Migration to CHARON-AXP for Linux

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Last updated: Nov 25, 2019 by Kirill Nikolaev (Unlicensed)
8 min read

Table of Contents

Introduction

This section describes how to migrate your HP Alpha system to CHARON-AXP. We will use a sample HP AlphaServer ES40 system running OpenVMS to demonstrate the migration procedure. This chapter also contains some instructions for Tru64 UNIX, but it mainly concentrates on how to migrate OpenVMS hosts. The process is similar for all CHARON-AXP models.

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Collecting information about the source HP Alpha system

The first step is to determine the exact configuration of your HP Alpha hardware in order to create the CHARON-AXP configuration file.

Turn on your source HP Alpha system. At the ">>>" prompt, issue a "show device" command:

>>>show device

sys0.0.0.0.0 SYS0 System ROOT Device
ewa0.0.0.1.1 EWA0 F8-D1-11-00-67-E6
pka0.0.0.2.1 PKA0 Q-Logic/ISP PCI SCSI HBA
pga0.0.0.3.1 PGA0 WWN 1000-0000-0248-C550
pqa0.0.0.15.0 PQA0 ALi 1553C Integrated IDE Controller
pqb0.0.1.15.0 PQB0 ALi 1553C Integrated IDE Controller
dqa0.0.0.15.0 DQA0 TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-222BB
dka0.0.0.2.1 DKA0 DEC RZ28 (C)DEC
dka100.1.0.2.1 DKA100 DEC RZ22 (C)DEC
dka200.2.0.2.1 DKA200 DEC RZ23 (C)DEC
mka600.6.0.2.1 MKA600 Virtual SCSI Tape

>>>


To get more detailed information, boot OpenVMS and issue a "show device /full" command:

$ show device /full

Disk PFCAXP$DKA0:, device type RZ28, is online, mounted, file-oriented device,
 shareable, available to cluster, error logging is enabled.
...
Disk PFCAXP$DKA100:, device type RZ22, is online, file-oriented device,
 shareable, available to cluster, error logging is enabled.
...
Disk PFCAXP$DKA200:, device type RZ23, is online, file-oriented device,
 shareable, available to cluster, error logging is enabled.
...
Disk PFCAXP$DQA0:, device type TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-222BB, is online, file-oriented
 device, shareable, available to cluster, error logging is enabled.
...
Disk $1$DGA0: (PFCAXP), device type RZ24, is online, file-oriented device,
 shareable, available to cluster, error logging is enabled.
...
Magtape PFCAXP$MKA600:, device type Virtual SCSI Tape, is online, file-oriented
 device, available to cluster, error logging is enabled, device supports
 fastskip (per_io).
...
Terminal OPA0:, device type VT102, is online, record-oriented device, carriage
 control.
...
Device EWA0:, device type DE500, is online, network device, device is a template
 only.
...
Device FGA0:, device type KGPSA Fibre Channel, is online, shareable, error
 logging is enabled.
...
Device PGA0:, device type SCSI FCP, is online, error logging is enabled.
...
Device PKA0:, device type Qlogic ISP1020 SCSI port, is online, error logging is
 enabled.
...
Device $1$GGA32767:, device type Generic SCSI device, is online, shareable.

$

In case of Tru64 UNIX V5 running on the host system it is recommended to use the following commands to get information on the host configuration:

CommandDescription
#/sbin/hwmgr view devices
Get detailed information about the host hardware configuration
#/sbin/hwmgr show scsi
Get specific information about the host SCSI controllers and attached disks
#/sbin/hwmgr view hierarchy
Get information about the host controllers

Please reference to the Tru64 UNIX User's Guide for more details.

The source HP Alpha peripheral configuration in this example is:

ControllerDevices on controllerDescription
KZPBA

-DKA0 (RZ28)
-DKA100 (RZ22)
-DKA200 (RZ23) 
-MKA600 (tape) 

SCSI disk/tape controller
KGPSA-CA-DGA0 (RZ24)FC disk controller
OPA0
System console

Acer Labs 1543C IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM adapter

-DQA0IDE CD-ROM controller
EWA0
Network interface, MAC address: "F8-D1-11-00-67-E6"

Now collect some general information about the HP AlphaServer ES40 system:

>>>show cpu /full

System: PFCAXP, AlphaServer ES40 6/667

SMP execlet = 3 : Enabled : Streamlined.
Config tree = None
Primary CPU = 0
HWRPB CPUs = 4
Page Size = 8192
Revision Code =
Serial Number = SN01234567
Default CPU Capabilities:
System: QUORUM RUN
Default Process Capabilities:
System: QUORUM RUN

....

>>>

>>>show mem

System Memory Resources on 12-SEP-2017 09:29:16.42

Physical Memory Usage (pages): Total Free In Use Modified
Main Memory (512.00MB) 65536 56496 8610 430

...

