown (ID#5343).
In VAX-6310 UETP test fails if it runs from tape (ID#1942).
It is impossible to mount physical tape on some new physical devices (ID#5488).
Standalone Backup is not bootable on MicroVAX 3600 and MicroVAX II (ID#1870).
CharonCP SET MAGTAPE utility does not support TQK50/TUK50 controllers (ID#5398).
In certain situations, when several Charon virtual machines are running on one host with DSSI cluster configured, Charon may hang up if load on the nodes is very high (ID#5426).
In certain situations, when a network adapter is dedicated to Charon by NCC, its status is shown as if it is still dedicated to HOST (ID#5415).
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.
CharonCP SET MAGTAPE utility does not support TQK50/TUK50 controllers (ID#5398).
Sometimes VAX 6310 does not boot guest OS. The workaround is restart of the emulator and a second try (ID#5384).
Sometimes OpenVMS 7.2 freezes on booting. The workaround is to restart the emulator (ID#5396).
A segmentation violation in module NCR53C94 may very rarely occur. If that happens, please provide Charon configuration and log files to Stromasys (ID#4633).
CMS commands may slow down due to a its internal design. STROMASYS provides (on request) a special OpenVMS utility to solve the problem (ID#4651).
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.
"Violation of constraint" may happen on RDB loading on VAXserver 3600 (ID#2832).
MicroVAX II emulator hangs while booting MDM (ID#3382).
Charon may not boot from physical tapes (ID#1936).
Charon-VAX does not emulate graphical adapter. Applications hard-coded to use graphical hardware as their own interfaces may not function correctly.
Only Windows SCSI devices with a driver that uses SCSIport method could be used with the direct SCSI access. Those include most of the device drivers on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (R2), and most non disk devices on Windows 7 and Server 2008 (R2). If SCSIport is not supported (and Storport method is used instead), direct SCSI access can't be used. This is most likely to be the case for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) disk controller drivers. This restriction mainly applies to the disk access. Most part of tape drivers currently support SCSIport. When direct SCSI access is used for devices without Windows drivers, this restriction does not apply.
Charon does not support direct access to SCSI devices on Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. It is recommended to use Charon-VAX for Linux if access to SCSI devices is necessary.
Charon-VAX has limited support for teamed network adapters. They could be used only if the MAC address of the virtual VMS network adapter is not changed during Charon-VAX session. In this case the desired MAC address should be set manually in the properties of the network team and in the Charon-VAX configuration file by "station_address=XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX" configuration option.
Charon-VAX does not support virtual network adapters (i.e. MS bridges, etc).
Network speed auto negotiation works with some restrictions. It is always recommended to use full duplex mode on the hosting server.
The firmware does not support the history of commands called with the up/down arrow keys.
VMS 7.x Monitor utility shows the maximum CPU quantity instead of actually configured quantity.
A Telnet session from OpenVMS running on emulated host may freeze 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 has no chance 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 telnet connection.
VMS command START/CPU does not start an emulated CPU if it had been previously stopped with STOP/CPU command. This problem will be fixed in the next Charon-VAX release.
Network Control Center could show some minor problems on Simplified Chinese version of Windows.
The correct license must be available to enable the Charon-VAX to start. The software may wrongly report that no license is present if the correct license is not present. Check the capability of your license by using the utility "HaspView" which is available as a part of the kit.
If installed on VMware, sometimes the POST tests report errors for emulated VAX models 4106 and 4108.
If Charon is being moved to another hosting platform and direct the 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 most likely to be the case for most Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) devices. The recommended workaround for disk access is to use the \\.\PhysicalDriveX method
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)
This requires to use the new syntax to define OPA0. Please read the user's guide "Serial lines" 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:hexane.cxx(3376): "VAX_4000_Model_106" started at Wed Sep 15 16:12:53 2021 (uptime 0 07:47:07).
New functionality introduced in version 4.11 build 204-10
None.
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.
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).
New functionality introduced in version 4.10 build 202-03
IEQ11 board is implemented on top of (couple of) NI PCI-GPIB interface cards (ID#4670).
Spectracom TPRO/BI timer board is implemented (ID#4481).
Serial lines to PLCs communication is improved (ID#5425).
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).
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
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).
Network performance and stability has been significantly improved (ID#5111, ID#4987).
USB physical drive support is improved (ID#3323).
"\\.\Scsi<N>:<X>:<Y>:<Z>" notation is not used anymore (ID#5051).
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).
Renaming Charon VM is not available anymore (ID#5394).
