Version: 1 - Published: Feb 23, 2021

Please review this document before proceeding with installation of Charon-AXP for Linux

In this document the terms Charon and Charon-AXP are used to refer to the products below:

• Charon-AXP/400 version 4.11 build 204-10 for Linux 64bit

• Charon-AXP/2000 version 4.11 build 204-10 for Linux 64bit

• Charon-AXP/4100 version 4.11 build 204-10 for Linux 64bit

• Charon-AXP/DS10 version 4.11 build 204-10 for Linux 64bit

• Charon-AXP/DS20 version 4.11 build 204-10 for Linux 64bit

• Charon-AXP/ES40 version 4.11 build 204-10 for Linux 64bit

• Charon-AXP/GS80 version 4.11 build 204-10 for Linux 64bit

• Charon-AXP/GS160 version 4.11 build 204-10 for Linux 64bit

• Charon-AXP/GS320 version 4.11 build 204-10 for Linux 64bit

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.x - 64bit

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x - 64bit

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 to 6.10 - 64bit

• Linux Centos 8.x - 64bit

• Linux Centos 7.x - 64bit

• VMware ESXi 5.5 and 6.0 up to 6.7 (requires a supported Linux operating system on top of a ESXi virtual machine)

• The number of available x86/x64 compatible (Intel or AMD) CPU cores in the hosting server should be at least 150% of the number of emulated CPU cores.

• The recommended number of available (Intel or AMD) CPU cores in the hosting server is twice the number of emulated CPU cores.

• Intel Xeon E-series v3 and above with a CPU clock frequency from 3GHz; to achieve the best performance use the latest Intel Xeon CPUs from the Scalable Processors family.

• DDR4 RAM 2133 MHz and above is recommended for optimal Charon performance.

• The minimum host memory size depends on the amount of emulated AXP memory and on the number of Charon instances running on one host. The minimum host memory = (2Gb +  the amount of HP Alpha memory emulated) per Charon-AXP instance.

• Mid range and high end RAID controllers with at least 1GB cache with write-back enabled and battery backup option is recommended.
  (Using low-end RAID controllers may cause significant performance degradation and Charon-AXP crash. RAID5 and similar configurations are not recommended.)

• Intel HT (Hyper-Threading Technology) should be disabled on the hosting server.

• Hosting server should always run at full speed. Power management and the screen saver should be disabled on the hosting server.

• The Port Group Security Tab containing the Charon network adapter(s) must be set to Promiscuous mode, MAC Address Change and Forged Transmit=Accept.

• Added support for 8bit depth PBXGA (ID#5667)

• Sentinel Runtime upgraded to version 8.13.

• Implemented support for booting AXP emulators via MOP. MOPv3 (DECnet) and MOPv4 (LANCP) are supported. Both EW and EI adapters are supported for MOP network boot.

• Implemented serial line logging capability for serial lines attached through virtual PBXDA (DIGI board).

• New parameter "connection_override" for console that allows new connection to override existing connection, if any.

• Remote management console feature added. Its purpose is to let the emulator trigger actions on the Charon host to properly unload and save a vtape container while the guest operating system is running.

• PBXGA graphic adapter is able to change the graphic console screen size, for example: "load PBXGA GYA size = 800x600" (ID#5583)

• New version of PuTTY, supporting "-title" option (ID#5590)

• To facilitate online log monitoring by third-party tools, the log file (session or OPA0) is flushed on disk regularly. Interval for periodic flush to be supplied through configuration file (optionally) (ID#5532)

• Charon executable files print a summary of options on "-h" or "--help" command line option (ID#5578)

• The parameter "log_flush_period" is available on all implementation of serial lines (ID#5633)

• The parameter "port_enable_mac_addr_change" is available on Linux version of Charon as well (ID#5594)

• Sample configuration files are updated (ID#5246, #5622)

• Special version of NCU (Network Configuration Utility) is included with Linux products for RHEL8

• PBXGA drawline and blink bug fixes (ID#5640)

• Fixed implementation of AlphaServer SRM console to enable support for 256GB of RAM on virtual AlphaServer GS320.

• Fixed a problem when specification of "log_rotation_period = 0" ("never") worked not correctly (ID#5580, Support Case 00031938)

• Fixed a problem of Charon crash with code 0000000B at 0x7f5cd5b49d48 (ID#5584, Support Case 00031955)

• Fixed a problem of Charon crash with code 0000000B at 0xbd832e (ID#5529, Support Case 00032085)

• Fixed a problem with auto-negotiation when Charon configuration contains the parameter adapter_mode="auto" (ID#5506)

• Fixed a problem when negotiated line speed is reported incorrectly at DECnet startup (ID#5626)

• Fixed various problems with "IDLE" utility, including forcing CPU for loosing time interrupts and enabling the utility after installation (ID#5343)

• Fixed a problem when Charon keeps on creating multiple small log files on emulator crash (ID#5556)

• Fixed a problem when sometimes PT.EXE (performance tool) may freeze (ID#5614)

• Several problems are fixed in KGPSA pass-through driver, the whole implementation is improved (ID#5444, #5555, Support Case 00031374)

• Fixed a problem when core dump occurs while accessing PBXGA window over network connection (ID#5449)

• Tru64 5.1B correctly installs (from ISO images) on the following models: AlphaServer 1200, AlphaServer 4000, Alphaserver 4100 (ID#5560)

• E1000E and VMXNETx VMware adapters are fully supported

• A Charon license update is required before upgrading. Stromasys might request a HASP dongle state (c2v file) or a host fingerprint taken by HASP Update Service (which is included in the Charon kit) in order to issue a license update. Please refer to License installation for details.