When a CHARON Virtual Machine (VM) is created from a template using the CHARON Virtual Machine Manager, it has to be updated to meet the desired configuration.

This configuration is represented as a text file ("configuration file") containing some specific keywords to define the main settings such as amount of memory, number of CPUs, peripheral devices as well as specifics of CHARON VM executions such as name of VM log file, number of host CPUs used for emulation, etc.

To change the configuration file, open the CHARON Virtual Machine Manager from its shortcut on Desktop / Start menu or from the tray menu item, select the target CHARON VM and press the "Edit Configuration" button:

Open

Notepad will be used to edit the configuration file:

Open

The first configuration statement is the specification of the exact VAX/PDP11 hardware model to emulate, for example:

You must leave this line untouched.

If you create the CHARON VM configuration file from scratch, it must be the very first uncommented line in the configuration file.

The next configuration statement is the "Configuration name" option. If the virtual machine has been created using an existing template, the configuration name is defined in the configuration_name.icfg file otherwise it is defined directly in the configuration file using the "set session configuration_name = <...>" syntax:

Notes:

• The configuration name is reported in the log file and is used to set the log file name for rotating log (see explanations further).

• Changing the configuration name in the "configuration_name.icfg" file does not change the name of the virtual machine at Virtual Machine Manager level.

• The "configuration_name.icfg" file can be found in the home directiory of the VM. Select the target VM, open "VM Configuration" tab and press "Explore" button.

The configuration name can be any label that is meaningful.

Example:

It is possible to specify a configuration name containing spaces, in this case use quotation marks:

The execution of a CHARON VM creates one log file or a set of log files reflecting the progress of its start-up and ongoing operation: start and end time of execution, system information, license and configuration details, warnings, reports on problems that may occur, etc. In case of problems with either the running CHARON VM or the emulated system configuration (such as the absence or malfunction of certain devices), the log file is the primary source to be analyzed for troubleshooting.

If it becomes necessary to contact Stromasys for support, the configuration and log files will be requested to begin the problem resolution.

The next group of parameters defines the name of the CHARON VM log file and how the CHARON VM will use it:

By default CHARON utilizes a so-called "rotating log" mechanism. This means that a new default log file is created each time CHARON starts and can switch to another log file if the size of the log file exceeds 64Kb (this behavior can be changed with the "set session log_file_size" and "set session log_rotation_period" parameters; see more details in the "General Settings" chapter of this guide).

This mode is turned on if all the log parameters above are disabled (commented out) or the "session_log" parameter is pointing to a directory rather than to a file. If a directory is specified, the log files will be created in that directory.

The names of the rotating log files are composed as follows:

If the "Configuration name" parameter described before is omitted (commented out), the log name has the following format instead:

Note that "xxxxxxxxx" is an increasing decimal number starting from "000000000" to separate log files with the same time of creation.

The "log" parameter, if specified, must correspond to an existing folder.

If the path is not specified, the log file is created in the "Home directory" mentioned in the VM Configuration tab of the CHARON Virtual Machine Manager.

Alternatively it is possible to use a single log file. Uncomment the "set session log" line and specify the desired log file name. Optionally, a path can be added to the log file name.

If the path is not specified, the log file is created in the "Home directory" mentioned in the VM Configuration tab of the CHARON Virtual Machine Manager.

The log file can be extended specifying "log_method = append" (*recommended for reporting issues*) or overwritten, specifying "log_method = overwrite".

Below is a specification of a CHARON VM log file located in the "C:\My logs" directory which will be appended each time the CHARON VM starts:

The TOY, ROM and EEPROM containers must be configured. Their presence depends on the VAX/PDP11 model. Stromasys recommends enabling them. If a container file of the given name does not exist, starting the CHARON VM will create it.

TOY means "Time of Year". Its container records time, date and some console parameters while the CHARON VM is not running.  It is highly recommended to define and activate this container:

The ROM container stores an intermediate state of the Flash ROM and some console parameters. It is highly recommended to define and activate this container:

EEPROM stores the NVRAM content. It is highly recommended to define and activate this container:

PDP11/93 and PDP11/94 emulators require the KW11 system timer to be configured:

Uncomment the line corresponding to the frequency used in the RSX11/RT11 systems to be migrated if needed.

The next setting indicates whether the CHARON VM will use the Advanced CPU Emulation (ACE) mode:

 Note that ACE significantly speeds up CHARON execution.

Uncomment the desired mode. ACE uses a significant amount of host memory for its normal operation. Check the host resources before enabling.

The "ace_mode" mode is license dependent, the "Charon-xx/Plus" products have ACE mode enabled by default.

The next parameter defines the amount of host memory the CHARON VM reserves for the emulation:

The amount of RAM is specified in MB. It cannot exceed or be lower than certain values specific for each VAX/PDP11 model. It is very important to keep the listed predefined increment between possible memory values.

The following table shows all the parameters:

It is possible to leave the RAM line commented out. In this case the model's default RAM amount is used. 

Note that in some particular orders your license may restrict the maximum RAM amount of each VAX/PDP11 model.

The next step is the specification of the VAX/PDP11 console (OPA0) serial line:

The goal of this configuration step is to tell the CHARON VM what host device to use as the virtual system console. The following options are available:

The default setting is:

Note that the VAX 4000 and MicroVAX 3100 models have a 4-line QUART adapter onboard, so their configuration for the console line looks a bit different:

When using the VAX 4000 and MicroVAX 3100 models, it is possible to configure up to 4 independent console lines: OPA0, TTA0, TTA1 and TTA2. The main one is OPA0.

Note that additional parameters for the CHARON VM serial lines configuration can be added. Follow this link for details.

The following directive configures the emulator to exit immediately when the F6 key sequence is sent to the emulator console.

This means that if the F6 key is pressed in the terminal emulator being used to connect to the console (PuTTY, for example), the emulator will exit immediately.

Stromasys does not recommend enabling this feature. It means that any person (or software) which connects to the console port on the emulator host can stop the emulator and thus "pull the virtual power cable" from the OpenVMS guest. In particular, many organizations have deployed automated port scanners in their datacenters to discover open ports on the systems in the network. Many such port-scanning solutions, if they are able to connect to an open port, will next try to send data to the port. In many cases this data can be interpreted as the stop sequence and cause the emulator to exit.

If you must allow incoming connections to the console port, you should configure the Windows firewall with a "whitelist" of IP addresses from which such connections are allowed, and disallow all other addresses.

The disk subsystem and the mapping to the system resources can be done using the samples given in the template configuration files.

CHARON supports MSCP, DSSI, CI and SCSI disk controllers.

The examples below are for MSCP and SCSI controllers only. DSSI controllers are discussed in details in the following section, CI controllers - in this section.

Below is a typical configuration sample for the MSCP disk controller RQDX3:

The first line ("load RQDX3 DUA") loads disk controller RQDX3 with name DUA, followed by 6 lines showing different ways of mapping to the host resources: