Charon-PAR/PA9-64 Guest - Basic Configuration and Installation

Owned by W.Erber
Last updated: Jul 05, 2023Version comment
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Contents

Please note: All Linux and HP-UX sample commands in this section are performed as the root user (prompt = #). This may not be necessary for all commands in all environments depending on the local permission settings. The commands can be executed on the Charon host graphical console or via a non-graphical login (e.g., SSH). However, for accessing the running emulator, the use of PuTTY is strongly recommended because it works best with the emulator environment.

The Charon-PAR/PA9-64 functionality of Charon-PAR emulates historic 64-bit PA-RISC hardware. This section shows a sample installation of a 64-bit guest system.

Emulator Licensing Considerations

The emulator needs a valid license to run. The license can be a Sentinel HASP license or a Virtual Environment (VE) license. Please refer to Initial Emulator License Configuration for the basic license configuration steps of both options. The license(s) to be used are defined in the configuration file. If running in a cloud environment, a VE license is strongly recommended (supported from Charon-PAR version 3.0.6).

HP-UX ISO Installation Medium 

To install a basic HP-UX system running as a guest system in an emulator instance, you need to provide an HP-UX ISO installation medium.

Example:


StepCommand
1Change to the directory where you store your virtual disks.# cd /data/Stromasys/host1/Data/Disk/
2Unpack an ISO file contained in a compressed tar archive into this directory (example only: the actual command will vary depending on the location and archive format of your ISO file).# tar -xzf /path-to-file/HPUX_11v1_Sept2005_FOE.tgz

If the compressed tar archive of the ISO file is no longer needed for other purposes, it can be removed.


Creating a Virtual Disk Container for the System Disk

The emulated system requires a disk on which the HP-UX system will be installed. Create a system disk as shown in the following example:


StepCommand
1Change to the directory where you store your virtual disks.# cd /data/Stromasys/host1/Data/Disk/
2Create an empty disk container. Note that the actual size of the disk will depend on the requirements of your emulated system. The disk name shown is just an example.

Example virtual disk creation (20GB):

With dd:
# dd if=/dev/zero of=ldev1-v11.dsk bs=1G count=20

With fallocate (very fast alternative):

# fallocate --length 21474836480 ldev1-v11.dsk
Please note: the size of the disk must be such that it is aligned to a 512-byte boundary. You can check this with the following bash expression:
$ bytes=<number-of-bytes>; echo $(( bytes - bytes/512*512 ))
If it returns 0, the alignment is correct.

Adapting the Configuration File Template

The configuration file template must be adapted to the customer environment and the required guest system characteristics. This section describes the minimum number of changes required to configure a Charon-PAR/PA9-64 emulator instance. Please refer to Configuration File Reference for a detailed description of the configuration file options.

Perform the following steps to create a basic configuration file for a Charon-PAR emulated historic 64-bit PA-RISC system for HP-UX (rp2400 sample):



Step
Description (configuration file settings are examples only!)
1Create a copy of the configuration file template.

Example: 

# cd /data/Stromasys/host1/

# cp /opt/charon/cfg/rp2400.cfg host1.cfg

2Open the configuration file in a text editor.

# vi host1.cfg

or

# gedit host1.cfg

3Configure the system model.model "rp2400-1-650"
Configured model must be covered by your license.
4Configure the RAM for the emulated system.memory 2G
5Configure the serial console for telnet via PuTTY.

Use the method 2 section in the configuration file and make sure the definition of the serial.uart0.device is:

serial.uart0.device.command="putty -load PAR-Telnet-VT100"

6Configure disk 1 (system disk).

Change definition of DKA0 to:

DKA0.image="/data/Stromasys/host1/Data/Disk/ldev1-v11.dsk"

7Add a definition for  disk 2 (ISO file) or (if it already exists) modify the definition to point to your ISO file.

load DKA100

DKA100.image="/data/Stromasys/host1/Data/Disk/HP-UX_11v1_Sept2005_FOE.iso"

8Configure a tape devices.

Change definition of MKAx to:

MKA600.image="/data/Stromasys/host1/Data/Tape/ldev7.img"

MKA500.image="/opt/Stromasys/host1/Data/Tape/ldev8.img"

9

Configure a network card based on a physical host NIC. This NIC is dedicated to the guest operating system and cannot be used for network communication by the host system. To share an interface, a virtual bridge would have to be used (see Ethernet configuration sections in this document).

In the configuration file template, comment out the dummy interface and the tap interface configuration. Then uncomment the interface configuration of the physical interface example. Change the definition of EWA0 to the interface that is assigned to the emulated system (example: eth1) and disable the offload parameters for the interface:

EWA0.mapping_mode="RAW"

EWA0.iface="eth1"

EWA0.initialize_command="ethtool -K $IFACE rx off ; ethtool -K $IFACE tx off ; ethtool -K $IFACE sg off ; ethtool -K $IFACE gso off ; ethtool -K $IFACE gro off ; ethtool -K $IFACE txvlan off ; ethtool -K $IFACE rxvlan off"

Depending on the capabilities of the Ethernet device, not all off-load parameters maybe be available. This will create a warning message. The variable IFACE is set by the system before executing the initialize command.

For cloud environments, please note:

  • The MAC address on an interface must be the same as the one configured by the cloud provider on the dedicated interface. This should be the case by default for Charon-PAR. The IP address used by the guest OS must be the one configured by the cloud provider.
  • Virtual bridge configurations that are linked to a host NIC are not possible in cloud environments. Only "internal virtual bridge" configurations are possible. Such bridges can be used for host-guest communication. External communication for the guest can be achieved either by NAT or by routing configurations (depending on requirements and cloud-specific restrictions). A less complex, TAP based solution is to use a MACVTAP interface (using MAC and IP address assigned by the cloud provider).
10Save the configuration file.

Starting the Emulated System and Installing the Guest System

This section shows how to start the emulator and install a HP-UX system.

Please note:

  • The examples in this section assume that a graphical interface is used, on which a PuTTY session can be run.
  • Should this not be possible, you can access the console of the emulated system by using, for example, a telnet client and pointing it to the TCP port on the Charon host defined for the serial console port in the configuration file. The default port is 30000. Sample command to connect to an emulator on the local system:

           $ telnet localhost 30000.

In this case, do not start the PuTTY program automatically from the emulator configuration.

Starting the Emulator

To start the emulated Charon-PAR/PA9-64 system, perform the following steps:


Step
Command
1Go to the directory where the configuration file has been stored.# cd /data/Stromasys/host1/
2Start the emulator instance.# /opt/charon/bin/charon-par -f host1.cfg


If everything works, you will see log output in the current terminal window ending in a pa9-64> prompt. This is the Charon-PAR emulator console. It displays log information, allows to set configuration parameters and to stop the emulator. Please note: the prompt may be obscured by log messages and not be immediately visible. In this case, press the Enter key once to display the prompt.

At the same time, a green PuTTY console window will open.

Please note: Should there be an error from PuTTY about missing fonts, start PuTTY as the root user, load the PAR-Telnet-VT100 profile, set a font that is available on the host system, save the configuration.



Booting from the Installation ISO File

In green PuTTY console window perform the following steps to boot the installation ISO file:

  • Press the Enter key.
  • This should produce the prompt Main Menu: Enter command or menu >.
  • Enter the command boot 0/0/1/0.1.0 to boot from the ISO and confirm by pressing the Enter key.
  • At the prompt Interact with IPL (Y or N)?> answer N. The system will continue to boot.
  • At the next prompt, select VT100 as the terminal (option 2).



HP-UX Installation Phase 1: Pre-installation Dialogs

At the screen following the terminal selection you can select to install HP-UX as shown in the following image:

  • Check if all configured devices were found as expected. If something is missing, check your configuration file.
  • For a basic test installation use the default choices in this and the other initial configuration menus. You can type the underlined character to select a choice. Sometimes you will have to confirm the selection by pressing the Enter key, sometimes the selection will also activate the choice.
  • Continue with Install HP-UX.


The following table provides an overview of the information that will be collected.
Please note: the number and content of screens may vary depending on your selections.

Information requestedIllustration

Select the type of installation and media. Continue with OK.

In this basic example, an installation from local media is selected. Alternatively, you can choose to enable the network and use software depots for additional software to be installed, or you can use an Ignite installation server. For these advanced options, please refer to the HP-UX documentation.

Select if you want to install from the media or recover the system. Continue with OK.

Select the basic system configuration. Continue with Next.

Select the operating system environment. Continue with Next.

Select the root disk. Continue with Next.

Configure the swap space size. Continue with Next.

Select the filesystem type for the root disk. Continue with Next.

If you selected LVM in the step above, configure the number of disks included in the root volume group. Continue with Next (use the TAB key to get to the options at the bottom of the screen).

Configure your language setting. Continue with Next.

Select additional software to install, if required. Continue with Next.

Confirm the selection of the target disk for installation. It lets you check that the correct disks have been selected to be overwritten. If the correct disk is displayed, continue with Next. Otherwise, go back and correct your configuration.

If disks to be overwritten contain an operating system, you may be asked for an explicit confirmation. If it is OK to overwrite the disk, continue with Next. Otherwise, go back and correct your configuration.




Eventually, you will be offered to display a summary of your selection and to start the installation.

The following image shows the last screen before the installation is started:

Once you select Finish, the HP-UX installation will start.