Hard-coded host system limits are replaced with limits encoded in the license's memory block (ID#3263).
Hard-coded upper limit on license check interval to 168 hours is increased (ID#5031, Case #00029470).
New configuration options "license_use_any_key" and "license_id" are implemented (ID#5289).
Should Charon lose access to its license, the product now offers a longer grace period and more frequent intermediate checks.
Charon installation wizard (InstallShell) is improved (ID#4231, ID#4915, ID#5081, ID#5176).
Charon VM Manager is improved (ID#4989, ID#4990, ID#5032, ID#5063, ID#5064, ID#5223, ID#5244, ID#5016, ID#5349).
"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).
TapeUtil (CharonCP) is improved (ID#3589).
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
Microsoft Windows 10 Professional and Enterprise Editions, 32 bit and 64 bit versions.
Charon performance is improved (ID#4769).
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 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 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).
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).
Windows Registry path for Charon products is updated to "HKLM:\Software\Charon" (ID#4746).
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" ia added. It monitors Charon license expiration date and warns user about it (ID#4903). 20 Jul 2017 Note: automatic installation removed when installing Charon-VAX. It has now to be installed manually.
Software License transfer feature is disabled (ID#4787).
New Charon Virtual Machines 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 has been updated (ID#4743).
Network Control Center is able to save log (ID#4755).
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (please note Server 2012 is not supported)
VMware ESXi 6.x
Microsoft Hyper-V on Server 2012 R2
Please note that Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are not supported (ID#4498)
All emulated VAX models are installed by default. Allowed VAX 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
MPIO storage path support is implemented (ID#4328)
VLANs are supported (ID#4401)
The log file language is set to English (ID#4509)
Charon console log rotation has been implemented (ID#4639)
Charon 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)
LK401-AT keyboard sequences (i. e. PF4 + Compose) is supported (ID#3837)
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
Logmond supports multi instance and rotating log configurations
MTD utility supports SCSI Passthrough mode for tapes without Windows driver (ID#3927)
Network Control Center (NCC) 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)
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 is supported
VMware ESXi 5.5 is supported
Windows Server 2003 is dropped
Windows XP is dropped
VAX 6640 with 4 VAX CPUs and VAX 6650 with 5 VAX CPUs have been added to Charon-VAX/6660 product (ID#4303). Please refer to SPD for details.
VAX 4000 models 700 and 705 have been added to Charon-VAX/XL (PLUS) Charon-VAX/XK PLUS products (ID#4171). Please refer to SPD for details.
VAX6640 and VAX6650 models are added as separate products (ID#4303)
Combined hardware (FPGA based) and software emulation of DRV11-WA is implemented. Available for Charon-VAX/Xx products. Please contact Stromasys Sales for details (ID#3619).
Synchronized Charon network NDIS driver between Charon-VAX and Charon-AXP allowing Charon product mix on a same host (ID#4140, #4143).
VAX console logging – allows capture of an entire session from console prompt to VMS shutdown in a file (ID#3587, #3988).
Log rotation mechanism and improved filtering (ID#2281, #3723, #3724, #3725).
Statistics counters for storage and network subsystems. Available for debugging purposes only (ID#4141).
Logging of host CPU affinity (ID#3879).
Charon log is created in English language only, the rest of localization are disabled (ID#4509)
Since this release Charon uses UNICODE for its log files (ID#4188)
Log file messages are extended with indications of CPU "Halt"/"Run" transitions (ID#4264)
Charon installation provides status and diagnostics on network driver installation (ID#3618).
PhysicalDrive container can be configured with device ID and iSCSI target ID to provide persistence across Windows reboots (ID#3667).
A DEQNA network adapter option (rx_serialization) has been added in order to work around the situation when network packets are delivered to VMS 5.5 too quickly. It is achieved by delaying incoming traffic by 1ms where appropriate. Outgoing traffic is not delayed. (ID#3916).
The "Utility" folder in the Charon start menu has been renamed to "Utilities" (ID#3586).
The HASPVIEW utility has been significantly improved (ID#3539, 3637, 3657, 3742, 3757, 3847, 4059).
The command line version of MKDISK utility reports progress during disk image creation (ID#3793).
Network Control Center is able to show its specific error message in its silent mode (ID#3617).
The LOGMOND utility now offers usage help (invoke without parameters to view) (ID#3580).
A Link to the Putty terminal emulator has been added to the Charon start menu (ID#3556).
