Version: 2.11 - Published: 11 Jan 2023 

Description

When a Charon instance is stopped using the Charon tray icon, the Charon service management utility, Windows service management or the Virtual Machines Manager (depending on Charon version installed) or in case the Windows server is shutdown, it is like powering off a physical system without shutting it down first from the Charon emulated server point of view. In such a case, there is no clean shutdown of the legacy operating system (Tru64 or VMS). The services and applications are not stopped properly, and the file systems are not dismounted cleanly.

History

11-Jan-2023 - Version 2.11

• Copyright update

25-May-2021 - Version 2.10

• solved an issue with .ini file containing spaces in its name

26-Mar-2021 - Version 2.9

• added check if Charon is not installed (or version <4.8 which is not supported)

19-Nov-2020 - Version 2.8

• The 'openconsolecmd' can now be 'putty' without specifying the full path. In such a case, the script will look for the latest version available in the Charon installation folder (useful in case of Charon-AXP/VAX upgrade)

06-Jul-2020 - Version 2.7

• Bug solved in case the specified service does not exist
• Windows Service Pack and Release Id, if available, are added to the log file
• When the current session on OPA0 console has to be killed (on the Charon server), kea executables are also killed, not only putty

12-Jun-2020 - Version 2.6

• Option added to enable/disable Windows Application Events (enabled by default) thus a new parameter named 'windowsevent' is added and can be either "none" or any combination of S, W and E. 'S' for Success, 'W' for Warning and 'E' for Error. Default is 'SE' so Success and Error only. Example to create an event for Success+Warning+Error messages: windowsevent=SWE

05-Jun-2020 - Version 2.5

• If no Powershell script was defined to run on Windows server shutdown, the script reported an error. This is now solved.
• If the .ini file passed during execution of the script is not defined to run on Windows server shutdown, a warning message is displayed.

04-Jun-2020 - Version 2.4

• Added PowerShell 5.1 requirement in script header
• The symbolic link file that was defined to the current log file is removed as some errors like 'Administrator privilege required for this operation' can be reported during shutdown. This does not affect the log itself.

04-Jun-2020 - Version 2.3

• Shortcut to log file error is trapped (found an issue on Windows 2019 only)

• Corrected severity level messages related to encrypted files

03-Jun-2020 - Version 2.2

• Added new parameter "cryptedpsys" for "opa0" mode: as the password is encrypted with current user credentials, during shutdown the encrypted password created with current account will not be recognized. The encrypted password must then be created with the "psexec" utility.
• A false error message was displayed when the log file was specified (instead of using the default one)

02-Jun-2020 - Version 2.1

• When putty is stopped, if any process is found, the process killing is forced so no more question to confirm
• Minor update in banner displayed when script is starting
• Template corrected: for Tru64 username is "root" by default, not "system"
• Information added on Windows shutdown settings: show script execution, script execution maximum duration and configured emulators (based on .ini config files)
• Output results for "rsh" and "ssh" modes now use the RCDV output format
• "expect" mode is no more supported (this tool does not work on recent Windows versions), replaced by the "opa0" mode.
• New parameter "cryptedpass" available for "opa0" mode if not specified as "password" in plain text
• If the "logfile" parameter is not specified, a name and location are automatically given based on the session log file: one file per script execution with a shortcut file.

27-Apr-2020 - Version 2.0

• New mode "opa0" added that will replace "expect" mode. This mode connects to the OPA0 console via a telnet function embedded in PowerShell
• New optional parameter "clixmlsys" that can be used with "expect" and "opa0" modes to differentiate credentials between current user and "system" user (service account)
• New optional parameters "windowwidth" and "windowheight" that are used to resize the window when running with "system" user. This is useful during Windows shutdown to see check operations executed. BufferHeight set 2000 lines by default.

20-Apr-2020 - Version 1.5

• output layout modified for ease of reading

• validation with Windows Server 2019

16-Apr-2020 - Version 1.4

• minor change in display for information messages

• added banner to help identify what is running during Windows shutdown

• error handling when stopping service added

• script stop moved to a single function

• during execution, the window name is changed according to messages reported in the log file

• environment information display added when script is started (MD5sum added) and also recorded in the log file

25-Mar-2020 - Version 1.3

• 'telnet' mode is no more supported due to compatibility issues
• New parameter "commandparams" added in .ini file that allows additional parameters for rsh and ssh.

Example using ssh:

commandparams=-o Ciphers=+3des-cbc -o KexAlgorithms=+diffie-hellman-group1-sha1 -o HostKeyAlgorithms=+ssh-dss

Notes: must be defined without quotes

• New parameters "openconsolecmd" and "openconsolearg" added in .ini file that allows to open the legacy OS console while shutting down the (legacy) OS.

Notes:

• The "openconsolecmd" parameter must contain the executable full path (without quotes)
• The "openconsolearg" parameter is optional (and without quotes)

Example using putty:

openconsolecmd=C:\Program Files\CHARON\Build_20203\x64\putty

openconsolearg=-load OPA0 -P 10003

• New parameter "identityfsys" added in .ini file that allows specific identity file for ssh when script is executed with "system" account (if added to Windows shutdown). If not specified the "identityfile" parameter is used

28-Mar-2019 - Version 1.2

• Copyright update

24-Aug-2017 - Version 1.1

• sync issue solved for old versions of VMS when telnet mode is used (commands and username/password were shifted)

23-Aug-2016 - Version 1.0

• 1st version released