HP-UX Installation Phase 2: Kernel Build and Reboot

Once the initial operating system installation has finished, the system will build a new kernel and reboot as shown below:

The system will restart and and run the fileset and software configuration tasks. During this run, it will display many messages starting with the string NOTE: to show progress and describe the actions taken. At the end of this configuration run, the system will again shut down and reboot to the boot prompt again.



HP-UX Installation Phase 3: Setup Dialogs and Login

At the screen shown below, enter the command boot 0/0/1/0.0.0 at the prompt Main Menu: Enter command or menu > to boot from the new system disk:

Respond with N to the Interact with IPL question.

This will boot the system and start a series of setup dialogs.



The following table provides an overview of the setup dialogs.

Please note: Depending on your setup, the sequence, number, and content of the screens will vary. Confirmation dialogs (to confirm the data entered) are not shown.

Configuration stepIllustration
Specify whether the system will be connected to a network. Answer y to configure networking.

Specify whether a DHCP server is to be used. Please answer n to this question. As DHCP is not recommended for Charon-PAR.

The next screen is to confirm that the user has the required configuration information at hand. Answering no will halt the system.

Hostname configuration. Enter the hostname of the emulated system. Continue with Enter.

The next two screens allow you to configure the timezone for your system. The first screen (displayed here) selects the general region, the second (not displayed), the exact timezone within the region.

Make the appropriate selection and continue with Enter.

Confirm/correct the system time.

Set the root password. Confirm that you want to set the password. Then the system will prompt you for the password.

Configure the IP address and continue with Enter.

Additional network settings overview. Confirm with y if you want to configure one or more of these network settings.

For cloud environments, please note: in case of a dedicated Ethernet interface, the IP address of the emulator must be set to the value assigned by the cloud provider to the corresponding host NIC.

If you answered yes in the step above, you will be asked to configure subnet mask and default gateway.

If you answer yes to this question, the system will display additional screens (not displayed here) guiding you through the configuration steps.

If you answered yes when asked whether you wanted to configure additional network options, the option to configure DNS will be offered.

If you answer yes to this question, the system will display additional screens (not displayed here) guiding you through the configuration steps.

If you answered yes when asked whether you wanted to configure additional network options, the option to configure NIS will be offered.

If you answer yes to this question, the system will display additional screens (not displayed here) guiding you through the configuration steps.

An additional screen will inform you about currently unassigned disk space and how to make it usable later.

Confirmation that system configuration is complete. Upon pressing Enter, the system will continue to boot to the the login prompt.

During the boot process the system will display startup messages for the individual system components and finally the log-in prompt. You can log into the system using the root password configured above:


Stopping the Emulator

In order to stop the emulator in an orderly manner, perform the following steps:

1. Shut down the guest operating system:

# shutdown -h now

Starting with Charon-PAR version 3.0.5 this will, by default, automatically stop the emulator when it detects that the operating system has been halted. See the system.stop_on_halt parameter in the Configuration File Reference. If the emulator is not stopped automatically, continue with step 2 below.

2. Starting with version 3.0.5, the emulator is stopped automatically after the guest operating system shutdown is complete (unless the configuration parameter system.stop_on_halt has been set to false). If the emulator is not stopped automatically after the shutdown of the guest operating system, different methods must be used to stop it in different situations:

  • The emulator was started in interactive mode and the Charon-PAR console is available in current terminal: enter the exit command at the pa9-64> prompt and hit Enter. This will cause the emulator to close the disk images of the emulated system and to exit.
  • The Charon-PAR console is available on a local TCP port (emulator started with -c or --console-port parameter): this situation will exist most frequently if the emulator has been started as a daemon or service. To stop the emulator access the Charon-PAR console via telnet to localhost on the port specified when starting the emulator, enter the exit command at the pa9-64> prompt, and hit Enter.
    Access to the Charon-PAR console via a TCP port is available starting with Charon-PAR version 3.0.1. The CTRL+B key combination has been disabled on the emulator console starting with this version.
  • The emulator was started as a daemon or service and the Charon-PAR console is not available via a local TCP port: This situation can occur if you run a version before 3.0.1 or you started the emulator without the -c option.
    • For versions 3.0.1 and higher: the emulator must be stopped using the kill command from the root user on the Charon host system. Perform the following steps to stop the Charon-PAR process:
      • Find the PID (process id) of the process: # ps -ef | grep -i charon-par
      • Stop the process: # kill <charon-par-pid>
    • For versions before 3.0.1: on the emulator console, after shutting down the guest operating system, press CTRL+B. After a few seconds, a traceback may be shown. At the end of this output, you will be asked to select a dump type. Select N for no dump. The PDC console prompt (Main menu:) will appear. Type exit to stop the emulator.

For more information about the Charon-PAR console, please refer to Charon-PAR Console. For more information about the Charon-PAR command-line options, please refer to Charon-PAR Command-Line Options.


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