CHARON Guest Utilities for OpenVMS
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- Bruno Miretti (Deactivated)
- Kirill Nikolaev (Unlicensed)
Table of Contents
General Description
The "CHARON Guest Utilities for OpenVMS" (CHARONCP) package contains several utilities for managing virtual tapes, changing the emulator speed and creating useful definitions for that operations.
This set of utilities is located in the "charoncp013.vdisk" disk file in the "C:\Program Files\CHARON\Virtual Disk Images\Tape utilities package".
Supported OpenVMS versions: OpenVMS 6.1 and above.
In case of OpenVMS upgrade, CHARONCP will have to be re-installed.
Installation
Specify this image in the CHARON configuration file, boot from the system disk and mount the disk with the following OpenVMS command:
$ MOUNT <device name> /OVERRIDE=IDENTIFICATION |
Issue the following commands to install the package:
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Select all the components included to the package:
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Once the installation is completed, add the following line to the "SYS$STARTUP:SYSTARTUP_VMS.COM" file for the package to be loaded automatically at system startup::
$ @SYS$STARTUP:CHARONCP_STARTUP |
After that the package will be loaded automatically on startup.
Performance optimization
CHARON takes 100% of host CPU even in case of idle state of guest OpenVMS operating system. To get rid of such resources consumption there is a specific option provided by CHARON Guest Utilities - "idle" mode.
To load the OpenVMS idle loop detection software, use:
$ CHARONCP SET IDLE /ENABLE |
This allows CHARON to detect when the emulated CPU(s) are idle and use the host power saving instructions to reduce power usage.
To unload the OpenVMS idle loop detection software, use:
$ CHARONCP SET IDLE /DISABLE |
Adjusting emulator's speed
CHARON speed can be adjusted using these commands.
To increase the emulator speed by the specified number of steps, use:
$ CHARONCP SET SPEED /UP=<number of steps> |
To decrease the emulator speed by the specified number of steps, use:
$ CHARONCP SET SPEED /DOWN=<number of steps> |
To remove all speed stepping restraints, use:
$ CHARONCP SET SPEED /RESET |
Emulator's shutdown control
It is possible to schedule CHARON to shutdown directly from OpenVMS.
To specify the number of seconds before the CHARON emulator is to shut down, use:
$ CHARONCP SET SHUTDOWN /IN=<seconds, 60 is default> |
The value can be between 0 and 65535 (approx. 18 hours).
To clear a scheduled shutdown, use:
$ CHARONCP SET SHUTDOWN /RESET |
Virtual tapes management
Specify mapping to tape container in the following way in the CHARON configuration file:
set <adapter name> container[<unit name>] = ".vtape" removable[<unit name>] = true |
- It is mandatory to set the "
removable" parameter to "true" - The container name must be "
.vtape", no name and path must be specified, only extension.
Example:
set PKA container[600] = ".vtape" removable[600] = true |
Once it is done using the following commands it is possible to manage virtual tapes attached to CHARON.
To create the specified host-file (if it does not already exist) and attach it to the specified virtual tape device, use:
$ CHARONCP SET MAGTAPE <device> /LOAD="<filename>.vtape" |
The container name specified in the /LOAD parameter must not be more than 255 characters
Example:
$ CHARONCP SET MAGTAPE MKA600: /LOAD="E:\Charon\Tapes\backup_01.vtape" |
To detach any file currently attached to the specified virtual tape device, use:
$ CHARONCP SET MAGTAPE <device> /UNLOAD |
Example:
$ CHARONCP SET MAGTAPE MKA600: /UNLOAD |
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| Possible error | Description |
|---|---|
| BADFILENAME | The filename specified as a value to the qualifier /LOAD was either too long or does not have a file extension of ".vtape". |
| DEVNOTDISM | Attempting to execute a SET MAGTAPE/LOAD when a file is already attached. Perform a SET MAGTAPE/UNLOAD first. If a SET MAGTAPE/LOAD command has not previously been executed, then the CHARON configuration container specification for the tape device may contain a full path. Doing this will create and attach and initial tape container file. To avoid this, remove the file name from the specification (leaving only a file extension of ".vtape" and optional directory). |
If some tape container has been already specified in the CHARON configuration file use the command "CHARONCP SET MAGTAPE <device> /UNLOAD" to unload it first.
Defining keys
It is possible to define certain keys on the terminal keyboard for fast access to the CHARONCP functionality while you are in CHARONCP.
To define an equivalence string and a set of attributes with a key on the terminal keyboard, use:
$ CHARONCPCHARONCP> DEFINE /KEY <key-name> <equivalence-string> |
You can have a set of keys defined automatically for use with the CHARONCP utility by placing DEFINE/KEY commands in the file SYS$LOGIN:CHARONCP_KEYDEFS.INI
Example:
$ CHARONCP |
To display key definitions created with the DEFINE/KEY command, use:
$ CHARONCPCHARONCP> SHOW KEY <key-name> |
Refer to the DCL help entry for SHOW KEY for further information.
Example:
$ CHARONCPCHARONCP> SHOW KEY F1 F1 = "set magtape mka600: /unload"CHARONCP> |
For more information refer to the OpenVMS DCL Dictionary (DEFINE/KEY section).
Displaying version
To display the CHARONCP package version number and architecture, use:
$ CHARONCP SHOW VERSION |
This can be useful for customers reporting issues with the CHARONCP software.
Example:
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© Stromasys, 1999-2024 - 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.
Hi @W.Erber , to avoid confusion I will simply tell users to use “.vtape” only. I think specifying a name with full path makes no sense when CHARONCP is used.
Hello @Bruno Miretti (Deactivated). Frank Mueller (because he for some reason used the AXP/VAX Baremetal documenation for this) asked me to update the documentation to state that there is a problem with the full path name in the configuration. He wrote:
Quote: In the config file, the container name must be ".vtape" without the path.
set PKA container[600] = ".vtape" removable[600] = true (Works fine)
set PKA container[600] = "D:\vtapes\mka600.vtape" removable[600] = true (fails with badfilename errors)
I don’t know if this is a bug or a special situation he had. But since he mentioned he worked with you, I thought, I add this comment here….