Networking

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Last updated: Jan 05, 2021 by Bruno Miretti (Deactivated)Version comment
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Table of Contents


Introduction

To configure CHARON-VAX networking, follow these 3 steps:

  1. Load network adapter (if required)

    If you are configuring a DEQNA, DESQA, DELQA, DEUNA, DELUA, DEMNA, DEBNI or PMADAA adapter, use the "load" command as shown below. CHARON-VAX 3100/96/98 and 4000/106/108 emulations automatically load SGEC (with the name "eza") and therefore no "load" command is required.

    Example:

    load DELQA/DEQNA NIC

  2. Load "packet_port" or "tap_port" 

    Load "packet_port" or "tap_port" to connect the SGEC, DEQNA, DESQA, DELQA, DEUNA, DELUA, DEMNA, DEBNI or PMADAA adapter to the host hardware network card (or to a virtual network interface).

    Example:

    load packet_port/chnetwrk NDIS interface = "eth0"

  3. Connect the loaded "packet_port" ("tap_port") to the loaded virtual network adapter

    Connect the SGEC, DEQNA, DESQA, DELQA, DEUNA, DELUA, DEMNA, DEBNI or PMADAA adapter to the "packet_port" ("tap_port") by setting the interface name.

    Example: 

    set NIC interface = NDIS

The interface name can be either "(disabled)" for a disabled interface or "<network interface name>"

Examples:

load packet_port/chnetwrk NIC1 interface="(disabled)"
load packet_port/chnetwrk NIC2 interface="ens33"

(warning) Network booting is supported with exception of VAX6xxx models.

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SGEC Ethernet Controller

The built-in SGEC controller emulator ("eza") has the following parameters that are specified with the "set" command:

interface

Parameterinterface
Type

Text String

Value

Name of corresponding instance of "packet_port" or "tap_port" component

station_address

Parameterstation_address
Type

Text String

Value

"station_address" provides the ability to configure the adapter’s permanent address. By default the adapter’s permanent address is read from the host system’s NIC.

Set the "station_address" when you need to configure a satellite (remotely booted) system that will run DECnet or when the migrated software uses the permanent address on the network adapter.

Format:

XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX

or

XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Example:

set eza station_address="AF:01:AC:78:1B:CC"


rx_fifo_size

Parameter

rx_fifo_size

TypeNumeric
Value

"rx_fifo_size" sets the receive FIFO size.

The value is specified in Kb and by default is pre-calculated from the connected port’s size of receive queue.

Typically, you do not need to change the "rx_fifo_size" parameter. It is available for extended tuning and bug hunting purposes.

Example:

load packet_port/chnetwrk EZA0 interface = "eth0"
set EZA interface = EZA0
set EZA station_address="0C:FE:35:AA:67:3B"

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DEQNA / DESQA / DELQA Ethernet Controller

CHARON-VAX Q-bus systems provide support for DEQNA, DESQA, DELQA, DEUNA and DELUA Ethernet controllers.

Use the following command to load an instance of DEQNA, DESQA, DELQA, DEUNA and DELUA Ethernet controllers:

load DEQNA/DEQNA <logical name>
load DESQA/DEQNA <logical name>
load DELQA/DEQNA <logical name>
load DEUNA/DEUNA <logical name>
load DELUA/DEULA <logical name>

Example:

load DESQA/DEQNA XQA

DEQNA, DESQA, DELQA, DEUNA and DELUA offer the following configuration parameters that can be specified with "set" command:

address

Parameteraddress
TypeNumeric
Value

Specifies the CSR address. The address must be a valid QBUS and UNIBUS address in I/O space. Initial value is 017774440 which is the factory setting for DEQNA, DESQA and DELQA Ethernet controllers.

Use the address parameter if loading several instances of DEQNA, DESQA, DELQA, DEUNA and DELUA.

"address" parameter value must be unique for every instance of DEQNA, DESQA, DELQA, DEUNA and DELUA.

Example:

load DEQNA/DEQNA XQA address=017774440
load DEQNA/DEQNA XQB address=017764460


interface

Parameterinterface
Type

Text String

Value

Name of corresponding instance of "packet_port" or "tap_port" component

station_address

Parameterstation_address
Type

Text String

Value

"station_address" provides the ability to configure the adapter’s permanent address. By default the adapter’s permanent address is read from the host system’s NIC.

Set the "station_address" when you need to configure a satellite (remotely booted) system that will run DECnet or when the migrated software uses the permanent address on the network adapter.

Format:

XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX

or

XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Example:

set QNA station_address="AF:01:AC:78:1B:CC"

rx_fifo_size

Parameter

rx_fifo_size

TypeNumeric
Value

"rx_fifo_size" sets the receive FIFO size.

