CHARON-VAX for Linux installation

Table of contents

Introduction

CHARON-VAX products are distributed in form of archive TAR.GZ files that contain RPM modules for different components. Generally it is recommended to install all the RPM modules, but it is possible to omit some RPMs if they are not needed.

CHARON installation consists of the following steps:

• Host system checks (hardware and software) to ensure the host platform meets minimum CHARON-VAX installation requirements
• Installation of any 3rd party material, for example, utilities required for CHARON-VAX
• Extracting CHARON-VAX  RPM modules from the TAR.GZ archive, and their individual installation
• Installation of CHARON-VAX license (hardware dongle or software license)
• CHARON-VAX host system configuration. It assumes creating a specific user, network configuration etc.

Let's go through CHARON-VAX installation sequence step by step.

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Hardware Requirements

Number of CPU cores

Each CHARON emulated CPU requires a corresponding physical core. So the total number of the host CPUs must exceed the number of emulated CPUs.

Below please find a table describing minimal and recommended number of CPUs required for each product:

When starting, the CHARON-VAX software checks the available number of host CPU cores. Currently, this check is based on the maximum number of VAX CPUs that can be emulated, not on the number of the actually configured VAX CPUs. Therefore the number of host CPU cores recommended for the maximum number of emulated CPUs - as shown in the right column of the table above - must be available. If the available number of host CPU cores is below this number, CHARON-VAX will issue a warning message even if the requirements for the configured number of VAX CPUs are fulfilled. The CHARON-VAX software will work despite this warning if the requirements for the configured number of VAX CPUs are fulfilled.

CPU type and speed

Since CHARON-VAX utilizes LAHF instruction in VAX CPU emulation please avoid usage of early AMD64 and Intel 64 CPUs in CHARON host system since they lack it. AMD introduced the instruction with their Athlon 64, Opteron and Turion 64 revision D processors in March 2005 while Intel introduced the instruction with the Pentium 4 G1 stepping in December 2005.

Concerning CPU speed the general recommendation is that higher CPU frequency is better since it allows better emulated VAX performance. The minimal recommendation is at least 3 GHz.

Operative memory

The minimum host memory size depends on the amount of VAX memory to be emulated and on the number of CHARON-VAX instances to be run on one host.
The minimum host memory is calculated according to the following formula:

The minimum host memory = (2Gb +  the amount of VAX memory emulated) per CHARON-VAX instance.

Disk storage

When installed, CHARON-VAX takes approximately 50 MB of disk space for its files, not counting any virtual VAX disks/tapes (which appear as standard files).
When virtual VAX disks/tapes are used to represent VAX disk drives / magnetic tapes, the disk/tape image files have the same size as the equivalent VAX diskhardware, regardless of their degree of utilization. So the total amount of a disk space required for CHARON-VAX can be calculated as a sum of the disk/tape images sizes plus 50 MB plus space required for the normal host system.

Ethernet adapters

CHARON-VAX networking assumes dedicated host Ethernet adapters; their number must be equal to the emulated adapters to be configured in CHARON-VAX. One adapter (optionally) can be left to the host for TCP/IP networking etc. It is also possible to use virtual network interfaces, but in consideration of performance, it is recommended to use physical ones only.

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Software Requirements

• Linux Red Hat Enterprise 7.0 and 7.1
• Linux FedoraCore 20, 21, and 22
• VMware ESXi 5.x and 6.0 (requires a supported Linux operating system on top of a ESXi virtual machine)

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Host system preparation

In case network-wide license (red dongle or software license) is going to be used, do the following:

• On server side (where network license will reside): open port 1947 for both TCP and UDP
• On clients side: open UDP ports 30000-65535
• Both on server and client sides: setup default gateway

Please consult with your Linux User's Guide on details.

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Before installation

1. Login as the superuser ("root") on the host system. Because Sentinel HASP runtime relies on 32-bit compatibility libraries to run on Linux, the 32-bit compatibility libraries must be installed before continuing. If the emulator host has access to a package repository, either local or remote, use the following command:

   # yum install glibc.i686

   Sometimes it is not possible to use an online repository for the installation of 32-bit glibc package. In this case the following procedure should be followed:

   1. If you have a Linux distributibe CD-ROM, insert it into CD-ROM drive

   1.1. If auto-mount is not enabled, mount the CD-ROM. Example:

   # mount /dev/sr0 /mnt

   2. If you have an ISO image of the distribution CD, you can mount it using a loopback device:

   # mount /path/to/ISO-image.iso /mnt -o loop

   3. Switch to the directory containing the packages. This directory depends on your Linux distribution. Example:

   # cd /mnt/Packages/

   4. Locate the target "glibc.i686" package:

   # ls -la glibc-*i686.rpm

   5. Install the "glibc.i686" and the packages it depends on. Example:

   # rpm -i glibc-2.17-157.el7.i686.rpm nss-softokn-freebl-3.16.2.3-14.4.el7.i686.rpm

   6. If the above command reports additional unsatisfied dependencies, add the corresponding packages to the above command line.

   7. Umount the CD-ROM or ISO file if necessary:

   # umount /mnt

2. Create a special directory for the CHARON-VAX distribution and copy the TAR.GZ files there. Set this directory as the default with a "cd" command as shown in the following example:

   # mkdir /charon_dist # cp /temp/charon-vax-4.7-17101.68704.fc20.tar.gz /charon_dist # cd /charon_dist

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Distribution preparation

1. Extract the content of the distribution TAR.GZ files to the current directory:

   # tar -xvzf charon-vax-<VER>-<BN>.<VC>.<ZZ>.tar.gz

   where:

   	Description
   VER	Version of CHARON-VAX product, for example 4.7
   BN	Build Number of CHARON-VAX product, for example 17101
   VC	68704 - CHARON-VAX product vendor code
   ZZ	CHARON-VAX target operating system identifier. For Fedora Core 20 'ZZ' value is 'fc20', for Red Hat Linux 7.1 the value is 'el71'

   Example:

   # tar -xvzf charon-vax-4.7-17101.68704.fc20.tar.gz

   As result, a new directory "charon-vax-<VER>-<BN>.<VC>.<ZZ>" will be created.
    

2. Switch to the directory, created by "tar" on the previous step:

   # cd charon-vax-<VER>-<BN>.<VC>.<ZZ>

   Example:

   # cd charon-vax-4.7-17101.68704.fc20

        

3. The distribution directory contains the following RPM files with additional material, libraries and utilities:

   File name	Description
   charon-vax-VER-BN.VC.ZZ.x86_64.rpm	CHARON-VAX
   aksusbd-2.5-1.i386.rpm	HASP Run-time
   charon-license-VER-BN.VC.ZZ.x86_64.rpm	CHARON Libraries
   charon-utils-VER-BN.VC.ZZ.x86_64.rpm	CHARON Utilities

   Example:

   # ls aksusbd-2.5-1.i386.rpm charon-vax-4.7-17101.68704.fc20.x86_64.rpm charon-license-4.7-17101.68704.fc20.x86_64.rpm charon-utils-4.7-17101.68704.fc20.x86_64.rpm

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Installation

Issue the following command to install all the RPMs in the directory:

Enter "y" to agree to install all the listed packages.

Example:

Check that the installation process has completed successfully.

Example:

Re-login (as "root") to apply PATH settings or execute the following command:

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CHARON-VAX home directory

By default CHARON is installed in the "/opt/charon" directory. It has the following subdirectories:

The most important at this stage is the "/cfg" directory since it contains template configuration files with examples of typical configuration parameters and commentaries. We will pay our attention to this subject in the next chapter.

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Specific user account creation

Create a specific account "charon" for running CHARON:

Any existing user can also be used to run CHARON. In this case issue the following command to include this existing user to specific groups:

Example:

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License installation

Regular HASP USB dongle

If CHARON license represents a regular USB dongle just connect it to the host USB port.

Network HASP USB dongle

If CHARON license is a network license (red USB dongle) it is possible either to connect it to the host USB port (to use it locally providing it to other hosts on local network in the same time) or to install it on some local network "server" for remote access from this particular host.

In case of remote usage:

• Copy aksusbd-2.5-1.i386.rpm and charon-license-4.7-<build>.68704.<OS identifier>.x86_64.rpm files (see above) to the server to some directory, for example "/temp"
• Login as "root" to the server
• Switch to that directory

• Install the copied file using "yum"
  Example:

  # cd /temp # yum install aksusbd* charon-license-*

• Connect the network HASP dongle to the server USB port.

Software license

If CHARON license is a software license (SL) it is required to install it on the host using the following procedure:

1. Run hasp_srm_view utility in the following way to get the host fingerprint file ("my_host.c2v" in this example):

   # hasp_srm_view -fgp my_host.c2v

2. Send the resulting file to STROMASYS. In return STROMASYS will provide you with a "*.v2c" file, for example "your_license.v2c"
3. Copy the received "your_license.v2c" file to CHARON host to any folder then invoke the system default web browser and enter URL http://localhost:1947 to display "Sentinel Admin Control Center" (ACC) web interface. This interface allows you to view and manage CHARON licenses.
4. In the ACC use the following menu items: first "Browse" for the "your_license.v2c" file and then secondly "Apply File"
5. Ensure that the software license appears now in the "Sentinel Keys" menu of the ACC.

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License validity verification

Check available CHARON license validity. To do that invoke the hasp_srm_view utility to make sure that CHARON license is visible and looks Ok:

• Text of the license is displayed correctly by the hasp_srm_view utility, no error messages are shown
• Content of the license looks correct. For example license number, major and minor versions, minimum and maximum build numbers, CHARON-VAX products and allowed hardware (CHARON-VAX models) should be checked. More details on the license content can be found in the CHARON-VAX Licensing chapter of this Guide.

Example:

Troubleshooting

If CHARON license content cannot be displayed by hasp_srm_view utility or it is incorrect, check the license is available and correctly used:

1. Invoke the system default web browser and enter URL http://localhost:1947 to display "Sentinel Admin Control Center" (ACC) web interface.
2. Click on "Sentinel Keys" link to open up "Sentinel Keys Section" page
3. Make sure that one and only one CHARON HASP or SL license is present.

If no license is displayed make sure that all the recommendations above about remote access to the host are fulfilled (if remote access takes place), HASP USB key is not broken and its LED indicator is lit (meaning that it is used by the host).

If only one License key / SL is seen and its content is incorrect please contact STROMASYS as soon as possible.

If several License keys / SLs are displayed remove all of them and leave only the one provided by STROMASYS for just installed version of CHARON.

Removing licenses can be done by physical disconnection of the corresponding USB HASP keys from CHARON host and physical disconnection of the network HASP keys from all hosts on local network (or by disabling remote access to network licenses from CHARON host - see detailed explanations below). Software licenses can also be uninstalled with hasp_srm_view utility "-tfr" option in the following way:

Example:

It is also possible to disable access to network licenses if just a local license must be used: Click on "Configuration" link to open up "Configuration for Sentinel Manager" page. Uncheck "Allow Access to Remote Licenses" and "Broadcast Search for Remote Licenses" checkboxes from the "Access to Remote License Managers" tab, then press "Submit" button to apply changes.

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Network configuration

In most cases it is assumed that CHARON will use network. In this case some important steps must be performed, since CHARON requires a dedicated network interface cleared from any other protocols including TCP/IP.

Two ways of network configuration are possible:

• Manual
• With a help of "ncu" utility

The second way is a way simplier, so use manual approach only in absence of "ncu" utility or impossibility to use it.

Configuration with NCU utility

Login as root. Type "ncu" and press Enter. The following menu will appear:

==================================================================
bridge name     bridge id        STP enabled            interfaces

The utility lists available network interfaces (both physical and virtual) and indicates whether they are dedicated to the host or to CHARON and whether they are currently in use by host operating system.

"ncu" offers several options:

• Dedicate interface to CHARON (press "1")
• Release interface to host (press "2")
• Create a bridge between a chosen physical network interface and the Linux virtual network and create a number of virtual network interfaces (press "3")
• Remove the Linux virtual network and all the created virtual network interfaces (press "4")
• Print status (press "5") - use it to display status of network interfaces and the menu shown above
• Exit (press "6")

In the example above we see 2 network interfaces - "eth0" and "eth1", both of them are dedicated to host, but host uses only the interface "eth0".

Let's dedicate the interface "eth1" to CHARON-VAX.

Enter "1", then type "eth1" and press Enter:

Now the interface "eth1" is dedicated to CHARON-VAX:

==================================================================
bridge name     bridge id        STP enabled            interfaces

Enter "6" to return to console prompt.

Now "eth1" can be used by CHARON-VAX.

Manual Configuration

Choosing network interface

To choose an interface to be used for CHARON networking do the following:

Choose some interface to be used by CHARON, for example "eth1"

Designation of network interface to CHARON

To designate the chosen interface to CHARON open up the file "/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ethN" (where N is the number of the interface to be used for CHARON, in our case it is "1") and make sure that all the IP-setup related parameters are removed. Basically the file must look like this ("eth1" is used as example):

Switching off the offload parameters

A first step is to find what additional parameters are currently set to "on" on the host network adapter to be used by CHARON. To do that issue:

Example:

Then use ethtool to switch off all the offload parameters:

Example:

For the example above let's create a temporary file containing the commands to be run on system startup, since the offload parameters must be switched off on each reboot:

Let's suppose that the name of the file is "offload_off_eth1.txt". In this case running it on system startup can be done in the following ways:

On Red Hat Linux:

On Fedora Core:

# echo '#!/usr/bin/bash' > /etc/rc.d/rc.local       Do not use double quotes, use single ones # cat offload_off_eth1.txt >> /etc/rc.d/rc.local # chmod 755 /etc/rc.d/rc.local  # ln -s /usr/lib/systemd/system/rc-local.service /etc/systemd/system/rc-local.service  # systemctl daemon-reload

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Final steps

• Reboot the host system to apply the offload parameters switching off
• Login as user "charon"

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Upgrade to new version

To upgrade already installed CHARON-VAX kit to more recent one:

1. Ensure your license allows you to upgrade. If not, please generate a C2V file and send it to STROMASYS for update. See CHARON-VAX for Linux utilities - 'hasp_srm_view' utility
2. Prepare the new kit RPM files as it is described in "Before Installation" and "Distribution preparation" sections.
3. Stop all running CHARON-VAX instances.
4. Make sure that no template files (i.e. "mv3k6.cfg.template") have been used for your specific configuration. Otherwise copy those files to some save place.
5. Login as "root" user.
6. Remove the old CHARON-VAX version as described in the "CHARON-VAX for Linux deinstallation" chapter.
7. Proceed with the same instructions on the new kit installation as described in "Installation" section.

8. Install the license for the new CHARON-VAX it as described in "License installation" section.

9. Start all the CHARON-VAX services stopped on the step (3).

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