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Configuration File Reference

Configuration File Reference

Jan 31, 2023

Contents


Overview

The hardware of the emulated system is defined in the emulator configuration file. Charon-PAR comes with a number of template files that are stored in /opt/charon/cfg. Each template file contains the settings for a particular Charon-PAR/PA3 or Charon-PAR/PA9 hardware model or model family. The files also contain important descriptions for all parameters listed.

The name of the Charon-PAR/PA3 template file is  pa3.cfg. The names of the Charon-PAR/PA9-64 templates are rp*.cfg, for Charon-PAR/PA9-32 pa9-32.cfg.

Before starting an emulator instance, 

  • copy the appropriate template file to the directory where you store the configuration data of your emulator instance, and

  • modify the template file according to your requirements.

Comments in the file are preceded by the # character.

Please note that some entries require an equal-sign (=) and for other parameters an equal-sign is not allowed. The emulator will not start if a required equal-sign is missing or an equal-sign is placed where it is not permitted.

If a parameter value is a string, it must be enclosed in double quotes.

The configuration file is structured in several sections that are described below


License Configuration

This section defines the license specific parameters.

Parameter license_key_id 

Optional parameter. There can be several license_key_id parameters in this section. They define a prioritized list of license keys. The first entry has the highest priority. If no key with this ID is available, the next key in the list will be tried. If a higher priority key becomes available, the emulator will switch to this license at the next periodic license check.

Syntax:

license_key_id "key-id-prio1"

license_key_id "key-id-prio2" 

(...)

Parameters:

The key-id-prioX parameter is a numerical value that can be determined using the hasp_srm_view -all command and identifying the value of the License KeyId parameter in the output. As long as the ID is a numerical value, the quotes are optional.

Parameter license_use_any_key 

Optional parameter. This parameter is closely related to the license_key_id parameter. If the license_key_id parameter is used, it determines what happens if none of the defined license keys are available.

Syntax:

license_use_any_key false | true 

Parameters:

Default value: false

If this parameter is set to true, the emulator will try to find any other suitable licenses should none of the licenses specified by the license_key_id parameter(s) be available. By default, if the license_key_id parameter is used, only the license keys specified there will be considered.

Parameter license_id

Optional parameter. There can be several license_id parameters in this section. They define a prioritized list of product license IDs. The first entry has the highest priority. If no key with this product license ID is available, the next product license ID in the list will be attempted. If a higher priority license becomes available, the emulator will switch to this license at the next periodic license check.

Syntax:

license_id "lic-id-prio1"

license_id "lic-id-prio2" 

(...)

Parameters:

The lic-id-prioX parameter is a string value that must be enclosed in quotes. It can be determined using the hasp_srm_view -all command and identifying the value of the Product License Number parameter in the output. If none of the specified product licenses is available, the emulator will not start, or a running emulator will stop.


Problem Handler Parameters

The Charon-PAR configuration file supports the following parameters that can be used to alert the user to potential license problems:

Parameter

Description

Parameter

Description

hasp_lost_usr_cmd

Runs a user-defined script or a executable if Charon disconnects from current valid license and no other valid license is found. This action is called every hour during the 12 hours grace period (at the end of which Charon-PAR stops unless a license has been found).

The script or command started receives three parameters from Charon-PAR: key-id, product-license-id, and termination time.

Usage example:
hasp_lost_usr_cmd=“./my-license_connection_lost.sh"

license_changed_usr_cmd

Runs a user-defined script or an executable when Charon-PAR disconnects from one license and connects to another for any reason.

The script or command started receives four parameters from Charon-PAR: old-key-id, old-product-license-id,new-key-id, and new-product-license-id.

Usage example:
license_changed_usr_cmd="./my-license_changed.sh"

license_expiration_warning_usr_cmd

Runs a user-defined script or an executable when the license expiration time is within few hours. The default setup is: starting 24 hours before expiration this script is invoked each hour.

The script or command started receives three parameters from Charon-PAR: key-id, product-license-id, expiration time.

Usage example:
license_expiration_warning_usr_cmd=“./my-license_expiration_warning.sh”

Machine State Parameters

Optional parameter: allows a non-default path to store the machine state.

Syntax:

machine_state_path "path"

Parameters:

The value of path is a Unix file system path. It must be enclosed in double quotes.