New "HASP View" utility is able to show all the available license keys and the content of the license they contain (ID#4461)
The "HASP View" utility is able to display the multi site configuration license parameters and it is improved (ID#4059, 4165)
Charon supports disabling network offload features with a special option in Network Control Center (NCC) (ID#4298)
"MkDisk" utility is able to extend the existing disk container size without destroying its content (ID#4329)
Additional protection checks are implemented in "MkDskCmd" utility for its "disk transfer" functionality (ID#4506)
"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.
Network Control Center supports VLAN (ID#4453)
The performance improvement package included into the kit is updated (ID#4424)
Networking part (carrier sense logic) is improved (ID#4339)
"disconnect_timeout" parameter is introduced for the embedded 53C94 SCSI controller of MicroVAX 3100-96/98 and VAX 4000-106/108 mapped to physical SCSI devices (ID#4438)
The HASP View utility has been updated (Sentinel HASP SL and network licenses are supported now) (ID#3552, #3539, #3130).
A new "Logmond" utility is introduced to allow automatic execution of user-defined actions in case HASP license key is removed (ID#2415).
The "S3QBUS" BUS adapter based on FPGA S3BASE PCI board was introduced (ID#3400).
HASP RTL version control in Charon installation procedure was implemented (ID#3426).
The Sentinel HASP drivers included with Charon kits have been updated to version 5.95 (ID#3398).
The "Geometry" parameter was introduced for tape images (ID#2561)
The MUX driver was excluded from Charon installations (ID#3410).
Charon services are removed automatically on full deinstallation (ID#3322).
The Installation procedure does not check license and host system requirements during installation (ID#3262, #3256).
Charon production kits use OQEDC Sentinel HASP licence keys only (ID#3638).
Charon-VAX is supported on VMware ESXi 4.2 update 1.
The license parameters "expiration date" and "backup time counter" can be updated without stopping Charon-VAX. 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 must remain unchanged.
Charon-VAX/XX now supports virtual SCSI tapes on NCR SCSI controllers.
CHAPI (Charon API) functionality is fully supported by Charon-VAX QBUS based emulators starting from this release.
Charon network packet driver name "packet_port" in Charon configuration file had been made platform independent. For example:
load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
It is still possible to use "ndis6_chpack_port" names of the driver, however we recommend updating the Charon-VAX configuration file
Management of the .ROM and .DAT files is improved (ID#3085)
All network connections have "Half Duplex 10BaseT" mode by default
HASP View functionality and usability has been improved
The Installation procedure displays the End User Agreement and asks user to agree with the terms and conditions in order to proceed
The Installation procedure can install and deinstall Charon products without the license key plugged in. However older versions of Charon-VAX still may require a valid license
The Charon Service Management Utility has been updated. It is present in the Windows System Tray at all times. It can be accessed and used to manage Charon-VAX instances
New utilities and drivers have been added to the installation kit. For more information please refer to the User Manual
Only Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate Editions and Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard and Enterprise Editions are supported by this release
Charon products and utilities clean up the system's registry settings on deinstallation
PMAD-AA TurboChannel Ethernet Adapter for VAXstation 4000 Model 90 was added
All products have been brought to the same version level 4.2
Charon-VAX supports Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
Charon-VAX supports VMware ESX(i) 4.2. 3rd party hardware or software might be required to provide Charon-VAX with access to the HASP license dongle. Please note that additional support charges may be requested for installations on VMware.
The Network Control Center configuration assistant supports all types of VAX network interfaces available to Charon-VAX
The Charon-VAX utilities support simplified Chinese
The emulator opens log files in append mode
The 'repeated messages' logging filter is enabled by default
The MkDisk utility has been expanded to handle .VDISK metadata
The installation procedure can disable all unnecessary services. Note that this operation disables host networking completely to make it a platform fully dedicated to Charon-VAX.
The Charon-VAX executables are able to automatically configure DEP settings during installation
The installation product directory can be freely chosen
Full deinstallation removes all traces of the product
The "io_delay_ms" parameter has been added to all the Charon-VAX/XX products for "virtual_scsi_disk"
The HASP_HL_VIEW utility has been added. It is able to display both HASP-HL and HASP-SRM license key content. The user interface of HASP_HL_VIEW has been improved as well as its functionality
The HOSTPrint utility has been updated: now the maximum length of each line is adjusted automatically.
The installation log now lists all attributes of installed files, including size, product and file version, modification date, etc.
