General Settings

Session

General settings that control the execution of CHARON Virtual Machine (VM) belong to an object called the "session". It is a preloaded object; therefore, only "set" commands are necessary.

Example:

set session <parameter>=<value>

The following table describes all available "session" parameters, their meaning and examples of their usage:

hw_model

Parameter hw_model

Type Text string

Value

Virtual HP Alpha system hardware model to be emulated.

Use a default configuration template for each particular model as a starting point for a custom configuration. This would ensure that the parameter is set correctly.

Example:

set session hw_model="AlphaServer_ES40"

Available models are:

AlphaServer_AS400
AlphaServer_AS800
AlphaServer_AS1000
AlphaServer_AS1000A
AlphaServer_AS1200
AlphaServer_AS2000
AlphaServer_AS2100
AlphaServer_AS4000
AlphaServer_AS4100
AlphaServer_DS10
AlphaServer_DS10L
AlphaServer_DS15
AlphaServer_DS20
AlphaServer_DS25
AlphaServer_ES40
AlphaServer_ES45
AlphaServer_GS80
AlphaServer_GS160
AlphaServer_GS320

Refer to this section to find how to set a particular HP Alpha model supported by CHARON-AXP.

configuration_name

Parameter configuration_name

Type Text string

Value

Name of the CHARON VM (it must be unique):

set session configuration_name="MSCDV1"

The value of this parameter is used as a prefix to the event log file name (see below).

From the example above, the CHARON VM log file will have the following name:

MSCDV1-YYYY-MM-DD-hh-mm-ss-xxxxxxxxx.log

xxxxxxxxx is an increasing decimal number starting from 000000000 to separate log files with the same time of creation (in case the log is being written faster than one log file per second).

It is strictly recommended to use the "configuration_name" parameter if more than one CHARON VM runs on the same server.

log

Parameter log

Type Text string

Value

The log file or directory name is where the log file for each CHARON-AXP execution session is stored.

Log specified as a file name

It is possible to overwrite the existing log file or to extend it using the "log_method" parameter.

The "log_method" parameter is effective only when a single log file is specified, not a directory.

Example:

set session log="C:\Charon\es40prod.log"

Log specified as a directory

CHARON-AXP automatically creates individual log files for each CHARON-AXP execution session. If the log parameter is omitted, CHARON-AXP creates a log file for each CHARON-AXP execution session in the directory where the emulator was started. In these two cases, the log rotation mode is enabled, meaning a new log file is created each time the virtual machine is started and when the log file size exceeds the one specified (see log_file_size) and/or when the log file is older than a specified number of days (see log_rotation_period).

A shortcut located in the same directory will be created, pointing to the active log file. Its name is based on the hw_model parameter or the configuration_name parameter if specified.

If the "configuration_name" parameter of the session is specified, the log file name is composed as follows:

<configuration_name>-YYYY-MM-DD-hh-mm-ss-xxxxxxxxx.log

If the "configuration_name" parameter is omitted, the log file name will have the following format:

<hw_model>-YYYY-MM-DD-hh-mm-ss-xxxxxxxxx.log

where "xxxxxxxxx" is an increasing decimal integer, starting from 000000000 to separate log files with the same time of creation (in case the log is being created faster than one log file per second).

Only existing directory can be specified. If the directory specified does not exist, this will be considered as a flat file. No trailing backslash character is allowed.

Example:

set session configuration_name="es40prod"

set session log="C:\Charon\Logs"

The execution of the virtual machine will create a log file, named C:\Charon\Logs\es40prod-2016-10-13-10-00-00-000000000.log (for example) and a shortcut named C:\Charon\Logs\es40prod.log pointing to this file. The shortcut will be updated when the log rotation will occur.

log_method

Parameter log_method

Type Text string

Value

"append" (default)
"overwrite"

Determines if the previous log information is maintained or overwritten.

This parameter must be specified only in addition to the “log” parameter on the same line.

This parameter is applicable only if the CHARON VM log is stored to a file that is specified explicitly with the "log" parameter.

Example:

set session log="log.txt" log_method="append"

log_show_messages

Parameter log_show_messages

Type Text string

Value

"all" (default)
"info"
"warning"
"error"

Defines the message types to be shown. The parameter is a string of comma delimited words.

Example:

set session log_show_messages="error, warning"

log_file_size

Parameter

log_file_size

Type Text string

Value

If log rotation is enabled, the log_file_size parameter determines the log file size threshold at which the log is automatically rotated.

"unlimited" or "0" (default) - the feature is disabled
"default" - default size is used (4Mb)
<size>[KMG] - size of the current log file in bytes with additional multipliers:
- K - Kilobyte - multiply by 1024
- M - Megabyte - multiply by 1024*1024
- G - Gigabyte - multiply by 1024*1024*1024

Examples:

set session log_file_size="default"

set session log_file_size=10M

Minimum LOG File size is 64K, maximum is 1G. Setting a size less then 64K effectively makes the log file size unlimited.

log_rotation_period

Parameter log_rotation_period

Type Text string

Value

"default" - default value, 7 days. This value is used even if the "log_rotation_period" is not specified.
"daily" or "1"
"weekly" or "7"
"never" or "0"
<N> - in N days

If the rotation log mode is enabled, this parameter controls switching to the next log file based on a period of time. If enabled, the switching to the next log file occurs at midnight

Examples:

set session log_rotation_period="weekly"

set session log_rotation_period=14

log_repeat_filter

Parameter log_repeat_filter

Type Text string

Value

Specifies if repeated messages should be filtered or not. Possible values are "on" (default) and "off".

If the value is "on", immediately following messages with the same identifier and system error code are not listed in the log but they are counted. When a different log message is generated, the repeat count of the earlier log message is reported with the entry "The previous message has been repeated N times." and the counter is cleared.

Example:

set session log_repeat_filter="on"

license_key_id

Parameter

license_key_id[N]

N=0 or 1

Type Numeric

Value

An integer (decimal Sentinel Key ID) that specifies the regular (N=0) and backup (N=1) license keys to be used by the CHARON VM.

set session license_key_id[0]=1877752571
set session license_key_id[1]=354850588

It is also possible to specify both regular and backup keys in one line:

set session license_key_id[0]=1877752571 license_key_id[1]=354850588

Based on the presence of the regular and/or backup license key IDs in the configuration file, CHARON VM behaves as follows:

No keys are specified
CHARON-AXP performs an unqualified search for any suitable key. If no key is found, the CHARON VM stops.
Both keys are specified
CHARON-AXP performs a qualified search for a regular license key. If it is not found, CHARON VM performs a qualified search for backup license key. If it is not found, the CHARON VM stops.
Only regular key is specified
CHARON-AXP performs a qualified search for a regular license key. If it is not found, CHARON VM performs an unqualified search for any suitable key. If none are found, the CHARON VM stops.
Only backup key is specified
CHARON-AXP performs an unqualified search for any suitable key. If no key is found, the CHARON VM stops.

affinity

Parameter affinity

Type Text string

Value

Overrides any initial process affinity mask provided by the host operating system. Once specified it binds the running instance of the emulator to particular host CPUs.

Used for soft partitioning of the host CPU resources and/or for isolating host CPUs for other applications.

By default the CHARON VM allocates as many host CPUs as possible. The “affinity” parameter overrides that and allows explicit specification on which host CPU the instance must run on.

The "affinity" parameter defines the total number of host CPUs to be used both for emulated Alpha CPUs and for the CHARON VM itself (including the CPUs to be used for I/O - they are controlled by the "n_of_io_cpus" parameter described below).

Host CPUs are enumerated as a comma separated list of host system assigned CPU numbers:

set session affinity="0, 2, 4, 6"

n_of_cpus

Parameter n_of_cpus

Type Numeric

Value

Limits the number of emulated CPUs.

Example:

set session n_of_cpus=3

The maximum number of CPUs enabled by CHARON VM is specified by the license key. It cannot exceed the original hardware restrictions:

HP Alpha Model	Number of emulated CPUs
AlphaServer_AS400	1
AlphaServer_AS800	1
AlphaServer_AS1000	1
AlphaServer_AS1000A	1
AlphaServer_AS1200	2
AlphaServer_AS2000	2
AlphaServer_AS2100	4
AlphaServer_AS4000	2
AlphaServer_AS4100	4
AlphaServer_DS10	1
AlphaServer_DS15	1
AlphaServer_DS20	2
AlphaServer_DS25	2
AlphaServer_ES40	4
AlphaServer_ES45	4
AlphaServer_GS80	8
AlphaServer_GS160	16
AlphaServer_GS320	32

n_of_io_cpus

Parameter n_of_io_cpus

Type Numeric

Value

This parameter specifies how many host CPUs CHARON VM must use for I/O handling. Use of the “affinity” parameter may limit the number of CPUs available.

By default the CHARON VM reserves one third of all available host CPUs for I/O processing (round down, at least one). The “n_of_io_cpus” parameter overrides that by specifying the number of CHARON I/O CPUs explicitly.

Example:

set session n_of_io_cpus=2

license_key_lookup_retry

Parameter license_key_lookup_retry

Type Text String

Value

In case the CHARON-AXP license connection is not present when the guest starts up, this parameter specifies how many times the CHARON VM will try to establish the connection and, optionally, a period of time between retries.

Syntax:

set session license_key_lookup_retry = "N [, T]"

Options:

N - Number of retries to look for license keys.
T - Time between retries in seconds. If not specified, 60 seconds are used

Example 1:

set session license_key_lookup_retry = 1

If the license key is not found during initial scan, only one more attempt after 60 seconds is performed.

Example 2:

set session license_key_lookup_retry = "1,30"

Same as above but retry in 30 seconds.

Example 3:

set session license_key_lookup_retry = "3,10"

If the license key is not found during initial scan, do 3 more attempts waiting 10 seconds between them.

Example 4:

set session license_key_lookup_retry = "5"

If the license key is not found during the initial scan, do 5 more attempts waiting 60 seconds between them.

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File inclusion

It is possible to include a configuration file into an existing one using the "include" command. The file extension is usually .icfg.

Format:

include "file.icfg"

Example:

include "c:\charon\commonpart.icfg"

The configuration template files are defined to use the "configuration_name.icfg" configuration file which is used by the CHARON Virtual Machines Manager. If you use an existing configuration file, including this file is not necessary.

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