System Model Configuration

The system model configuration section contains one parameter defining the emulated historic PA-RISC model.

Syntax:

model "model-name"

The configured model must be covered by your license.




Each configuration file template is preconfigured for a certain family of models. The following table shows the model-name values for each of the configuration file templates:

Template

Values for model-name

Description

Template

Values for model-name

Description

pa3.cfg

A400-100-110, A500-200-200,

N4000-100-750,

N4000-200-750,

N4000-400-750



rp2400.cfg

rp2400-1-360

single CPU, 360MHz, model string: 9000/800/A400-36



rp2400-1-440

single CPU, 440MHz, model string: 9000/800/A400-44



rp2400

Abbreviation for 1 CPU system at 440MHz

rp2430.cfg

rp2430-1-550

single CPU, 550MHz, model string: 9000/800/A400-5X



rp2430-1-650

single CPU, 650MHz, model string: 9000/800/A400-6X



rp2430

Abbreviation for 1 CPU system at 650MHz

rp2450.cfg

rp2450-1-360

1 or 2 CPUs, 360MHz, model string: 9000/800/A500-36



rp2450-1-440

1 or 2 CPUs, 440MHz, model string: 9000/800/A500-44



rp2450-1-550

1 or 2 CPUs, 550MHz, model string: 9000/800/A500-5X



rp2450

Abbreviation for 2 CPU system at 550MHz

rp2470.cfg

rp2470-1-650

1 or 2 CPUs, 650MHz, model string: 9000/800/A500-6X



rp2470-1-750

1 or 2 CPUs, 750MHz, model string: 9000/800/A500-7X



rp2470

Abbreviation for 2 CPU system at 750MHz

rp5400.cfg

rp5400-1-360

1 or 2 CPUs, 360MHz, model string: 9000/800/L1000-36



rp5400-1-440

1 or 2 CPUs, 440MHz, model string: 9000/800/L1000-44



rp5400-1-550

1 or 2 CPUs, 550MHz, model string: 9000/800/L1000-5X



rp5400

Abbreviation for 2 CPU system at 550MHz

rp5430.cfg

rp5430-1-360

1 or 2 CPUs, 360MHz, model string: 9000/800/L1500-36



rp5430-1-440

1 or 2 CPUs, 440MHz, model string: 9000/800/L1500-44



rp5430-1-550

1 or 2 CPUs, 550MHz, model string: 9000/800/L1500-5X



rp5430-1-650

1 or 2 CPUs, 650MHz, model string: 9000/800/L1500-6X



rp5430-1-750

1 or 2 CPUs, 750MHz, model string: 9000/800/L1500-7X



rp5430-1-875

1 or 2 CPUs, 875MHz, model string: 9000/800/L1500-8X



rp5430

Abbreviation for 2 CPU system at 750MHz

rp5450.cfg

rp5450-1-360

1 to 4 CPUs, 360MHz, model string: 9000/800/L2000-36



rp5450-1-440

1 to 4 CPUs, 440MHz, model string: 9000/800/L2000-44



rp5450-1-550

1 to 4 CPUs, 550MHz, model string: 9000/800/L2000-5X



rp5450

Abbreviation for 4 CPU system at 550MHz

rp5470.cfg

rp5470-1-550

1 to 4 CPUs, 550MHz, model string: 9000/800/L3000-5X



rp5470-1-650

1 to 4 CPUs, 650MHz, model string: 9000/800/L3000-6X



rp5470-1-750

1 to 4 CPUs, 750MHz, model string: 9000/800/L3000-7X



rp5470-1-875

1 to 4 CPUs, 875MHz, model string: 9000/800/L3000-8X



rp5470

Abbreviation for 4 CPU system at 750MHz

rp7400.cfg

rp7400-1-360

1 to 8 CPUs, 360MHz, model string:"9000/800/N4000-36



rp7400-1-440

1 to 8 CPUs, 440MHz, model string:"9000/800/N4000-44



rp7400-1-550

1 to 8 CPUs, 550MHz, model string:"9000/800/N4000-55



rp7400-1-650

1 to 8 CPUs, 650MHz, model string:"9000/800/N4000-65



rp7400-1-750

1 to 8 CPUs, 750MHz, model string:"9000/800/N4000-75



rp7400

Abbreviation for 8 CPU system at 750MHz

pa9-32.cfg

7000-720

1 CPU, 50MHz, model string: "7000-720"



Memory Configuration

This section defines the RAM size for the emulated system. It only contains one parameter.

