CHARON-AXP V4.8 Build 183-02 for Windows 64 bit - Release Notes

Products included in the CHARON-AXP version 4.8 build 183-02 for Windows 64 bit

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

CHARON-AXP/400 version 4.8 build 183-02 for Windows 64bit
CHARON-AXP/2000 version 4.8 build 183-02 for Windows 64bit
CHARON-AXP/4100 version 4.8 build 183-02 for Windows 64bit
CHARON-AXP/DS10 version 4.8 build 183-02 for Windows 64bit
CHARON-AXP/DS20 version 4.8 build 183-02 for Windows 64bit
CHARON-AXP/ES40 version 4.8 build 183-02 for Windows 64bit
CHARON-AXP/GS80 version 4.8 build 183-02 for Windows 64bit
CHARON-AXP/GS160 version 4.8 build 183-02 for Windows 64bit
CHARON-AXP/GS320 version 4.8 build 183-02 for Windows 64bit

Supported software platforms

Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter Editions, 64 bit version
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard and Datacenter Editions, 64 bit version (please notice that only R2 revision is supported)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP1) Standard and Enterprise Editions, 64 bit version (please notice that only R2 revision is supported)
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate (SP1) Editions, 64 bit version
Windows 8.1 Professional Edition, 64 bit version
Windows 10 Professional and Enterprise Editions, 64 bit version
VMware ESXi 5.5 and 6.x up to 6.5 (requires a supported Windows operating system on top of a ESXi virtual machine)
Microsoft Hyper-V (requires a supported Windows operating system on top of a Hyper-V virtual machine)

Hosting hardware requirements and configuration recommendations

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 v3 generation and above (E3 v3, E5 v3, E7 v3), CPUs with a clock frequency of 3GHz and higher are recommended for optimal CHARON performance.
DDR4 RAM 1866 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.
Windows UAC should be disabled.
On VMware, E1000 network adapters must be used for CHARON.
The Port Group Security Tab containing the CHARON network adapter(s) must be set to Promiscuous mode, MAC Address Change and Forged Transmit=Accept.

New functionalities introduced in build 183-02 since previous release (build 171-01)

New platform support
- Windows 10 Professional and Enterprise Editions, 64 bit version
Performance improvements
- Performance is improved (ID#2381, ID#3144)
- HASP libraries have been upgraded (ID#4709, ID#4450)
- Instruction scheduling is updated with Ivy Bridge and Haswell tables (ID#4619)
- Preserving console saved state across product upgrades is implemented (ID#4782)
New configuration options and configuration changes
- CHARON must be installed as a Virtual Machine service using the new "CHARON VM Manager" utility. This utility also provides a central point to access all CHARON utilities (ID#4870, ID#4872)
- PCI I/O Bypass controller is available. It allows to specify disk controllers as DI<x>, DR<x> and DU<x>, where x is selected according to VMS naming scheme (ID#4786)
- The default log mode has been set to "append" in the configuration templates (ID#4752)
- Updated CFG template files copyright message to year 2016 (ID#4720)
- CFG template files are updated to provide correct examples for "hw_model", "system_name", "architecture" and "dsrdb" parameters (ID#4697)
- Windows Registry path for CHARON products is updated to "HKLM:\Software\CHARON" (ID#4746)
New licensing options.
- Field Test and Production builds offer identical functionality (ID#4552)
- One license can serve CHARON instances on one host or different hosts by choice (ID#4884)
- A special utility "License Alert" is added. It monitors CHARON license expiration date and warns user about it (ID#4903). 20 Jul 2017 Note: automatic installation removed when installing Charon-AXP. It has now to be installed manually
- Software License transfer feature is disabled (ID#4787)
Installation improvements
- New installation procedure is introduced starting from this version. It is not compatible with old CHARON installations, so the previous versions of CHARON must be uninstalled first.
- Installation procedure is able to collect logs from executables it runs during installation/deinstallation (ID#4756)
- New icons for utilities are introduced (ID#4973)
CHARON utilities
- New CHARON Virtual Machine Manager is introduced (ID#4836)
- Tape Utilities package is added (ID#3589)
- Network Control Center is not allowed anymore to change the configuration of a disabled network adapter (ID#4725)
- MkDisk utility graphics have been updated (ID#4743)
- Network Control Center is able to save log (ID#4755)
- MTD utility supports CHARON-SMA format (ID#4842)
- LOGMOND utility provides sample scripts (ID#4902)

Problems fixed in build 183-02 since build 171-01

Fixed an auto-negotiation mode error leading to Tru64 inability to access network in VMware configurations (ID#4839, ID#4866)
Fixed AdvFS I/O error while running Tru64 Cluster setup (ID#3844)
Fixed DS20 intermittent boot failures %SYSBOOT-F-LDFAIL error 54 ("Unable to locate SYS$PUBLIC_VECTORS.EXE") (ID#4827, Case #00028604)
Fixed the logmond utility issue - it did not accept "-" symbols in log prefix (ID#4825, Case #00028633)
Fixed DS20 inability to survive SAN controller failure test (ID#4812, Case #00028599)
Fixed a VMS crash booting AXP models DS15, DS25, ES45 from SAN (ID#3976, Cases #00023850 and #00028131)
Fixed a hang of a CHARON instance if another CHARON instance, wrongly configured to use the same Emulex Pass Through device, is started (ID#4757, Case #00026541)
Fixed a multihost SCSI cluster quorum recalculation IPC interrupt issue, "DEPOSIT SIRR C" command now supported (ID#4758, Case #00028145)
Rolled back a DIT optimization which caused VMS crashes in Fortran debugger and RDB. This optimization will be fixed and applied in the next patch kit or release (ID#4781)
Fixed a wrong SRM console behavior which ignored invalid parameter(s) and executed incomplete commands entered. Now SRM console would report an error (ID#4795)
Fixed "Disable TCP chimney offload for CHARON" functionality (which caused CHARON to lose access to its license) (ID#4298)
Fixed wrong error message in log if no core is available for reservation (ID#4867, Case #00028768)
Fixed HASP View utility problem: it now reports that no license keys are available (ID#4896)
Fixed a problem leading to a situation when Cluster Alias vMAC does not work with virtual DE500(BA) (ID#4900)
Fixed a problem with TruCluster's Cluster Alias vMAC and legacy_mode parameter, preventing communication via DE602 adapter (ID#4904)
Fixed a negative value in CHARON log displayed in the case of long ID some Software Licenses (SL) may have (ID#4913)
Fixed HASP View crash on NetTime expired license (ID#4702)
Fixed "Exception (C0000005) at 000000000071EF9E: Segmentation violation" case (ID#4732, Case #00027809, Case #00027751)
Fixed Network Control Center failure to install NDIS driver if the log option is specified as a first parameter (ID#4864)
Fixed inability for Network Control Center to create log on successful installation of NDIS driver (ID#4865)
Fixed crash on each time when a specific Cobol module is compiled (ID#5010, Case #00029412)
Fixed crash with C++ exception from deep inside of MS Networking Stack (ID#4987)
Fixed "%EIA0, Auto Negotiation detected link down" and hanging on OpenVMS 7.2-1 (ID#4921)
Fixed mis-function of "Refresh" button in "HASP View" utility (ID#4971)
Fixed INCONSTATE Bugcheck on REBOOT in a specific customer configuration (ID#4921, Case #00028897)
Fixed bugcheck during installation of VMS 7.3-2 on as1000, as1200, as4000, as4100 and as800 models (ID#4930)

Configuration changes required when upgrading from previous versions of CHARON-AXP to build 183-02

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 Update Service for details
Due to CHARON installation procedure update, it is required to uninstall all CHARON products before installing CHARON-AXP version 4.8. Use Windows Control Panel for that.
The following Microsoft Windows update has to be installed on Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 and 2016 in order to support new CHARON drivers signed with SHA2 signature:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityAdvisories/2015/3033929
If VMware is used, it must be upgraded to version 5.x or 6.0
The Tru64 kernel might require a rebuild for some emulated AXP models that are included in the CHARON-AXP/4100 product
It's recommended to archive the old CHARON logs before starting the new version in order to avoid mixing character encoding in the log files
Intelligent packet processing should be switched off for the network adapters dedicated to CHARON with "Network Control Center" (Network Control Center) utility. Please refer to FTP, NFS, and general network issues with CHARON-AXP and CHARON-VAX on Windows for details
The user that runs CHARON-AXP must have local administrator privileges and be a member of CHARON-GRP group (which is created during the CHARON installation)
CHARON executables, libraries and data (disk container files) files should be excluded from all the antivirus checks, including on-the-fly checks and scheduled scans
HT (Hyper-Threading Technology) should be disabled on the hosting server
Power management and screen saver should be switched off on the hosting server
CHARON-AXP configuration file should be reviewed if migrating from CHARON-AXP for Linux. Linux specific configuration parameters (for example, network adapter references) should be changed to Windows specific parameters. Please refer to the user manual for details.
Please note that the actual network communication speed and mode are determined by the Windows network speed and mode settings.
If CHARON-AXP is being moved to another hosting platform and direct SCSI access method is used to access some SCSI devices, the new hosting platform SCSI drivers should support the SCSIport method. If drivers supporting SCSIport method are not available, direct SCSI access cannot be used. This is a case for all Windows Server 2012 (R2) and Windows 8.1 systems, and is often seen for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) systems. The recommended workaround for disk access is to use \\.\PhysicalDriveX method.
If any other SCSI device is involved, please contact Stromasys. CHARON-AXP for Linux can be considered to work around the limitation.
For network connections, interface="connection:..." syntax is preferred in the CHARON configuration file
The packet_port keyword in the CHARON configuration file can be used on any hosting platform instead of the platform specific keywords ndis5_chpack_port and ndis6_chpack_port.
For example, the CHARON configuration file lines:
load ndis5_chpack_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
and
load ndis6_chpack_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
can be replaced with:
load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
For the emulated network adapters the communication speed and mode is recommended to be commented out (set to automatic). If it is necessary, the example is below:
load DE500BA/dec21x4x EWA interface=EWA0
load packet_port/chnetwrk EWA0 interface="..."
set EWA adapter_mode="100BaseT-FD"
On VMware, legacy_mode should be set in CHARON configuration for emulated AXP network adapters if Promiscuous mode cannot be set (this solution does not work in multi-instance configurations)

Known restrictions of build 183-02

Network and tape booting are not supported.
The total number of devices (both controllers and units, including disks) displayed by CHARON SRM console is limited to 48. Note that it does not affect the actual number of configured devices provided to CHARON guest OS.
CHARON emulated console supports only 80 symbols in one line.
In some situations the virtual disks descriptions can be displayed as "Virtual SCSI Disk (C)SRI" in SRM console. This problem does not affect CHARON functionality (ID#4729)
CHARON cannot correctly define the total number of available CPUs on mutli CPU groups systems (NUMA architecture, etc) - it reports only a number of the CPUs found in its first group. This problem will be fixed in future releases.
As a workaround, enable "Node interleaving" from the BIOS (if available) to make the BIOS report the total number of available CPUs (as a part of one consolidated NUMA group) to the operating system.
For example, on HP Proliant servers, the configuration sequence is the following:
- Boot the server, press F9 and enter BIOS setup.
- Select "Advanced Options" -> "Advance Performance Tuning Options" -> "Node Interleaving", set it to "Enabled".
- Boot Windows.
Hardware partitioning is not supported by CHARON. However the same hardware layout can be emulated with multiple CHARON instances on the same host
SRM console shows the configured virtual disk names differently for same *.vdisk containers on each CHARON start (ID#4498)
OpenVMS/AXP Version 8.4 installation CD media is not mountable under VMS V7.2-1H1. It is a VMS version restriction (ID#4054)
Older AMD and Intel CPUs without support of CMPXCHG16B instruction could run CHARON-AXP translated code incorrectly. It is recommended not to use those CPUs. If such CPUs are detected on the hosting server, CHARON-AXP writes the following message in its log file:

WARN :1:0000033B:axpcpu.cxx( 462): Host CPU feature 'CMPXCHG16B' not implemented by the host CPU - performance limited.

CHARON-AXP does not emulate LSI 53C810 SCSI controller. CHARON-AXP emulates Qlogic KZPBA SCSI controller, which is the reason for the earliest supported VMS version to be 6.2-1H3, earliest supported Tru64 version to be 3.2. (ID#2291).
If the driver for KZPBA is installed on an earlier version of VMS or Tru64 before system transfer to CHARON-AXP, it will function on CHARON-AXP.
OPA0 console of CHARON service does not appear if non "Administrator" user is starting the service (ID#3209)
DS20 initialization might take long time on Windows Server 2008 R2 (ID#3194)
Digital UNIX 4.0g fails to install on AS4100 if FC is configured. Specific Tru64 patches and firmware versions might be required. SAN device should be set to SCSI-2 mode (ID#3191)
DE500BA device error count after boot is not 0 on OpenVMS 8.2/8.3 (ID#2963). There are no negative side effects
Direct SCSI access only supports Windows SCSI devices which use a SCSIport driver. These include most of the device drivers on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (R2), but does not work on Windows 7 and Server 2008 (R2). If SCSIport is not supported (and Storport method is used instead), direct SCSI access cannot be used.
This is most likely to be the case for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (R2) platforms.
Performance tests could hang VMS 6.2-1H3 on emulated AS400.
CHARON-AXP does not emulate VGA adapters, thus OPA0 is always a system console. Applications hardcoded to use OPA0 and TTA0 as their own interfaces may not function correctly.

Network speed auto negotiation works with some restrictions (see the table below). It is always recommended to use full duplex mode on the hosting server.

Host settings	VMS (autodetect mode)	Tru64 (autodetect mode)
1 Gbps full duplex	100 Mbps full duplex	100 Mbps full duplex
1 Gbps half duplex	100 Mbps half duplex	100 Mbps half duplex
100 Mbps full duplex	100 Mbps full duplex	100 Mbps full duplex
100 Mbps half duplex	100 Mbps half duplex	100 Mbps half duplex
10 Mbps full duplex	10 Mbps full duplex	10 Mbps full duplex
10 Mbps half duplex	10 Mbps half duplex	10 Mbps half duplex

The virtual Alpha firmware is designed to show a maximum of 48 devices. However more devices are available to VMS and Tru64
The firmware does not support the command recall using the up/down arrow keys.
The VMS 7.x Monitor utility shows the maximum CPU quantity instead of actually configured quantity. It does not apply to VMS 8.x
Running Alpha Linux on the virtual Alpha is not supported
Use of IDE is limited to ATAPI CDROM on the host machine. No iSCSI support is planned for IDE. UETP may produce error messages if IDE emulation is used.
A Telnet session from OpenVMS running on emulated host freezes console output. The console output can hang when the virtual serial line sends XOFF/XON sequence. The TELNET client sends XOFF to the remote node's TELNET server to suspend output, but for unknown reason XON is discarded and remote node's TELNET server is unable to resume output. The console remains "frozen" as the remote site is not sending any output to it. When that happens, the local node is reachable over network, and can be unlocked by typing the 'break' character - usually "Ctrl-]" and exiting telnet session by typing "exit" at "TELNET>" prompt.
Emacs hangs if the OPA0 console is used. Emacs works fine over an SSH connection.
CHARON-AXP does not support Microsoft virtual network adapters (i.e. MS bridges, etc.).
CHARON-AXP has limited support for teamed network adapters. They can be used only if the MAC address of the virtual VMS or Tru64 network adapter is not changed during CHARON-AXP session. In which case the desired MAC address should not be set manually in the properties of the network team or in the CHARON-AXP configuration file using the "station_address=XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX" configuration option.
VMS 7.2-1 should be patched to the latest level in order to use Emulex FC adapters in pass-through mode.
Please note that CHARON-AXP has not been tested with SAN attached storage over 2TB per disk in size.
Tru64 temperature monitoring should be disabled. It could cause Tru64 version 5.x shutdown with the message: "system fan has failed, system is shutting down now". If installing Tru64 from scratch, do not install envmon package. If it is already installed, disable automatic startup by booting into SINGE USER mode and issue the following commands:
# mount -u /
# mount /usr
# rcmgr set ENVMON_CONFIGURED 0
then "exit" (Ctrl-D) to multi user mode.
A "CRC error" appears while "$ BACKUP/LIST/REW MKA100:..." on OpenVMS Alpha Version 8.4 (ID#2925)

New functionalities introduced in previous builds

New functionalities introduced in version 4.7 build 171-01

New platform support
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (please notice Server 2012 is not supported)
- VMware ESXi 6.0
- Microsoft Hyper-V on Server 2012 R2
- Please notice Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are not supported (ID#4498)
CHARON product packaging
- All emulated AXP models are installed by default. Allowed AXP models are controlled by CHARON license (ID#4711)
- New icons and graphical design for CHARON executables, utilities and installation procedure (ID#4586, 4587, 4588, 4688)
Performance improvements
- General performance improvement up to 10% for some usage scenarios (ID#4474)
- Deep I/O queuing is implemented for virtual SCSI adapters. Using up to 8 parallel I/O threads per disk and up to 16 per controller can significantly improve I/O performance if guest applications can benefit form multi threaded I/O (ID#3144)
- Internal CHARON-AXP performance counters for various subsystems (CPU, DIT, Network I/O, and Disk I/O) may be streamed to the CHARON log file. The log has to be sent to Stromasys for analysis (ID#4141)
- Stability in FC Presentation mode has been improved (ID#4294)
New configuration options and configuration changes
- MPIO storage path support is implemented (ID#4328)
- Write-through caching of virtual disks is implemented; it can be set with a parameter "use_io_file_buffering = write-through". By default it is switched off. (ID#4613)
- VLANs are supported (ID#4401)
- Sample configuration files are updated with correct values for "hw_model", "system_name", "architecture" and "dsrdb" parameters (ID#4697)
- The log file language is set to English (ID#4509)
- CARON log file format switched to UTF-8 (ID#4188)
- Rotating log file switch can be configured to be triggered by maximum file size and time period (ID#4639)
- CHARON console log rotation has been implemented (ID#4639)
New licensing options. Please refer to User Manual and online Knowledge Base for details, technical restrictions, and best practices (ID#2856, #4137, #4285)
- Software licensing (SL) is available. Software license is bound to physical system hardware components or virtual machine hardware components (ID#4344)
- Network licensing is available, for both hardware dongles (requires special dongle) and software licensing
- CHARON instance counter on a Network license switched to instance mode from station/instance mode, which allows CHARON instances to be spread around the network at user convenience. For example, a Network license with 6 CHARON instances allows to run 3 instances on a first hosting server, 2 instances on a second hosting server, and one instance in a third hosting server. In the previous versions of CHARON Network license controlled number of hosting systems and CHARON instances per host system.
- CHARON license check order can be managed via configuration file, Production and Backup license IDs can be specified (ID#4249)
- Software License can be relocated to another host
- New parameter "license_key_lookup_retry" has been introduced allowing to set a number of license retries with specified time interval for the license checks on CHARON startup (ID#4399)
- License protection run time package (Sentinel) has been upgraded to the current stable version (ID#4209, 4711)
- Please notice that CHARON HASP runtime environment is customized by Stromasys. Environment downloaded directly form SafeNet would not provide full functionality (specifically, Software Licensing will not work). Stromasys will maintain and distribute HASP environment updates as CHARON product patches if necessary
CHARON utilities
- Logmond supports multi instance and rotating log configurations
- MTD utility supports SCSI Passthrough mode for tapes without Windows driver (ID#3927)
- DE602 network adapter is added to Network Control Center configuration page (ID#4655)
- Network Control Center (Network Control Center) performs CHARON network driver cleanup on request (ID#4610)
- CHARON utilities fully support mixed encoding in log files (ID#4642, 4646)
- mkdskcmd utility does not allow to reduce vdisk size (ID#4506)

New functionalities introduced in version 4.6 build 163-03

New "HASP View" utility is able to show all the available license keys and the content of the license they contain (ID#4461)
CHARON log is created in English language only, the rest of localization are disabled (ID#4509)
DS10 emulator is added to CHARON-AXP/DS10 product (ID#4176)
EI device support - DE602 (Compaq NC3131) network adapter is added (ID#4185)
Sentinel Software Licensing (SL) is fully supported (ID#4344)
HASP View utility is able to display the multi site configuration license parameters and it is improved (ID#4059, 4165)
PCI device multifunction is fully supported (ID#4007)
CPU IDLEing is enabled for all Alpha emulators on OpenVMS (ID#4090)
CHARON licenses can be controlled via CFG file now: it is possible to specify main and backup key (ID#4249)
PCI-to-PCI bridges are supported (ID#4428)
"license_key_lookup_retry" parameter is introduced. It allows for a number of retries with specified interval while accessing CHARON license at guest startup before CHARON stops. (ID#4399)
CHARON supports disabling network offload features with a special option in Network Control Center (Network Control Center) (ID#4298)
CHARON can be monitored by specific counters with a help of an external diagnostic data collection (ID#4385)
Since this release CHARON uses UNICODE for its log files (ID#4188)
CHARON license protection has been significantly improved (ID#4209)
Statistics counters for storage and network subsystems are implemented (ID#4141)
Log file messages are extended with indications of CPU "Halt"/"Run" transitions (ID#4264)
New parameter "sync_to_host" is implemented. It allows to keep TOY time always synchronized with the host's time and disable undesirable updates to the TOY from guest OS. (ID#4144)
CHARON-AXP SRM console "halt" command is implemented (ID#4239)
CFG templates have been corrected and updated (ID#4240, 4369, 4377)
MkDisk utility is able to extend the existing disk container size without destroying its content (ID#4329)
EIx0_MODE environment variables of DE602 (Compaq NC3131) are implemented (ID#4366)
HASP driverless mode is supported (ID#4455)
"logmond" utility is significantly improved. Now it supports CHARON rotating log and multi-instances configurations - it is able to monitor log files of all CHARON instances running as services on host.
Networking part (carrier sense logic) is improved (ID#4339)
Network Control Center supports VLAN (ID#4453)
Physical PCI Fiber Channel Presentation Mode is supported (ID#4294)
The performance improvement package included into the kit is updated (ID#4424)

New functionalities introduced in version 4.5 build 153-07

CHARON-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi from version 4.1 Update 1 up to version 5.5
New emulated models AlphaServer DS15, AlphaServer DS25 and AlphaServer ES45 have been added to corresponding products CHARON-AXP/DS10, CHARON-AXP/DS20, and CHARON-AXP/ES40 (ID#3523)
Configurable WWID for virtual KGPSA adapter (ID#3875)
DG devices may contain up to 5 digits in their names, for example DGA15000 (ID#3790)
SRM Console version, OpenVMS PALcode version and Tru64 UNIX PALcode version can be explicitly set (ID#3870)
All the help files have been converted to CHM format (ID#3818)
"PhysicalDrive" specification may include drive number, serial number or WWID (ID#3667)
"system_serial_number" setting is introduced to set AlphaServer's serial number (ID#4096)
Command line version of the Mkdisk utility is able to report progress of disk creation (ID#3793)
PCI board (HBA) model is logged in CHARON log file (ID#3801)
InstallShell is able to upgrade old NDIS5/6 driver installed by other CHARON kit (ID#3819)
"hasp_view" utility has been improved for Sentinel SL (EMS) HASP AdminMode license (ID#3847)

New functionalities introduced in version 4.4 build 148-02

CHARON-AXP version changed to 4.5. A license update is required (ID#3701)
CHARON-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 5.1
CHARON Production license dongle could be replaced with Backup or Spare dongle, and vice versa, without stopping CHARON. The backup/spare dongle is only accepted if CHARON instance configuration parameters remain unchanged (ID#3690)
CHARON license expiration date can be updated without stopping CHARON. Please notice that CHARON instance configuration parameters for active instances should remain unchanged (amount of CPU's etc.) (ID #2966, #3206)
Network license protection is supported by CHARON-AXP. Network licensing is available from Stromasys as a service (ID#3095, 3546)
HASP_View utility is improved in order not to decrease Backup license counter (for Sentinel HASP section only), to detect Remote Desktop sessions and to view Network licenses (ID#3310, 3742, 3757, 3539, 3637)
Log rotation mechanism and improved log filtering is implemented. New log file is created once a week (ID#2281, 2608, 2989)
Missing license on startup is now logged (ID#3116, 3775)
Console log can be stored in a separate file (ID#3587)
Console variable "date" is implemented in order to read date and time from the host OS (ID#2743)
"geometry" CFG file option is introduced to specify size of tape image and, optionally, size of "early-warning" area at the end of tape image (ID#2561)
\\Changer device class has been implemented to provide access to tape changer devices on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 (ID#3369)
Installation procedure is improved, silent (batch) mode is implemented (ID#3618, 3532, 3388)
CHARON Emulex PassThrough driver supports HP 82E 8Gb Dual-port PCI-e FC HBA (ID#3739)
Configuration templates are updated; CPU architecture, AXP model, system ID, and LURT could be set in the config file. CHARON rejects illegal set of parameters (ID#3260, 3307, 3511, 3541)
Network Control Center reports critical issues even in silent mode (ID#3617)