The value is specified in Kb and by default is pre-calculated from the connected port’s size of receive queue.

Typically, you do not need to change the "rx_fifo_size" parameter. It is available for extended tuning and bug hunting purposes.


Example:

load DESQA/DEQNA QNA interface = QNA0
set QNA station_address="0C:FE:35:AA:67:3B"
load packet_port/chnetwrk QNA0 interface = "eth0"

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DEMNA Ethernet Adapter

CHARON-VAX/66X0 systems provide support for the DEMNA Ethernet controller.

Use the following command to load an instance of the DEMNA Ethernet controller:

load DEMNA/DEMNA <logical name>

Example:

load DEMNA/DEMNA EXA

DEMNA Ethernet controller offers the following configuration parameters that can be specified with "set" command:

xmi_node_id

Parameterxmi_node_id
TypeNumber
Value

Specifies the XMI slot in which the virtual DEMNA controller is placed.

For CHARON-VAX/66X0 a free slot between 10 (A) and 14 (E) must be chosen.

interface

Parameterinterface
Type

Text String

Value

Name of corresponding instance of "packet_port" or "tap_port" component

station_address

Parameterstation_address
Type

Text String

Value

"station_address" provides the ability to configure the adapter’s permanent address. By default the adapter’s permanent address is read from the host system’s NIC.

Set the "station_address" when you need to configure a satellite (remotely booted) system which will run DECnet or when the migrated software uses the permanent address on the network adapter.

Format:

XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX

or

XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Example:

set EXA station_address="AF:01:AC:78:1B:CC"


rx_fifo_size

Parameter

rx_fifo_size

TypeNumeric
Value

"rx_fifo_size" sets the receive FIFO size.

The value is specified in Kb and by default is pre-calculated from the connected port’s size of receive queue.

Typically, you do not need to change the "rx_fifo_size" parameter. It is available for extended tuning and bug hunting purposes.

Example:

load DEMNA/DEMNA EXA xmi_node_id = 11 interface = EXA0
set EXA station_address = "0C:FE:35:AA:67:3B"
load packet_port/chnetwrk EXA0 interface = "eth0"

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DEBNI Ethernet Adapter

CHARON-VAX/63X0 systems provide support for the DEBNI Ethernet controller.

Use the following command to load an instance of the DEBNI Ethernet controller:

load DEBNI/DEMNA <logical name>

Example:

load DEBNI/DEMNA EXA

DEBNI Ethernet controller offers the following configuration parameters that can be specified with "set" command:

vax_bi_node_id

Parameter

vax_bi_node_id

Type

Number

Value

Specifies the VAXBI slot in which the virtual DEBNI controller is placed.

interface

Parameter

interface

Type

Text String

Value

Name of corresponding instance of "packet_port" or "tap_port" component


station_address

Parameterstation_address
Type

Text String

Value

"station_address" provides the ability to configure the adapter’s permanent address. By default the adapter’s permanent address is read from the host system’s NIC.

Set the "station_address" when you need to configure a satellite (remotely booted) system which will run DECnet or when the migrated software uses the permanent address on the network adapter.

Format:

XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX

or

XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Example:

set EXA station_address="AF:01:AC:78:1B:CC"

rx_fifo_size

Parameter

rx_fifo_size

TypeNumeric
Value

"rx_fifo_size" sets the receive FIFO size.

The value is specified in Kb and by default is pre-calculated from the connected port’s size of receive queue.

Typically, you do not need to change the "rx_fifo_size" parameter. It is available for extended tuning and bug hunting purposes.


Example:

load DEBNI/DEMNA EXA vax_bi_node_id = 11 interface = EXA0
set EXA station_address = "0C:FE:35:AA:67:3B"
load packet_port/chnetwrk EXA0 interface = "eth0"

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PMAD-AA TurboChannel Ethernet Adapter

The CHARON-VAX VAXstation 4000 Model 90 system provides support for a PMAD-AA TurboChannel Ethernet controller (in addition to the preloaded SGEC "EZA").

Use the following command to load an instance of a PMAD-AA Ethernet controller:

load PMADAA/PMADAA <logical name>

Example:

load PMADAA/PMADAA EXA

PMAD-AA TurboChannel Ethernet controller offers the following configuration parameters that can be specified with "set" command:

interface

Parameterinterface
Type

Text String

Value

Name of corresponding instance of "packet_port" or "tap_port" component

station_address

Parameterstation_address
Type

Text String

Value

"station_address" provides the ability to configure the adapter’s permanent address. By default the adapter’s permanent address is read from the host system’s NIC.

Set the "station_address" when you need to configure a satellite (remotely booted) system which will run DECnet or when the migrated software uses the permanent address on the network adapter.

