Running CHARON-VAX for Linux

CHARON-VAX symbolic links

Use the following symbolic link to run different models of CHARON-VAX:

Link name	Emulator to run
mv3k6	MicroVAX 3600
mv3k9	MicroVAX 3900
mv3k196	MicroVAX 3100 Model 96
mv3k198	MicroVAX 3100 Model 98
mvii	MicroVAX II
vs4k90	VAXStation 4000 Model 90
vx3k6	VAXserver 3600
vx3k6_128	VAXserver 3600 (128Mb of RAM is available)
vx3k6_512	VAXserver 3600 (512Mb of RAM is available)
vx3k9	VAXserver 3900
vx3k9_128	VAXserver 3900 (128Mb of RAM is available)
vx3k9_512	VAXserver 3900 (512Mb of RAM is available)
vx4k106	VAX 4000 Model 106
vx4k108	VAX 4000 Model 108
vx4k700	VAX 4000 Model 700
vx4k705	VAX 4000 Model 705
vx6k310	VAX 6310
vx6k610	VAX 6610
vx6k620	VAX 6620
vx6k630	VAX 6630
vx6k640	VAX 6640
vx6k650	VAX 6650
vx6k660	VAX 6660

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Running CHARON-VAX emulators

It is possible to run one or several instances of CHARON-VAX at the same time if your license allows it.

In case of multiple instances please note to use only absolute paths and unique names to all the files referenced in configuration file of each CHARON-VAX instance (log, toy clock, nvram files and all the other data such as disk images - all these objects will be discussed later; at this stage just pay attention to the files specified in the configuration file) and to specify only unique for each instance hardware devices to avoid clashing. .

For example:

...
set session log="/charon_instances/first/mv3k6.log"
set toy container="/charon_instances/first/mv3k6.dat"

load RQDX3/RQDX3 DUA set DUA container[0]="/charon_instances/first/mv3k6_boot_disk.vdisk" ...

Please refer to the next chapters for more details concerning CHARON-VAX configuration details.

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Running from console

Copy required configuration template from "/opt/charon/cfg/" directory to some local file and set correct privileges to that file to be able to edit it:

$ cp /opt/charon/cfg/mv3k6.cfg.template my_mv3k6.cfg $ chmod 644 my_mv3k6.cfg

Now let's execute CHARON using this template configuration file:

$ mv3k6 my_mv3k6.cfg

You will see normal VAX test sequence, followed by prompt sign (">>>"):

KA650-A V5.3, VMB 2.7
Performing normal system tests.

40..39..38..37..36..35..34..33..32..31..30..29..28..27..26..25..
24..23..22..21..20..19..18..17..16..15..14..13..12..11..10..09..
08..07..06..05..04..03..
Tests completed.
>>>

The next stage can be either installation of new VAX/VMS system using a distributive provided by HP or transfer of data from some existing VAX system. These possibilities will be discussed in details in next chapters.

If for some reason CHARON-VAX refuses to start please look for files with .log extension (CHARON-VAX log files) located in the directory from which CHARON-VAX starts, open them in some editing tool and analyze their content. In most cases those files contain very helpful information on what may possible went wrong.

To exit from CHARON-VAX emulator use the following methods:

Configuration How to exit

No changes to the template configuration file (not recommended) Kill the console from where CHARON runs or kill CHARON process

Enable "F6" button in configuration file to trigger exit from CHARON:

#----------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Uncomment to allow 'F6' to terminate the running emulator.
#
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------

set OPA0 stop_on = F6

Press "F6"

Please note that before stopping CHARON-VAX, one must shutdown the operating system running by CHARON-VAX.

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Running as system service (daemon)

It is possible to run CHARON-VAX as a daemon. In this case CHARON-VAX process will be detached from its parent process and from the terminal window in which it runs.