New functionalities introduced in version 4.2 build 142-02

CHARON-AXP version changed to 4.2.
CHARON-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 5.0
Emulated DEC-KGPSA-CA (Emulex LP8000 FC PCI) controller is introduced, providing users with ability to access container files and physical drives/LUNs as virtual SAN disks. Please refer to the user manual for the configuration details
Shared storage clustering support based on shared physical SCSI storage is introduced for Tru64
Shared storage clustering support based on emulated SAN disks/LUNs is introduced. VMS and Tru64 5.1 shared storage clusters are supported. Tru64 4.x shared disk clusters are not supported in the current release.
NetApp SAN storage support is introduced
"geometry" option has been added to the KZPBA controller (ID#3330)
Disk I/O performance is improved by deep queueing of I/O requests
TL891 hardware tape library support is introduced
Virtual tape size could be limited through CHARON-AXP configuration file
Virtual CDROM container file can be replaced without stopping CHARON
SRM console variable "date" is introduced. Accessing this variable from VMS/Tru64 provides them with the time read from the hosting server
CHARON-AXP automatically replaces the old .ROM file with a new one on the first run after CHARON-AXP upgrade. Please notice that ROM parameters have to be reconfigured
CHARON-AXP installation and uninstallation does not require CHARON-AXP license to be present
CHARON-AXP Spare license is supported (limited by support contract expiration date and execution counter). License viewing utility is updated
Some CHARON-AXP DIT cache parameters are configurable. Those options are available under Stromasys field engineering supervision only
A standalone utility to monitor CHARON log file and trigger an external batch in case of CHARON-AXP license failure is introduced (ID#2415)
CHARON-AXP configuration templates are updated to reflect new configuration options

New functionalities introduced in version 4.1 build 129-04

CHARON-AXP version changed to 4.1.
CHARON-AXP is supported on VMware ESXi 4.1 update 1.
CHARON-AXP comes with the maximum amount of RAM allowed by emulated model. Please refer to the product SPDs for the details.
The following license information could be updated without stopping CHARON-AXP: expiration date and backup time counter. This change allows CHARON evaluation or annual licenses to be updated "on the fly" to the permanent production licenses or to the next year annual licenses. Please notice that other CHARON configuration parameters should remain unchanged.
Additional CHARON-AXP instances and products could be added to the license "on the fly".
New Alpha emulated models are added to CHARON-AXP/4100 product:

AlphaServer 800 (single AXP CPU)
AlphaServer 1000 (single AXP CPU)
AlphaServer 1000A (single AXP CPU)
AlphaServer 1200 (dual AXP CPUs).

IDLE Utility is supported for single CPU Alpha emulators.
CHARON network packet driver name "packet_port" in CHARON configuration file has been made platform independent. It is still possible to use "ndis5_chpack_port" and "ndis6_chpack_port" names of the driver, however it's recommended to update CHARON-AXP configuration file (see section 5).
All network connections have "Half Duplex 10BaseT" mode by default.
The Installation procedure displays the End User Agreement and asks user to agree with it in order to proceed.
The CHARON Service Management Utility has been changed to be present in the Windows Tray at all times. It can be accessed and used to manage CHARON-AXP application

New functionalities introduced in version 2.4 build 118-05

A new product, CHARON-AXP/GS320, is now available for AlphaServer GS320 replacements. Please refer to the SPD for details
A new emulated model AlphaServer 400 supporting 1 AXP CPU and up to 1 GB of memory is included into CHARON-AXP/4100
CHARON-AXP supports Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
The Network Control Center supports all AXP network interfaces
DCI-1100 is supported via the pass-through driver
Support of the PBXDA-BB and PBXDA-AC serial line adapters is available via the DIGI pass-through driver
Ctrl-P, CONTINUE and CRASH commands implemented in SRM console
CHARON utilities support for simplified Chinese Windows has been introduced
Logging message format and content has been improved. Logfiles are opened in append mode by default
The 'repeated messages' logging filter is enabled by default
MkDisk utility has been expanded to handle .VDISK metadata
A full de-installation removes all CHARON settings and files.
SRM Console and advanced network configuration settings have been documented

New functionalities introduced in version 2.3 build 108-00

A new product, CHARON-AXP/4100, has been introduced. It supports the emulation of AlphaServer 2000, 2100, 4000, and 4100. The earliest supported guest OS versions are: VMS 6.2-1H3 and Tru64 4.0F. SPD is available from http://www.stromasys.com. Please refer to the CHARON-AXP manual for details.
CHARON-AXP is now delivered with half of the CPUs available for the particular model by default. For example, CHARON-AXP/GS80 can have up to eight AXP CPUs, hence the base license includes four CPUs.
Support for 64bit Windows Server 2008 Standard and Enterprise (SP2) Editions and 64bit Windows Vista Business (SP2) Edition.
Multiple instances of CHARON-AXP can run on a hosting server simultaneously. Please refer to the CHARON-AXP manual for details.
Connection to a physical FDDI network is supported using pass-through mechanism with physical DEPFA FDDI network adapter in the hosting server.
Emulated AXP CPU performance has been improved. Please see SPDs and Product Announcements for the details, which are available from http://www.stromasys.com
Significant network stability and performance gains after fixing a problem in the rx sequencer delay algorithm.
DE435 network adapter emulation has been introduced, supporting VMS versions 6.2-1H3 and later.
For disk and tape containers on KZPBA a particular type (for example, HSZ80) can be set using the media_type parameter, which may be necessary for Tru64 to recognize them.
The Internal disk table has been extended to recognize RZ1ED, RZ1EF disk types.

New functionalities introduced in version 2.2 build 104-00

Fiber Channel (SAN attached) storage can be used with emulated PCI KGPSA adapter if a specific Emulex HBA is used in the hosting server. Please refer to the User Manual for the details. The SAN target has to be configured for CHARON-AXP guest operating system. The configuration has been tested with both OpenVMS and Tru64.
SRM console functionality had been improved to include FC configuration and booting commands.
On Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP physical SCSI disks and SAN LUNs can be attached to CHARON-AXP using \\.\ScsiN:X:Y:Z notation. Please check the manual for details. There are three formats supported:
\\.\SCSI<port-no>:<target-id>
\\.\SCSI<port-no>:<target-id>:<lun>
\\.\SCSI<port-no>:<path-no>:<target-id>:<lun>
iSCSI disks can be attached to KZPBA SCSI controller using \\.\PhysicalDrive notation provided that they are created with Microsoft iSCSI Initiator (other initiators have not been tested).
CHARON-AXP has Simplified Chinese interface and logfile if installed on Windows with Simplified Chinese localization.

