CHARON-VAX and CHARON-PDP for Windows configuration

Table of Contents

Creation of your own configuration file using a template

By default, all the CHARON templates are located in the "C:\Program Files (x86)\CHARON\Build_XXXXX\x86" (x64) or "C:\Program Files\CHARON\Build_XXXXX\x86" (x86)  folder. Copy the appropriate template configuration file(s) to your home directory (or to any directory intended for CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP).

Please do not edit the original template configuration files since they can be updated or even removed on update/deinstallation of CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP

Once the file has been created you can open it in "Notepad" editor (or use the "CHARON Launcher" utility to open the configuration file) and proceed with modification to reflect the exact features of the system you are going to emulate.

We will review all the parameters step by step issuing some recommendations and guidelines.

Note: lines preceeded by the comment sign "#" inside the configuration files will not be interpreted. You can use this sign to debug your configuration.

VAX/PDP11 model specification

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-VAX / CHARON-PDP configuration file from scratch it must be the very first uncommented line in the configuration file.

Configuration name

The next configuration statement is the "Configuration name" option:

You can optionally uncomment this line to differentiate this CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP instance from all others in a multi-instance environment. The configuration name can be any label that is meaningful.

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

See example below with configuration name set to: MicroVAX_3100_Model_98

Log file parameters

Execution of CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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 possible problems either with the running CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP or the emulated system configuration (such as the absence or malfunction of certain devices), the log file(s) 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 problem resolution.

Here is an example of a CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP log file:

The next group of parameters defines the name of the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP log file and how CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP will use it:

Rotating log (default)

By default CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP utilizes a so-called "rotating log". This means that a new default log file is always created each time CHARON starts and can switch to another log file if the size of the log file exceeds 64Kb.

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.

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.

Single log

Alternatively it is possible to use just a single log file. Uncomment the "set session log" line and specify the desired CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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 directory from where the guest (emulated machine) is started.

The log file can be extended ("log_method = append") or overwritten ("log_method = overwrite") by CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP.

Below is a specification of a CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP log file located in the "?:\My logs" directory which will be overwritten each time CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP starts:

TOY, ROM and EEPROM containers

The next objects to be configured are TOY, ROM and EEPROM containers (their presence depends on the VAX/PDP11 model). It is always recommended to enable them. If a container file of the given name does not exist, CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP will create it. It is recommended to specify the path for each file so that time and console parameters will be kept whatever the current directory is when starting the guest.

TOY means "Time of Year"; its container records time, date and some console parameters while CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP is not running. To enable, uncomment the following line:

The ROM container stores an intermediate state of the Flash ROM and some console parameters. So its container is also recommended to keep uncommented:

EEPROM stores the NVRAM content, so its container is also recommended to keep uncommented:

KW11 timer

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

Just uncomment the line corresponding to the frequency used in the RSX11/RT11 systems to be migrated.

ACE mode

The next setting indicates whether CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP will use 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.

If the "ace_mode" parameter is commented out, CHARON will set ACE mode according to your license settings. "Charon-xx/Plus" products have ACE mode enabled by default.

Emulated memory (RAM) size

The next parameter defines the amount of host memory the chosen CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP model 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.

Console

Mapping to system resources

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

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

Option	Description
physical_serial_line	Mapping to host "\\.\COM<n>" physical serial line.
virtual_serial_line	Mapping to an IP port of CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP host. Using this mapping it is possible to connect to CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP console and disconnect from it at any time.It is also possible to start up some chosen application to connect to the CHARON console IP port. Parameter Description port Specifies an IP port on the host to which the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP console will be mapped application A string specifying a name of an application to be started together with CHARON to provide emulation of VAX/PDP11 console (terminal emulator)It is assumed that this application has already been configured to use the IP port specified by the corresponding "port" parameter Example: load virtual_serial_line/chserial OPA0 port=10003 application="putty.exe -load OPA0" In the example above, CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP use the IP port "10003" for the VAX/PDP11 console and starts the "Putty" terminal emulator (included in each CHARON distributive) with the "OPA0" saved session directing it to connect to the IP port "10003".If the terminal emulator is closed, it is always possible to reopen it with the "Show Console" command from the CHARON system tray icon: Open

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:

In case of 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 there are a number of additional parameters for CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP serial lines configuration. Follow this link for details.

Exit on pressing F6 button

It is also recommended to set a hot key to stop the guest from the console in addition to the system tray icon:

This line provides CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP the ability to exit by pressing the "F6" button.

Disk subsystem

The next step is configuration of the disk subsystem and mapping it to system resources using the samples given in the template configuration files.

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP 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.

MSCP disk controllers (RQDX3, KDB50, KDM70)

Below is a typical configuration sample for 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:

• Mapping to the file representing a physical disk of the VAX/PDP11 system (disk image).

  • "<file-name>.vdisk"
    These files can be created from scratch with "MkDisk" utility. Data and OS disks backups are transferred from the original system via tapes or network and restored into these container files.

    Mapping may also include the full path (recommended), for example: "C:\My disks\my_boot_disk.vdisk" 

    Example:

    set DUA container[0]="my_bootable_disk.vdisk"

    .

    Using compressed folders to store virtual disks and tapes is not supported

    .

• Mapping to physical disk.

  • "\\.\PhysicalDrive<N>"
    Be careful not to destroy all the information from the disk dedicated to CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP by mistake. These disks must not be formatted by the host OS.  
    
    Example:

    set DUA container[1]="\\.\PhysicalDrive1"

    .

• Mapping to physical disk by its WWID.

  • "\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID = <XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX>)"
    Be careful not to destroy all the information from the disk dedicated to CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP by mistake. These disks must not be formatted by the host OS.

    DevID addresses the target physical disk by its WWID (hexadecimal 128-bit identifier assigned to the disk drive by its manufacturer/originator).

    Example:

    set DUA container[2]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(DevID= 6008-05F3-0005-2950-BF8E-0B86-A0C7-0001)"

    .

• Mapping to iSCSI disks.

  • "\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget = <iSCSI target>, LUN = <LUN number>)"
    iScsiTarget addresses the disk by its iSCSI target name. LUN specifies LUN on connected iSCSI disk.

    Example:

    set DUA container[3]="\\.\PhysicalDrive(iScsiTarget= iqn.2008-04:iscsi.charon-target-test1, LUN= 1)"

     

    
    

     

• Mapping to CD-ROM device.

  • "\\.\CdRom<N>"

    Example:

    set DUA container[4]="\\.\CdRom0"

    .

• Mapping to an ISO file for reading distribution CD-ROM image.

  • "<file-name>.iso"

    Mapping may also include the full path (recommended), for example: "C:\My disks\vms_distributive.iso"

    Example:

    set DUA container[5]="vms_distributive.iso"

    .