Problems fixed in previous versions
Problems fixed in version 4.11 build 204-14
Log rotation now correctly reports ACTUAL license details in log header: it takes care of license change (ID#5720 - Support Case 00033462)
Installation wizard has stopped working (ID#5710 - Support Case 00033148)
Domain user cannot install charon products: now a popup window is displayed to ask if the user wants to continue (ID#5718 - Support Case 00033459)
Driver Signature is not recognized (ID#5711)
Immediate termination of emulator without grace period on license loss for both production and backup licenses. Related to HASP error 84 / HASP_SHARING_VIOLATION (ID#5717 - Support Case 00033460)
Fixed DEMNA implementation to prevent VAX 6000 Model 6x0 from hang while joining NI cluster on boot.
Fixed a problem where very new SCSI tape drives may fail if they are addressed via "physical_scsi_device" instance (as it is recommended). In this case their support is provided via "virtual_scsi_tape" instance (ID #5488)
Fixed a problem leading to repeating "circuit down" situation immediately followed by STARTNET if DEMNA network interface is used (ID #5641)
Fixed a problem where HOSTprint does not terminate when Charon has stopped (ID#5505)
Fixed a problem where specification of "log_rotation_period = 0" ("never") did not work correctly (ID#5580, Support Case 00031938)
Fixed a problem where Charon VM Manager crashes on Windows Server 2016 if VM starts from the system tray (ID#5581)
Fixed a problem with absent lpv11.dll for component "lpv11" (ID#5620)
Outdated copyright in exe/dll distribution files is corrected (ID#5303)
Fixed a problem where Network Control Center failed to start with error “Attempted an unsupported operation” when use host with CHS locale language settings (ID#5610)
Fixed a problem where sometimes PT.EXE (performance tool) may freeze (ID#5614)
Fixed a problem where it was impossible to open the console using the "Show Console" button in the Charon VM Manager (ID#5642, Support Case 00032236)
Fixed a problem where the Charon installation procedure complained about absence of ChMAC zip file when upgrading from Charon v4.8 (ID#5582)
Fixed a problem where the Charon installation procedure defines versions of VC redistributives installed on the host incorrectly (ID#5494)
Fixed an error during installation on Windows Server 2016: "NDIS Packet driver is not installed" (ID#5544)
Fixed a problem where correct service dependencies had been lost when upgrading existing Charon VMs (ID#5546)
Fixed a problem with CPUSPINWAIT bugcheck of VAX 6620 (ID#5551)
Fixed a problem with incorrect installation of x64 HostPrint utility (ID#5570)
DEMNA logging mechanism is corrected (ID #5646)
Serial lines logging is corrected (ID #5647)
Problems fixed in version 4.10 build 202-03
Fixed a problem where patch script created incorrect backup directories (ID#5516)
Fixed a problem where VAX Cluster hung in certain configurations (Support Case 00030570, 00030564, ID#5426)
Fixed a problem where it was impossible to mount physical tape on "MicroVAX_3100_Model_98" model (ID#5488, 5489)
Fixed a problem with incorrect selection of default product while creating VM with Charon Manager (ID#5530)
Fixed a problem where Charon VMs (services) lost dependency on HASPLMS (ID#5529)
Fixed a problem where InstallShell defined versions of VC redistributives installed incorrectly (ID#5494)
Fixed an error during installation on Windows Server 2016: "NDIS Packet driver is not installed" (ID#5544)
Correct Charon service dependencies persist now when upgrading existing Charon VMs (ID#5546)
InstallShell graphics is updated for correct slogan (ID#5558)
MkDisk utility graphics is updated for correct slogan (ID#5562)
Fixed a problem where HOSTprint stays running when emulator process terminates (ID#5505)
Fixed a problem where action HALT is not available (disabled, greyed out) on emulator's system tray menu (ID#5418)
HALT is not available (disabled, greyed out) on emulator's system tray menu (ID#5437 and ID#5451)
Fixed a problem where sometimes network does not work with PMAD-AA (ID#5067)
Fixed a problem where setting DSSI_ID from VAX console (set dssi_id <bus> <id>) fails from time to time (it fails more often when DIT is enabled) (ID#5418)
Fixed a problem with long duration of Charon installation (ID#5360)
Fixed a problem with incorrect behaviour of action for Edit Configuration in VM Manager (ID#5413)
Fixed a problem where host NIC dedicated to Charon is shown as dedicated to host in the Network Control Center (ID#5415, 5429)
Fixed a problem where there is no network connection when "packet_port" is in legacy mode (ID#5427)
Fixed a problem where Charon reports "Can not change current ethernet address... Dynamic change of ethernet address is disabled or is not supported
If you upgrade from version 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 or 4.11 (previous build):
This requires to use the new syntax to define OPA0. Please read the user's guide "Serial lines" chapter.