Problems fixed in previous builds

Problems fixed in CHARON-AXP v4.7

Fixed a FIFO overrun issue in DEC12x4x module (EW network devices) which led to guest OS crash (ID#4066)
Fixed FTP stall on CHARON under ESXi 5.1 (ID#4581)
Fixed an issue with AlphaServer 1200, 4000, and 4100 not seeing EWA0 interface under VMS6.2-1H3 (ID#4499)
Fixed an AlphaServer DS10 67/616 crash because of an incorrect placement of a stack (ID#4595)
Fixed several issues lead to Exception (C0000005) at 10005324: Segmentation violation (ID#4481, 4540)
Fixed OpenVMS 7.3 crash on ES40 boot from virtual DGA disk (ID#4636, 4637)
Fixed Tru64 5.1B installation on AlphaServer DS15 (ID#4602)
Fixed an inconsistent error message "Cannot connect to *.vtape" (ID#4612)
Fixed AlphaServer DS15A SMM type (ID#4621)
Fixed incorrect "null" (ASCII 0) and missing CR characters in SRM console (ID#4502, 4565, 4693)
Fixed various issues with expired CHARON licenses and automatic license switchover (ID#4622, 4179)
Fixed an issue with unexpected physical tape device name change on Tru64 (ID#4491)
Various fixes to improve readability of the log file (ID#4493, 4700)
Fixed Reflection terminal emulator program error on closing CHARON (ID#4623)
Fixed various issues with storage mapping in configuration templates (ID#4703)
Fixed mkdskcmd issue with uppercase characters (ID#4562)
Fixed an installation of CHARON NDIS driver with CHARON Network Control Center on Windows 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 (ID#4687)
Fixed InstallShell not working form non Administrator account (ID#4527)

Problems fixed in CHARON-AXP v4.6

Oracle 10g cannot be properly installed on AS2100, AS1000, AS1000a and AS400 (ID#3813)
Sentinel NetTime license is not catched and CHARON stops after SL expiration (ID#4179)
Segmentation Violation while installing Oracle 10g on AlphaServer 400/1000/1000A (ID#4531)
SRM console may display an incomplete list of the configured PCI devices (ID#4507)
Driverless Sentinel HL Network license inserted in a host is not accessible on this host unless the Sentinel run-time is installed (ID#4502, 4496)
"ide0" is reported as being offline in CHARON log file despite the fact that no "ide0" is configured in *.cfg file (ID#4493)
Physical tape file name may be changed after copying come files to it under Tru64 (ID#4491)
Emulators may detect some physical tapes as "Virtual SCSI Tape" (ID#4480)
CHARON experienced some issues after host hardware upgrade (ID#4478)
AS1000 and AS1000A cannot boot from DGA disk - both virtual and physical (ID#4476)
In some specific configurations CHARON installation may experience network problems (ID#4354)
In some specific configurations CHARON-AXP/DS/ES is unable to start as it crashes immediately (ID#4201, 4362)
"Logmond" utility may not work properly in some configurations (ID#4188)
The customer cobol application hangs while on real hardware it works fine (ID#3415, 3563)
Modem communication failures on an attempt to connect to CHARON (ID#2642)
VMS boot: Date 29-FEB-2012 jumped to 1-MAR-2012 (ID#3570)
The following configuration:
"load KGPSA FGA bus = pci_0 device = 4 function = 0
load KGPSA FGB bus = pci_0 device = 4 function = 1"
fails with an assertion check (ID#4007)
Emulator runs beyond license expiry date when host time is moved backward (ID#4058)
Some network issues are detected on AS4100 if VMS 6.2-1H3 is the guest operating system (ID#3794)
Low performance on OpenVMS/AXP V7.2-1 with CHARON-AXP/ES40 (ID#3964)
Network Control Center fails to dedicate a bridged virtual adapter to CHARON (ID#4097)
Network Control Center fails to dedicate a virtual ethernet adapter to CHARON (ID#4099)
CPUSPINWAIT crash in some specific configurations of host system (if the host is not dedicated to CHARON) (ID#4114)
CHARON-AXP fails to run as service if the statistics counters are enabled (ID#4220)
Extra symbol ")" in LOG file, for example "(MicroVAX 3100 Model 98))" (ID#4214)
PMAD-AA incorrectly reports its MAC/station address to VMS 5.5-2H4 (ID#4255)
Network Control Center (Network Control Center) reports lack of privileges if local administrative account is used (ID#4256)
Timed-out I/O operation to SAN quorum disk (ID#3581)
There may be a BUGCHECK 1CC during OpenVMS 7.3-2 backup (ID#3792)
SAN storage is lost, Tru64 experiences an AvdFS exception as a result (ID#3955)
CHARON-AXP/DS/ES is unable to start as it crashes immediately (ID#4201)
Transferring a big file with FTP fails on Tru64 if DE602 network card is used (ID#4275)
OpenVMS guest system time jumped back 15 years on host reboot (ID#4276)
In some cases CHARON is unable to connect to FC Fabric via LPe12002 (ID#3938)
Segmentation violation CHARON emulating DS20 on HP Proliant DL380p G8 (ID#4034)
Backup problem. If MKB402 (INIT and MOUNT/FOR) is used VMS logs 3 errors each time. Backup is Ok but the error count increases each time INIT and MOUNT commands are executed. (ID#4327)
Emulated DE602 is not shown in AXP SRM console (ID#4330, 4293)
Incorrect info in LOG file when local license is removed and network or SL license is catched (ID#4349)
AS1000a crashes in storage.dll (ID#4333)
Issues with Basestar running on OpenVMS 7.3-1 (ID#4350)
Exception 800706B5 at emulator startup (ID#4382)
Virtual KGPSA generates device errors of type device attention (ID#4232)
Some utils shows wrong version info at About dialogs (ID#4388)
Incorrect info in LOG about host OS (ID#4425)
DE602 ARP problems (ID#4452)
Unable to start a CHARON instance as a service. Starts OK as an application. (ID#4458)
On AS400 the "ERRFMT BUGCHECK" may appear while backing up an OpenVMS 6.2-1H3 boot disk. This message does not affect the backup, restore and boot from restored disk (ID#3123)