Syntax:

memory memsizeG
   or
memory memsize

Memory size can be specified in gigabytes (denoted by the letter G) or megabytes.

Parameters:

Default memsize: 2 gigabytes

Maximum memsize: maximum allowed RAM size for the emulated system. See section Virtual Hardware Supported by Charon-PAR for the maximum allowed values.

The configurable memory also depends on the amount of memory available on the host system.


I/O Slot Configuration

This section is used to load additional controllers for the emulated system.

The available expansion PCI slots depend on the configured hardware model (see configuration template files and chapter Emulated Model Hardware Configuration Details). The Emulated Model Hardware Configuration chapter also lists the device paths for all expansion slots of a model. 

Supported controller types: SCSI controllers and Ethernet cards.



Syntax for Ethernet cards:

load ETH tulip PCI slot-number

Parameters for Ethernet cards:

The parameter slot-number identifies the number of PCI slot (see configuration file template and Emulated Model Hardware Configuration Details). All other parameters are fixed in the current version of the software.



Syntax for SCSI controllers:

load SCSI controller-model PCI slot-number

Parameters for SCSI controllers:

  • slot-number identifies the number of PCI slot (see configuration file template and Emulated Model Hardware Configuration Details).

  • controller-model can be
    53C875 for single-chip boards (assigned to PCI device function 0), or
    53C896 for a dual 53C895 controller (assigned to PCI device function 0 and 1)

System Console and Serial Line Configuration

Built-in Serial Lines

Most of the emulated systems have 2 serial lines. Please refer to Emulated Model Hardware Configuration Details for the device path associated with the built-in serial lines.

Configuration path for built-in serial lines on Charon-PAR/PA3 and Charon-PAR/PA9-64

Comment

Configuration path for built-in serial lines on Charon-PAR/PA3 and Charon-PAR/PA9-64

Comment

serial.uart0.device

Console

serial.uart2.device



Configuration path for built-in serial lines on Charon-PAR/PA9-32



asp.uart0.device

Console

asp.uart1.device



The configuration path string is used in the configuration file to specify parameters for the virtual serial line.


Super/IO Module

If the Super/IO module has been loaded, there are two additional serial lines. In the configuration, they are identified by superio_001.uart0 and
superio_001.uart1. The basic configuration options are the same as for the default serial lines.

Configuration Syntax

Syntax:

serial.uartX.device.<option>="<value>"

or

superio_001.uartX.device.<option>="<value>"

The options available for configuration are described below.

Serial port options

type

The type option specifies the serial line connection type.

Possible values:

DUMMY

  • Default value

  • The serial line is not connected to a port.

  • The line has no input.

  • The output will be discarded but can be logged to a file.

telnet

  • Port is a network socket with telnet protocol support.

  • Data is transmitted as a character stream encapsulated in the telnet protocol.

  • UART baud rate and parity modes are ignored.

  • If no client is connected, the output will be discarded.

  • Only one client connection is allowed.

socket

  • Raw network socket port mode.

  • Data is transmitted as a character stream without UART signals.

  • UART baud rate and parity modes are ignored.

  • If no client is connected, the output will be discarded.

  • Only one client connection is allowed.

pty

  • Linux pseudo terminal device.

  • UART baud rate and parity modes are ignored.

  • Ignores serial port control signals changes.

tty

  • Linux serial interface device.

  • This port type implements all serial port control signals, baud rate changes, parity modes. Actual capabilities depend on the capabilities of the host hardware.

RFC2217

  • Port is a network telnet client with RFC2217 support.

  • The RFC2217 COM Port Control (a telnet protocol extension) allows sharing modems and other serial devices over a TCP/IP network.

  • The emulated serial interface connects to a serial port server.

  • This port type implements all serial port control signals, baud rate changes, parity modes. Actual capabilities depend on the capabilities of the host hardware.


port

The format and values of the port option, depend on the type of the port.


© Stromasys, 1999-2025  - All the information is provided on the best effort basis, and might be changed anytime without notice. Information provided does not mean Stromasys commitment to any features described. 
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