CHARON-AXP for Windows installation

Table of contents

Introduction

The CHARON-AXP product is distributed in the form of a zip file that contains the CHARON-AXP installation executable ("InstallShell.exe"). The InstallShell procedure offers the option to select which modules to install (optionally). It is recommended to install all modules (the default) by not selecting "Display components" checkbox.

Before installing CHARON-AXP, please perform all hardware and software host system checks to ensure the host platform meets minimum CHARON-AXP installation requirements

Optionally, create a specific CHARON username with administrative privileges

CHARON-AXP installation steps:

• Extract the CHARON-AXP installation procedure files from its archive
• Install CHARON-AXP by running the "InstallShell.exe" installer and follow the instructions
• Install CHARON-AXP license (hardware dongle or software license)
• Configure CHARON-AXP host system, for example, network adapter, disable some Windows features (see Host system preparation further), etc.

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Hardware Requirements

Number of CPU cores

Each CHARON-AXP emulated CPU requires a corresponding physical core. The total number of host CPUs must exceed the number of emulated CPUs since some of the host CPUs must be dedicated to serving CHARON I/O operations and fulfil host operating system needs. If several CHARON instances run in parallel, the required number of CPU cores is cumulative.

The following table shows the minimum and recommended number of CPUs required for each models for one instance (note that each model instance is able to run on 2 CPU cores hosts, but this configuration does not support emulation of all the virtual CPUs):

When starting, the CHARON-AXP software checks the available number of host CPU cores. Currently, this check is based on the maximum number of AXP CPUs that can be emulated, not on the number of the actually configured AXP 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-AXP will issue a warning message even if the requirements for the configured number of AXP CPUs are fulfilled. The CHARON-AXP software will work despite this warning if the requirements for the configured number of AXP CPUs are fulfilled.

CPU type and speed

Since CHARON-AXP utilizes LAHF instructions in the HP Alpha CPU emulation, please avoid using early (pre-2005) AMD64 and Intel 64 CPUs for the CHARON host system since they lack this capability. AMD Athlon 64, Opteron and Turion 64 revision D processors from March 2005 and Intel Pentium 4 G1 stepping from December 2005 are LAHF instruction capable.

Concerning CPU speed, the general recommendation is that higher CPU frequency is better since it allows better emulated HP Alpha performance. The minimum recommendation is at least 3 GHz.

Operative memory

The minimum host memory size depends on the amount of HP Alpha memory to be emulated and the number of CHARON-AXP instances to be run on one host.
The minimum host memory is calculated according to the following formula:

The minimum host memory = (2Gb +  the amount of HP Alpha memory emulated) per CHARON-AXP instance.

Disk storage

The total amount of disk space required for CHARON-AXP can be calculated as a sum of all the disk/tape image sizes plus 50 MB for the CHARON software plus space required for the normal host OS. Temporary disk storage is often needed when setting up a new server, for saveset storage, software installation kits, etc.

Ethernet adapters

CHARON-AXP networking requires dedicated host Ethernet adapters; their number must be equal to the emulated adapters to be configured in CHARON-AXP. One adapter (optionally) can be left to the host for TCP/IP networking etc.

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Software Requirements

• Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter Editions, 64 bit version
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard and Datacenter Editions, 64 bit version (please notice that only R2 revision is supported)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1)  Standard and Enterprise Editions, 64 bit version (please notice 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
• Windows 10 Professional and Enterprise Editions, 64 bit version
• VMware ESXi 5.5 and 6.x up to 6.5 (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)

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Host system preparation

If a network-wide license (red dongle or software license) is going to be used, do the following:

• On server side (where the 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: set default gateway

Please consult with Windows online documentation for details.

If any magneto-optical (MO) drive installed on host system is going to be used with CHARON (mapped as "\\.\PhysicalDrive<N>" to CHARON emulated disk controllers) the host "MediaChangeNotification" (MSN) service must be switched off manually for these drives according to the following procedure:

1. Type "regedit" in the search field under "Start" menu or press Windows+R and enter "regedit"; press Enter to run the program.