Format:

XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX

or

XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Example:

set ECA station_address="AF:01:AC:78:1B:CC"


rx_fifo_size

Parameter

rx_fifo_size

TypeNumeric
Value

"rx_fifo_size" sets the receive FIFO size.

The value is specified in Kb and by default is pre-calculated from the connected port’s size of receive queue.

Typically, you do not need to change the "rx_fifo_size" parameter. It is available for extended tuning and bug hunting purposes.


Example:

load PMADAA/PMADAA ECA interface = ECA0
set ECA station_address = "0C:FE:35:AA:67:3B"
load packet_port/chnetwrk ECA0 interface = "eth0"


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Packet Port

The CHARON-specific "packet_port" interface establishes a connection between an Ethernet adapter in the Linux host system and a network adapter in the virtual VAX system.

For every virtual adapter instance loaded, one dedicated host Ethernet physical adapter is required.

To create instances of "packet_port", use the “load” command in the configuration file as follows:

load packet_port/chnetwrk <instance-name>

Example:

load packet_port/chnetwrk pp_1

"packet_port" offers several configuration parameters controlling its behavior.

interface

Parameterinterface
Type

Text string

Value

This parameter Identifies an Ethernet adapter of the host system dedicated to CHARON-VAX.

Syntax:

set <name> interface="<adapter>"

Example:

set pp_1 interface="eth0"


port_enable_mac_addr_change

Parameter

port_enable_mac_addr_change

TypeBoolean
Value

If "true" is specified, CHARON sets the appropriate Ethernet address automatically.

If "false" is specified, set the Ethernet address manually. The default value is "true".

Example:

set pp_1 port_enable_mac_addr_change=false

port_retry_on_tx

Parameter

port_retry_on_tx

TypeNumeric
Value

The "port_retry_on_tx" parameter controls the number of times the port will attempt to transmit the packet before giving up.

By default, the value is 3.

Increasing this value may introduce problems in carrier loosing logic because not all NIC drivers support carrier status query.

Typically, you do not need to increase the value.

Example:

set pp_1 port_retry_on_tx=8

port_pending_rx_number

Parameter

port_pending_rx_number

Type

Numeric

Value

"port_pending_rx_number" parameter sets the number of pending receive buffers.

The default value is 63. The maximum value allowed is 195.

You may want to increase the "port_pending_rx_number" when you have very busy networking and experience problems like losing connections not related to the carrier loss.

Typically, you do not need to change this parameter.

Example:

set pp_1 port_pending_rx_number=128


port_pending_tx_number

Parameter

port_pending_tx_number

TypeNumeric
Value

"port_pending_tx_number" parameter sets the number of buffers the port uses to transmit.

The default value is 62.

You may want to increase the "port_pending_tx_number" value if the log file indicates dropped TX packets due to TX queue overflow.

Typically, you do not need to change this parameter.

Example:

set pp_1 port_pending_tx_number=128

log

Parameter

log

TypeText string
Value

If this parameter is set to some valid file name or a directory where the log files for each individual session will be stored CHARON logs Recv and Xmit packets at the emulated port layer.

If an existing directory is specified, CHARON automatically enables creation of individual log files, one for each session using the same scheme as used for the generation of the rotating log files. If the "log" parameter is omitted, CHARON does not create log.

In certain situations enabling this parameter may help to detect loss of packets.

Example 1:

set pp_1 log="pp_1.log"

Example 2:

set pp_1 log="/charon/logs"

Only existing directory can be used as a value of the "log" parameter.


log_flush_period

Parameterlog_flush_period
TypeNumeric
Value
  • <period-in-seconds>

Defines a period of flushing log to disk.

Default period is 60 seconds (it means that every minute log file is flushed to disk)

Examples:

set pp_1 log_flush_period=30

"tap_port" parameters are the same as "packet_port" ones


Example:

load DEQNA/DEQNA XQA
load packet_port/chnetwrk XQA0 interface="eth0"
set XQA interface=XQA0

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Supported Ethernet Q-bus Adapters for DECnet OSI (DECnet Plus)

The only supported Q-bus device is the DELQA adapter model.

During DECnet OSI installation or DECnet OSI interface reconfiguration, DEQNA and DESQA models are not recognized as valid devices. (DECnet OSI SPD).

The integrated SGEC Ethernet "EZA" on MicroVAX 3100 & VAX 4000-106/108 is supported by DECnet OSI.

The integrated ESA (AMD Lance 7990) device is not currently implemented in Charon-VAX.

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Ethernet Q-bus Adapter and Cluster configuration rules

In a VMS Cluster using VMS V 5.5 and above, use only DELQA and DESQA Ethernet adapters that are supported (VMS Cluster SPD).

The default DEQNA device is not supported for SCS Cluster protocol and the emulated VAX will fail with a CLUEXIT Bugcheck.

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