Problems fixed in CHARON-AXP v4.5

The VMS command "$ SHOW DEVICES" does not show all DGA disks (ID#4049)
Fixed AXP crash immediately on startup (ID#4201)
HASP runtime environment has been upgraded to the latest stable version (ID#4258)
Removed Field Test kits special license requirements (ID#4263)
Fixed an issue appeared with multiple tape drives in SCSI Pass Through mode (ID#4327)
Fixed AXP crashing on scanning storage bus (ID#4333)
Fixed AXP segmentation violation crash (ID#4334)
Assertion check on installation of Digital UNIX v4.0g on AlphaServer 400 (ID#4057)
Fixed an AXP crash booting from Tru64 4.0g installation media container file (ID#4041, #4047)
Fixed ES40 with 3 CPUs spontaneous crash (ID#4066)
AlphaServer 400: no CPU IDLEing (ID#4089)
Fixed incorrect results of some math operations on GS series (ID#4106)
Assertion while type Ctrl^P on OpenVMS boot (ID#4161)
Fixed UDID and WWID reported incorrectly for FC virtual disks in SRM console (ID#4042)
Unable to create a dump of system disk to DUMP_DEV attached via FC (ID#3691)
AlphaServer DS15 and AlphaServer DS25 may display an infinite loop of network messages (ID#4048)
Sample CFG files have been updated (ID#3730)
Incorrect discovery of LUNs on HP XP24000 Storage (ID#3755)
Putty does not appear on pressing "Open Console" (ID#3903)
Bugcheck after OpenVMS backup, FC physical disk (ID#3899)
Virtual FC disks / FC disks boot failed (ID#3962, 3963)
CHARON cannot detect cdrom even if "set ide container="\\.\CdRom0" is specified in CFG file (ID#3965)
Physical tape is detected as hard disk in CHARON (ID#3966)
Vdisk is detected incorrectly in an automatic test (ID#3968)
Switch to Sentinel LDK 6.4 (ID#3971)
Configured DKA devices are not seen on AS800 (ID#3984, 3894)
Log file specification for emulator log and console log should work identically (ID#3988)
Network Control Center does not allow to see monitoring information if emulator is running (ID#3922)
Drivers INF files suggest incorrect version - 15301 instead of 15302. The SYS files have correct version (ID#4017)
MTD cannot access SCSI tape directly while CHARON can (ID#3927)
FS communication may result in timeouts (ID#3934)
Remote node is not reachable when "ace_mode=true" (ID#3211)
Node lost connection to virtual $1$DGA quorum disk (ID#3700)
When entered "monitor all" under OpenVMS 8.4, emulator ES40, it crashed with "Illegal instruction" message. (ID#3716)
AS400 hangs on when OpenVMS boots (FC disk) (ID#3719)
Exception when stopping emulator on SIGTERM (ID#3726)
Assertion check failed while running modified DISK_QIO_TEST (ID#3773)
FGA unable to set up DMA for host BLP64 (ID#3785)
If the instance limit is exceeded the log file does not contain the corresponding message (ID#3799)
Some problems with FC disks on ES45 (ID#3807)
Update of CHARON services does not work as expected (ID#3808)
OpenVMS 7.2-1H1 and 7.3-2: error while installation (ID#3810)
MKDISK utility does not calculate the disk sizes properly (ID#3812)
The license change on the fly operation is not logged in CHARON log file (ID#3816)
AS4100, VMS 6.2-1H3 network issues (ID#3832)
ES45 crashes with INCONSTATE at boot time, VMS 7.3-2 and VMS 8.2 tested (ID#3845)
AlphaServer ES45 does not accept its license (ID#3800)

Problems fixed in CHARON-AXP v4.4

NDIS driver problems were not logged in a correct instance log if several instances of CHARON were running (ID#3249)
CDROM disk cannot be be mounted (ID#3705)
Flood of "UDID:9999 WWID..." messages appeared in CHARON console (ID#3708)
Problem using shared PhysicalDrive on iSCSI for TruCluster ASE (ID#3734)
CHARON didn't start and didn't report any error message if a wrong component was set in CFG file (ID#3747)
Charon was terminated too early if the license key became unavailable (ID#3754)
CHARON Service could not create a log file (ID#3774)

Problems fixed in CHARON-AXP v4.3

Sequential backup to tape image took long time for large files and multiple savesets (ID#3315, 3508)
Console was unable to obtain UDID of logical units on HP P2000 G3 (ID#3438)
Arithmetical error fixed in some COBOL and FORTRAN calculations (ID#3415, 3563)
Couldn't initialize FC disks in OpenVMS (under Windows 7) (ID#3660)
OpenVMS 6.2-1H3 with disks over 128GB didn't work. Geometry parameter for large disks have to be set at 255/255 (ID#3662)
CHARON crashed on Spec2000 test (ID#3663)
No UDID was displayed for LUN 0 of HP P2000 (ID#3650)

Problems fixed in CHARON-AXP v4.2

Storage configured as Removable was not actually removable: usage of virtual CD-ROM locked it image file (ID#3251)
CHARON-AXP crashed with exception 000007FEFD5AAA7D: Exception (000006BA) when running as service (ID#3294)
Menu numbering in some application display menu were out of sequence (ID#3132)
Couldn't boot OpenVMS from $1$DGA0 (ID#3697)
CHARON couldn't initialize FAT-formatted floppies (ID#3698)
HASP RTL version control mismatch during CHARON installation (ID#3426)
"F6" didn't stop Charon if physical VT100 was used as console (ID#3483)
FCMGR RESCAN VERBOSE failed to discover FC fabric (ID#3519)
8 SAN paths on EVA configurations didn't fit in BOOTDEF_DEV (ID#3520)
AS1200 configuration and documenation mismatch (ID#3521)
A fix for HPARITH problem had been introduced by excluding a certain AXP CPU instruction from DIT translation (ID#3493)
Fixed an assertion on dropping secondary lock while on-page structure is locked (ID#3425)
Guard Page Violation exception walking through exception stack had been fixed (ID#3424)
CHARON-AXP failed to reboot if boot disk is on FC SAN issue was fixed (ID#2774, #2775)
Serial port (TTA) mapping did not work correctly on Tru64 (ID#3133)
Unable to boot from NETAPP LUN issue had been fixed (ID#3399)
Errors while multiple backups with DGA disks have been fixed (ID#3407)
Tru64 5.1B couldn't see DGA disk during installation on AlphaServer 800 emulator (ID#3430)
AS400 emulator didn't work with DGA disks (ID#3431)
Tru64 UNIX 5.1b fails to install on GS80 when FC is configured (ID#3192)
AS4100 hanged with Tru64 Version 4.0D with applied Patch Kit 9 (ID#3436)
Backup license allowed CHARON-AXP to work longer than expected (ID#3484)
Fixed CHARON-AXP/GS80, CHARON-AXP/GS160: Fatal controller error after OpenVMS 8.3 installation on DGA disk (ID#3498)
Exception (C000001D) at 00000000289C0200: Illegal Instruction messages have been fixed (ID#3500)
AS4100 model used to use EV5 and not the EV5.6 as of the 5/400 model it was supposed to emulate (ID#3504)
Tru64 5.1B various installation problems (ID#3432)
SRM console FC related command implementation have been improved
RWZ53 MO disk did not work with CHARON-AXP/4100 emulating AS400 (ID#3119)

