OpenVMS Licensing Structure
- W.Erber
Table of contents
The information in this article applies to licensing for Digital/Compaq/HP licenses.
Description
VMS on VAX or Alpha systems requires a license to run the operating system and its layered products. The license requirements depend on the hardware platform.
This article is based on the older application notes for VAX (AN025) and AXP (60-18-1001) and aims to consolidate the information contained in both.
The VMS operating system on VAX or Alpha systems uses the License Management Facility (LMF) to determine on which hardware platform the VMS operating system and its layered products can be used. The license requirement for a particular system can be seen as a two-dimensional array formed by:
The Availability Code which covers a particular aspect of software licensing. The current Availability Codes are identified with the letters A-I.
The number of units per Availability Code. This indicates the minimum number of units that are needed in a license to allow the capability defined by its Availability Code to function on a given hardware platform.
Example for VAX/VMS:
A VAX 3600 system requires 60 units of Availability code A. A license that has 60 or more units for code A will allow the function defined by A (the operation of the base VAX/VMS operating system) to work. A license with less than 60 units of A will not allow base VAX/VMS operation on a VAX 3600.
Example for OpenVMS on Alpha:
For example: A DEC 3000 model 400 system requires 20 units of Availability code A. An OpenVMS license that has 20 or more units for code A will allow the function defined by A (the operation of the unlimited or base OpenVMS operating system) to work. A license with less than 20 units of A will not allow base OpenVMS operation on a DEC 3000 model 400.
VAX/VMS on Charon-VAX
The Availability Codes are defined as follows:
A: VAX/VMS Capacity or OpenVMS Unlimited or Base
B: VAX/VMS F&A Server
C: VAX/VMS Concurrent User
D: VAX/VMS Workstation
E: VAX/VMS System Integrated Products
F: VAX Layered Products
G: Type: G, Reserved
H: Alpha Layered Products
I: Layered Products
The VMS license information is important when considering the transfer of a VMS system from a VAX hardware system to a Charon-VAX emulator model. The VMS licenses coming from a VAX system will typically correspond precisely with the license requirements of that existing hardware VAX model.
The various Charon-VAX implementations each emulate a specific VAX hardware model; hence have a minimum unit requirement for each Availability Code. If the VMS license on the existing hardware system does not have sufficient units for a specific Availability Code, the functions covered by that Availability code will not work on the emulated VAX model.
The following table lists the VAX models that the CHARON-VAX products emulate and the respective Availability Code requirements:
| Emulated model | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MicroVAX 3100 Model 96 | 60 | * | 100 | * | 230 | 20 | * | * | 20 |
| MicroVAX 3100 Model 98 | 60 | * | 100 | * | 230 | 20 | * | * | 20 |
| MicroVAX 3600 | 60 | * | 100 | * | 230 | 200 | * | * | 200 |
MicroVAX 3600 With dummy_vcb02 enabled | 60 | * | 100 | 100 | 230 | 200 | * | * | 200 |
| MicroVAX 3900 | 60 | * | 100 | * | 230 | 200 | * | * | 200 |
MicroVAX 3900 With dummy_vcb02 enabled | 60 | * | 100 | 100 | 230 | 200 | * | * | 200 |
| MicroVAX II | 18 | * | 100 | * | 230 | 50 | * | * | 50 |
| VAX 4000 Model 106 | 60 | * | 100 | * | 230 | 100 | * | * | 100 |
| VAX 4000 Model 108 | 60 | * | 100 | * | 230 | 100 | * | * | 100 |
| VAX 6000 Model 610 | 81 | * | * | * | 400 | 1200 | * | * | 1200 |
| VAX 6000 Model 620 | 119 | * | * | * | 600 | 1800 | * | * | 1800 |
| VAX 6000 Model 630 | 143 | * | * | * | 600 | 2400 | * | * | 2400 |
| VAX 6000 Model 660 | 220 | * | * | * | 600 | 2400 | * | * | 2400 |
| VAXserver 3600 | * | 100 | * | * | 50 | 10 | * | * | 10 |
VAXserver 3600 With dummy_vcb02 enabled | * | * | * | 100 | 50 | 10 | * | * | 10 |
| VAXserver 3900 | * | 100 | * | * | 50 | 10 | * | * | 10 |
VAXserver 3900 With dummy_vcb02 enabled | * | * | * | 100 | 50 | 10 | * | * | 10 |
The * indicates that the Availability Code is not relevant for the particular system.
When considering the transfer of a VMS system to a Charon-VAX model, check that you possess the licenses required to run your software on your selected Charon-VAX. Use the command
$ show license/units
to display the units required by any VAX or Charon-VAX.
Use
$ show license
to display your installed licenses.
Note that the first four Availability Codes (A - D) concern the various types of VMS systems that are not interchangeable. For instance, a license with units for Availability Code "D" only will not work on a system that requires units of Availability Code "A".
OpenVMS on Charon-AXP
The Availability Codes are defined as follows:
A: OPENVMS Capacity or OpenVMS Unlimited or Base
B: OPENVMS F&A Server
C: OPENVMS Concurrent User
D: OPENVMS Workstation
E: OPENVMS System Integrated Products
F: VAX Layered Products
G: Type: G, Reserved
H: Alpha Layered Products
I: Layered Products
The VMS license information is important when considering the transfer of a VMS system from an Alpha hardware system to a Charon-AXP emulator model. The VMS licenses coming from an Alpha system will typically correspond precisely with the license requirements of that existing hardware Alpha model.
The various Charon-AXP implementations each emulate a specific Alpha hardware model; hence they have a minimum unit requirement for each Availability Code. If the VMS license on the existing hardware system does not have sufficient units for a specific Availability Code, the functions covered by that Availability code will not work on the emulated Alpha model.
The following table lists examples of Alpha models that the Charon-AXP products emulate and the respective Availability Code requirements:
| Emulated model | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEC 3000 Model 400 | 20 | * | * | * | * | * | * | 1050 | * |
| AlphaServer 1000 4/266 | 15 | * | * | * | * | * | * | 1050 | * |
| AlphaServer 4000 5/466 | 400 | * | * | * | * | * | * | 1100 | * |
| AlphaStation 200 | 12 | * | * | * | * | * | * | 1100 | * |
| AlphaServer ES45 with 2 CPUs | 100 | * | * | * | * | * | * | 1050 | * |
| Alphaserver GS80 with 1 CPU | 1000 | * | * | * | * | * | * | 1100 | * |
| Alphaserver GS160 with 2 CPUs | 3000 | * | * | * | * | * | * | 1300 | * |
The * indicates that the Availability Code is not relevant for the particular system.
When considering the transfer of a VMS system to a Charon-AXP model, check that you possess the licenses required to run your software on your selected Charon-AXP. Use the command
$ show license/units
to display the units required by any Alpha or Charon-AXP model.
Use
$ show license
to display your installed licenses.
Note that the Availability Codes (B – G and I) concern VAX systems and are not relevant for Alpha systems.
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