Follow the description below to establish and run CHARON-VAX as daemon:

Installation and start of CHARON-VAX service

Copy the sample script "/opt/charon/bin/charon" ( "/opt/charon/bin/charon.service" for Fedora Core Linux ) to your home directory (Red Hat Linux) or to "/usr/lib/systemd/system/" directory (Fedora Core), for example:

Red Hat Linux	`$ cp /opt/charon/bin/charon /my_services/mv3k6_service` `$ chmod 755 /my_services/mv3k6_service`
Fedora Core	`$ cp /opt/charon/bin/charon.service /usr/lib/systemd/system/mv3k6.service` `$ chmod 755 /usr/lib/systemd/system/mv3k6.service`

Edit the renamed file to replace sample values of the following parameters, for example:
Red Hat Linux
exec="/opt/charon/bin/mv3k6"
prog="my_mv3k6"
config="/my_services/mv3k6-service.cfg"
Fedora Core
ExecStart=/opt/charon/bin/mv3k6 -d /my_services/mv3k6-service.cfg
WorkingDirectory=/my_services
Create and edit configuration file ( "/my_services/mv3k6-service.cfg" in the examples above ) the way it was described before and make sure that the following pre-requisites are met:
- OPA0 must be configured as virtual port or physical console, not as operator console, for example:
  load virtual_serial_line OPA0 port=10003 #load operator_console OPA0
- Use only absolute paths to log, toy clock, nvram files and all the other data such as disk images etc. The names of the references files must be unique too, for example
  ...
  set session log="/my_services/my_mv3k6.log"
  set toy container="/my_services/my_mv3k6.dat"
  load RQDX3/RQDX3 DUA
  set DUA container[0]="/my_services/mv3k6_daemon_boot_disk.vdisk"
  ...
- Make sure the same physical devices are not used by other CHARON-VAX daemon, same for the OPA0 console port number.

Once configuration file is ready issue the following commands (the specifics belongs to the examples above) to install and start CHARON-VAX as daemon:

Red Hat Linux	`# ln -sf /my_services/mv3k6_service /etc/init.d/mv3k6_service` `# chkconfig mv3k6_service on` `# service mv3k6_service start`
Fedora Core	`# systemctl enable mv3k6.service` `# systemctl start mv3k6.service`

Note that a certain delay may appear in finding network license by Sentinel Run-time on CHARON-VAX host system startup. So if CHARON-VAX service is starting automatically on host system startup it may report "License not found" error and exit.

This problem can be avoided by specifying "license_key_lookup_retry" parameter in the following way:

set session license_key_lookup_retry = "N [, T]"

where:

N - Number of retries looking for license key (or keys)
T - Time between retries in seconds. If not specified 60 seconds is used

Example:

set session license_key_lookup_retry = 5

In this example if the license key is not found during initial scan, CHARON-VAX will do 5 more attempts waiting 60 seconds between them.

See General Settings section for more details.

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Stopping CHARON-VAX service

To stop CHARON-VAX daemon use the following command, for example:

Red Hat Linux	`# service mv3k6_service stop`
Fedora Core	`# systemctl stop mv3k6`

Please note that before stopping CHARON-VAX service, one must shutdown the operating system running by CHARON-VAX.

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Removing CHARON-VAX service

To remove CHARON-VAX daemon use the following commands, for example:

Red Hat Linux	`# chkconfig mv3k6_service off` `# chkconfig --del mv3k6_service` `# rm -f /etc/init.d/mv3k6_service`
Fedora Core	`# systemctl disable mv3k6.service # rm -f /usr/lib/systemd/system/mv3k6.service`

Please note that before removing CHARON-VAX service one must shutdown the operating system running by CHARON-VAX and then stop corresponding CHARON-VAX service.

Please refer to the next chapters for more details concerning CHARON-VAX configuration details

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Red Hat Linux	`exec="/opt/charon/bin/mv3k6"` `prog="my_mv3k6"` `config="/my_services/mv3k6-service.cfg"`
Fedora Core	`ExecStart=/opt/charon/bin/mv3k6 -d /my_services/mv3k6-service.cfg` `WorkingDirectory=/my_services`