>>>

So the collected information about the HP AlphaServer ES40 system is:

ComponentValue
System Type

AlphaServer ES40 6/667

Serial Number

SN01234567

Number of CPUs4
System memory512 Mb

In some particular situations it is also important to know the exact placement of all the peripheral devices on HP Alpha PCI bus. To get that information issue a "show config" command at ">>>" prompt of HP Alpha console, for example:

>>>show config

...

PCI Bus

Bus 00 Slot 03: DECchip 21142 Network Controller
ewa0.0.0.3.0 00-00-F8-03-9A-6D

Bus 00 Slot 07: Cypress PCI Peripheral Controller

Bus 00 Slot 07: Function 1: PCI IDE

Bus 00 Slot 07: Function 2: PCI IDE

Bus 00 Slot 07: PCI USB

Bus 00 Slot 08: DECchip 21052 PCI to PCI Bridge

Bus 01 Slot 08: ISP1040 Scsi Controller
pka0.7.0.1008.0 SCSI Bus ID 7
dka0.0.0.1008.0 RZ2DD-KS
dka400.4.0.1008.0 RRD45

>>>

The "show config" command collects the following information of placement of peripheral devices on PCI bus:

  • Bus number
  • Slot number
  • Function number

To find out the exact types of controllers and other useful information refer to the source HP Alpha system documentation.

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Creation of CHARON-AXP configuration file

Using the above information, the following configuration can be created:

#
# HP AlphaServer model: AlphaServer ES40 6/667
#

set session hw_model = AlphaServer_ES40
set ace cpu_architecture = EV67
set rom dsrdb[0] = 1820 system_name = "AlphaServer ES40 6/667"

...

#
# Override default System Serial Number, set it to "SN01234567"
#

set rom system_serial_number = SN01234567

#
# Specify RAM size: 512 Mb
#

set ram size=512

#
# Map OPA0 console to the xtem from which CHARON-AXP runs
#

set COM1 alias=OPA0 line=(console)

#
# Connect the emulator's DQA0 to the host's ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive.
#

set ide container="/dev/cdrom"

#
# Load optional DE500BA PCI Ethernet Adapter (EWA0) and map it to the "eth1" host network interface
#

load DE500BA/dec21x4x EWA interface=EWA0
load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="eth1"

#
# Load DEC-KZPBA SCSI controller and map it to 3 disk containers and 1 tape container
#

load KZPBA PKA scsi_id = 7

set PKA container[0] = "/my_disks/bootable.vdisk"
set PKA container[100] = "/my_disks/RZ22.vdisk"
set PKA container[200] = "/my_disks/RZ23.vdisk"

set PKA container[600] = "/my_tapes/my_tape.vtape" 

#
# Load DEC-KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter and map it to a disk container
#

load KGPSA FGA

set FGA container[0] = "/my_disks/RZ24.vdisk"

...

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Making disk images

In our example, possible mappings of the KZPBA SCSI controller include disk and tape images. Tape images have not to be manually created whereas you have to provision disk images, as described below.

Our example creates disk images of the original physical type. In reality, this step is the best opportunity in the migration to provision larger disks to get extra storage space.

Create special directories for storing disk and tape images, as needed. These directories are referenced in the sample configuration file above.

$ mkdir /my_disks
$ mkdir /my_tapes 

Next, create the disk images using the "mkdskcmd" utility:

$ mkdskcmd -d rz24 -o /my_disks/rz24.vdisk
Please wait...
100% done
Success.
$ mkdskcmd -d rz23 -o /my_disks/rz23.vdisk
Please wait...
100% done
Success.
$ mkdskcmd -d rz22 -o /my_disks/rz22.vdisk
Please wait...
100% done
Success.
$ mkdskcmd -d rz28 -o /my_disks/bootable.vdisk
Please wait...100% done
Success.

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Installation of HP Alpha operating system

The next step is to transfer the data from the source HP Alpha system to CHARON-AXP. The easiest way to do this is via backups over the network. For this operation we need a bootable, network-enabled operating system on a CHARON-AXP disk image or physical disk.

The example configures the CHARON-AXP AlphaServer ES40 system for installation of HP OpenVMS from a distribution CD-ROM (usually it is "/dev/cdrom" if the host has only one CD-ROM drive):

#
# DEC-KZPBA SCSI controller is mapped to 5 disk containers; one of them (DKA300) - for migration purposes;
# another one (DKA400) - for installation of fresh HP OpenVMS system from distributive
#

load KZPBA PKA scsi_id = 7

set PKA container[0] = "C:\my_disks\bootable.vdisk"
set PKA container[100] = "C:\my_disks\RZ22.vdisk"
set PKA container[200] = "C:\my_disks\RZ23.vdisk"
set PKA container[300] = "C:\my_disks\migration.vdisk"
set PKA container[400] = "C:\my_disks\fresh_openvms.vdisk"

#
# CD-ROM for HP OpenVMS installation (DQA0)
#

set ide container="/dev/cdrom"

(warning) DKA300 will be the disk where all the source disks will be copied so its size needs to be large enough to store all the disk backup images.

Create an empty disk image for installation of HP OpenVMS and another one for storing backups from the source HP Alpha system as it is shown in the section above.


Run CHARON-AXP and boot from the CDROM named "dqa0" ("migration.cfg" is the configuration file we use in this example):

$ es40.exe migration.cfg

initializing ...

polling for units on kzpba0, slot 2, bus 0, hose 1 ...
pka0.0.0.2.1 PKA0 Q-Logic/ISP PCI SCSI HBA

... enter console

CHARON-AXP/ES40 for Linux (AlphaServer ES40 6/667), Version 4.10.20200
(C) 2009-2019 STROMASYS SA.
All rights reserved.

P00>>>boot dqa0

Install HP Alpha/VMS including DECnet on "dka400". The DECnet address must belong to the same area as the source HP Alpha system.

Login to the newly installed OpenVMS system and initialize the disk intended for backups storage. Let's assume it's prompt is "newvms$ ".

newvms$ INIT DKA300: SCRATCH
newvms$ MOUNT/SYSTEM/NOASSIST DKA300: SCRATCH

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Making remote backups

Now we are ready to create disk backups from the source HP Alpha system to CHARON-AXP.

Boot the CHARON-AXP virtual machine and make sure that the source HP Alpha system is reachable via DECnet. 

Login to the source HP Alpha system, stop all the batch queues, kick off the users, stop all applications and close databases if any. The commands listed in the SYS$MANAGER:SYSHUTDWN.COM file may be helpful. The goal is to close as many files as possible. The system disk will have several files opened (pagefile, swapfile, etc.), this is a normal situation.

(info) The use of the "SHOW DEVICE /FILES" command would be of help to know files opened on a disk

Let's assume the CHARON-AXP system is node 1.400 in this example. Issue then the following commands from the source HP Alpha whose prompt is set to "source$ ":

source$ BACKUP/IMAGE/IGNORE=INTERLOCK DKA0: 1.400"username password"::DKA300:[000000]DKA0.BCK/SAVE
source$ BACKUP/IMAGE/IGNORE=INTERLOCK DKA100: 1.400"username password"::DKA300:[000000]DKA100.BCK/SAVE
source$ BACKUP/IMAGE/IGNORE=INTERLOCK DKA200: 1.400"username password"::DKA300:[000000]DKA200.BCK/SAVE 

When the backup procedure will be completed, the disk "DKA300" of the CHARON-AXP virtual machine will contain 3 savesets: "DKA0.BCK", "DKA100.BCK" and "DKA200.BCK"

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Restore backups to CHARON-AXP disks

Next, restore the new savesets to their corresponding virtual disks. Login to CHARON-AXP and issue this sequence of commands to restore all the savesets created in the previous step:

newvms$ MOUNT/FOREIGN DKA0:
newvms$ BACKUP/IMAGE DKA300:[000000]DKA0.BCK/SAVE DKA0:
newvms$ DISMOUNT DKA0:
newvms$ MOUNT/FOREIGN DKA100:
newvms$ BACKUP/IMAGE DKA300:[000000]DKA100.BCK/SAVE DKA100:
newvms$ DISMOUNT DKA100:
newvms$ MOUNT/FOREIGN DKA200:
newvms$ BACKUP/IMAGE DKA300:[000000]DKA200.BCK/SAVE DKA200:
newvms$ DISMOUNT DKA200:

If you are going to have the CHARON-AXP and the original physical HP Alpha on the network at the same time, you must change the network identity of one (usually the CHARON-AXP).

The easiest way is to boot the CHARON-AXP virtualized system on the restored system disk with the network disabled and to configure new addresses, as needed.

(info) The NIC can be disabled with a "disabled" statement in the CHARON configuration file.

Then Enable the network and reboot.

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Alternative ways of data transfer

Some alternative methods of data transfer are also possible. For example:

  • Connect a SCSI tape drive to the CHARON-AXP host via a PCI card 
    • Map the tape drive in the CHARON-AXP configuration file

           a. Restore the source HP Alpha system backups from tape to disk images via OpenVMS running on CHARON-AXP.
           b. Boot from standalone backups and restore the content to CHARON-AXP virtual disks.

    • Dump the source HP Alpha system backups to tape images with the "mtd" utility and:
           a. Boot from the freshly installed OpenVMS system and restore the tape images to CHARON-AXP virtual disks.
           b. Boot from standalone backups and restore the content to CHARON-AXP virtual disks.

  • Create a network cluster between the source HP Alpha system and CHARON-AXP (it is possible to use the source system as a boot server) then perform backups from one disk to another:

    $ BACKUP/IMAGE/IGNORE=INTERLOCK REAL$DKA0: DKA0:

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