2. Find the "AlwaysDisableMCN" parameter in the following path:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE  + SYSTEM     + CurrentControlSet        + Enum           + SCSI              + Disk&Ven_DEC&Prod_RWZ53_____(C)DEC  <- This one depends on Vendor and Model of your MO drive                 + 5&fd233cf&0&000500 <- This one depends on hardware connection (SCSI ID of MO drive, location of SCSI HBA on the host's mainboard, etc ...)                    + Device Parameters                       + MediaChangeNotification                          + AlwaysDisableMCN = DWORD:00000000

    
   

3. Change the "AlwaysDisableMCN" parameter to "1", for example: "AlwaysDisableMCN = DWORD:00000001".
4. Reboot the host system.

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Before installation

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

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

   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 described in this article, and then reboot the CHARON host.

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

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

5. Due to CHARON installation procedure update, it is required to uninstall all CHARON products before installing CHARON-AXP version 4.8

Distribution preparation

1. Extract the content of the distribution archive to the current directory or copy the content of the provided distribution directory to the current directory.

2. Run the "InstallShell.exe" file:
   

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Installation

The following description assumes that this is the first installation of CHARON-AXP on the target host. Installation of additional CHARON products follows the same procedure.

The first dialog lists the CHARON-AXP product:

Select the CHARON-AXP product, or all products, by checking the corresponding box. Select the "Display components page" to include the products components page if you need it. Typically it is not required.

Press the "Next" button.

Read the license, check "Agree" and press the "Next" button.

If the "Display components page" option was selected, the setup procedure will display a dialog for the CHARON-AXP product components:

 It is strongly recommended to leave the selection as it is unless you clearly understand what the impact is if you uncheck some modules.

Select a directory to be used for the CHARON installation or use the default. The path can either be entered manually or selected using the "Browse" button.

Once done, press the "Next" button to start the installation of the selected components.

During the CHARON installation procedure, you will have to confirm the installation of the CHARON-specific network driver. Press the "Install" button:

Once the installation is done, the following dialog will be displayed:

 It is strongly recommended to reboot the CHARON host system immediately: leave the "Reboot computer now" box checked and press the "Finish" button.

Once the host system is up again, you will notice a new shortcut, "CHARON Virtual Machines Manager", created on the desktop during the installation procedure:

The CHARON Virtual Machines Manager is an essential utility for CHARON management. CHARON installation always keeps most up-to-date version of CHARON Virtual Machines Manager provided by all the installed kits.

The CHARON installation procedure creates the following simple structure under the "Start" menu:

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CHARON-AXP home directory

By default CHARON-AXP is installed in the "C:\Program Files\CHARON" directory.  It has the following sub-directories:

The "Virtual Machine Templates" directory contains template configuration files to build CHARON virtual machines using the CHARON Virtual Machines Manager. We will focus our attention on this subject in the next chapter.

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License installation

Regular HASP USB dongle

If the CHARON license is stored on a regular USB dongle, just connect it to a host USB port.

Network HASP USB dongle

If the CHARON license is a network license (red USB dongle), it is possible either to connect it to the host USB port (to use it locally and provide it to other hosts on the local network at the same time) or to install it on a local network "license server" for remote access from this particular host.

If a remote license server is to be used:

• Copy the file "hasp_install\Sentinel_LDK_Run-time_cmd_line_X.XX.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.
• 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

• Connect the network HASP dongle to the server USB port.

Software license

If the CHARON license is a software license (SL), it is installed on the host using the following procedure:

1. Double click the "CHARON Virtual Machines Manager" icon on the desktop or select this utility in the tray menu; select the "Host Information and Utilities" section and press the "License Update Tool" button:
   
   
   
   The following default dialog window will appear:
   
   

   
   

   If you're installing a "Provisional" (demo) license, jump to step 5

   
   
   

2. Ensure no license dongle is connected, select the "Installation of new protection key" radio-box and press the "Collect Information" button. The following window will appear:
   
    
   
   Specify the directory and name of the system "fingerprint" file to be created the press the "Save" button.
    
3. The "License Update Service" will save the fingerprint file under the given name and will report the status:
   
   
   
   
4. Send the resulting file to STROMASYS. In return STROMASYS will provide you with a ".v2c" file, for example "Your License.v2c".
    
5. Copy the received v2c file to the CHARON host in a folder of your choice and select the "Apply License File" tab:
   
   
    
6. Press the "..." button and browse for the received v2c file.
   Example:
   
    
   
   Press the "Open" button to apply the license. 
    
7. From the "CHARON Virtual Machines Manager" utility (see above) select the "Host Information and Utilities" section and press the "Sentinel Admin Control Center" button or (optionally) invoke the system default web browser and enter the URL http://localhost:1947 to display the "Sentinel Admin Control Center" (ACC) web interface. This interface allows you to view and manage the CHARON licenses.
8. Ensure that the software license is now visible in the "Sentinel Keys" section of the ACC.

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License validity verification

Check the CHARON license validity by invoking the "Charon License Details" utility to make sure that the CHARON license is visible and is correct. Double click the "CHARON Virtual Machines Manager" icon on the desktop or select this utility in the tray menu; select the "Host Information and Utilities" section and press the "HASP License Details" button:

• Verify the the license content is displayed correctly and no error message is shown
• Verify the content of the license looks correct. Check for example the license number, the major and minor versions, the minimum and maximum build numbers, the CHARON-AXP products and allowed hardware (CHARON-AXP models). More details on the license content can be found in the CHARON-AXP Licensing chapter of this Guide.

Troubleshooting

If the CHARON license content cannot be displayed by the "CHARON License Details" utility or is incorrect, check that the license is available and correctly used:

1. From the "CHARON Virtual Machines Manager" utility (see above) select the "Host Information and Utilities" section and press the "Sentinel Admin Control Center" button or (optionally) invoke the system default web browser and enter the URL http://localhost:1947 to display the "Sentinel Admin Control Center" (ACC) web interface.
2. Click on the "Sentinel Keys" link to open up the "Sentinel Keys Section" page
3. Make sure that one and only one CHARON HASP or SL license is present.

Removing licenses can be done by physical disconnection of the corresponding USB HASP keys from the CHARON host and physical disconnection of the network HASP keys from all hosts on a local network (or by disabling remote access to network licenses from the CHARON host - see detailed explanation below). 

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

It is also possible to disable access to network licenses if only a local license is to be used: open the Sentinel ACC and click on the "Configuration" link to open up the "Configuration for Sentinel Manager" page.

Uncheck the "Allow Access to Remote Licenses" and the "Broadcast Search for Remote Licenses" checkboxes from the "Access to Remote License Managers" tab then press the "Submit" button to apply changes.

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Network configuration

If the CHARON virtual machine needs access to the network, one or more dedicated network interfaces cleared from any other protocols including TCP/IP will have to be defined.

Configuring the network is done with the "Network Control Center" (NCC) utility. Double click the "CHARON Virtual Machines Manager" icon on the desktop or select this utility in the tray menu; select the "Host Information and Utilities" section and press the "Network Control Center" button:

In the appearing dialog, select "Configure NIC":

 

Press the "Next" button, the following dialog will appear:

Select the interface to be dedicated to CHARON (in our example it is Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller named "Charon") and press the "Dedicate adapter to CHARON" button.

 

After a few seconds the chosen interface will be assigned to CHARON:

It is possible to release the interface back to the CHARON host by selecting the target interface and pressing the "Release adapter to HOST" button.

 

The next step displays the text to be included in the CHARON configuration file for the interface dedicated to CHARON. Select the target interface and press the "Next" button. The following dialog will appear:

Selecting the target emulated network interface displays the configuration lines specific for the selected CHARON host network interface. Press the "Copy suggestions to clipboard" button to copy the suggested configuration lines. They can be pasted into the CHARON-AXP configuration file during the next editing session by pressing "Ctrl-V".

Press the "Cancel" button to exit from the "Network Control Center" utility.

 

Restart the  "Network Control Center" utility again and select "Disable TCP chimney offload for CHARON":

Press the "Next" button to apply the "offload" parameters settings.

Press the "Cancel" button to exit from the "Network Control Center" utility.

When the NIC properties are configured in Windows, a reboot of the CHARON host is required for the changes, specifically "offload" parameters, to take effect.

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After installation

If you plan to use the local system administrator acount ("Administrator") or the CHARON-AXP user having administrative privileges, no other actions are required.

Otherwise it is possible to use a standard account (both local and domain) for running CHARON-AXP:

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

2. Create a special user for running CHARON-AXP. 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.