Problems fixed in CHARON-AXP v4.1

CHARON-AXP networking didn't work on VMware (ID#3023)
CHARON crashed while performing 'newfs' on physical scsi disk partition (ID#3113)
Fixed inconsistent disk naming in TruCluster configurations (ID#3108)
Physical drive initialization: medium is offline under OpenVMS 6.2-1H3 issue had been fixed (ID#3330)
Fixed CHARON-AXP (AlphaServer 2100) unable to boot generic kernel (genvmunix) of DEC OSF/1 V3.2A (ID#3391)
Fixed "fc rescan" failed on some models (ID#3397, 3420)
Fixed Tru64 being not bootable in multiuser mode (ID#3404)
set term/speed=*** command did not work with physical VT100 (ID#3409)
Fixed "Host stopped responding" message displayed if VT100 terminal worked via LAT (ID#3124)
Fixed the appearence of non fatal "ERRFMT BUGCHECK" message on boot from a backup disk created by CHARON-AXP (ID#3123)
CHARON-AXP networking on VMware on Windows 2008 R2 was not working. Please install a patch to bring CHARON-AXP to the build level 129-05. (ID#3023)
CHARON-AXP service is unable to show its console window if RDP is used for connection to the host (ID#3179, 3180)
CHARON-AXP may report the host operating system incorrectly in its log (ID#3167)
The license expires at the day before the correct day (ID#3189)
An A (UNIX) in os_bootflags while booting VMS enters a tight loop on CHARON-AXP (ID#3195)
"Auto Negotiation detected link down" message is reported on OpenVMS 7.2-1H1 (ID#2953)
Failed to construct a UFS file system on physical drive during Tru64 5.1B installation (ID#2991)
OpenVMS device error count is equal to 1 for virtual disks RZ22, RZ23 that have been created with the MKDISK utility (ID#3071)
AS800 emulator does not perform the "power off" command properly (ID#3094)
GS320 emulator is unable to boot any OS (VMS, Tru64) (ID#3125)
AS800 emulator: incorrect required licenses units (ID#3090)
Mode pages 3 and 4 is not implemented for SCSI CD-ROMs (ID#2983)
Inconsistent PCI bus configuration naming for AlphaServer DS10L emulator (ID#3148)
CHARON-AXP Services issue on Windows Vista Business 64bit: CHARON execution failure on the service installation and the service termination if RDP is used (ID#3138)
Inconsistency in CHARON-AXP service dependencies: lost of dependency on the TCP/IP service (ID#3137)
CHARON-AXP service stopped unexpectedly 15 minutes after it was started. Log is clear of any problem reports (ID#3134)
CHARON-AXP service failed to start/stop at scheduled time (ID#3115)
HP Tru64 V5.1B fails to initialize FC adapter (ID#3103)
Strange message is displayed without any mis-functioning: "Invalid thread identifier. : OPA0: Failed to stop the application." (ID#3084)
SPEC2k test running on Tru64 fails on gzip test (only on CHARON-AXP running on AMD platform) (ID#3037)
Some problems with PBXDA-xx: "Failed to locate pci_5" (ID#3147)
CHARON-AXP fails when performing 'newfs' operation on physical scsi disk partition (ID#3113)

Problems fixed in older builds

The message "Failed to locate the "TTAx" for the line xx" displayed for intentionally not configured TTA lines is removed (ID#2650)
Sometimes the "Failed to create symbolic link to the packet driver" error blocks CHARON-AXP normal networking despite its configuration is correct (ID#2554, 3182)
UETP fails on a tape image if CHARON runs on VMware (ID#2427)
Unable to install AS2x00/AS4x00 emulators ("--install" command) (ID#2294)
Windows Server 2008 CN: "Invisible" Installation Log (empty log file) (ID#2678)
ds10l.exe installation fails on Win2008 Chinese version (ID#2685)
DE435 is offline with VMS 6.2-1H3 on AS4100 (ID#2680)
The firmware does not detect DE450 adapter and therefore does not print it in the device list (ID#2652)
DE450 remains OFFLINE in VMS (ID#2653)
Problem using CDROM on an HP blade server via USB (ID#2651)
Digital UNIX 4.0B fails to install on AlphaServer 400 (ID#2631)
Console logs are not appended to by default (ID#2628)
AS400 Emulator crash while installing Digital UNIX 4.0F (ID#2619)
AS2000 and AS2100 unable to "create an instance of the component dec_21040" (ID#2597)
Incorrect behavior on HALT command in kernel mode (ID#2595)
ES40 Emulator crashed when performing the SWINGBENCH test (ID#2586)
"-FILE" boot option of the SRM console was not implemented (ID#2102)
A file "mkdisk.vtable" is absent in the kit -- without it MKDISK cannot start (ID#2589).
The configuration template for the AS400 model has incorrect HW_MODEL syntax and is missing the PKB bus (ID#2373).
Incorrect text encoding in the NetDiag help on Chinese systems (ID#2373).
Tru64 V5.1B was unable to load driver for DEC 21040 PCI Ethernet Adapter (ID#2304).
CHARON-AXP crashed on UETP test (ID#2348).
Ticket #7079: Charon crashed on a production system with segmentation violation (ID#2389)
The old .BIN files lead to CHARON misbehavior. It should be replaced for new one (ID#2447)
A disk device goes offline suddenly with the "mount verification in progress" message (ID#2512)
Tru64/tar utility is unable to write if the output device is a tape. (ID#2383)
Failed to unload the virtual tape on Tru64. (ID#2385)
VMS 7.2-1 booted on DS10L and DS20 with FC Pass-Through enabled hangs VMS. (ID#2390)
Some configured disks disappeared from the OpenVMS environment (SRM console) under CHARON-AXP/B108 AS4100.(ID#2393)
CHARON-AXP/ES40 is unable to boot Tru64 from FC attached disk (ID#2412).
TOY data (including data/time) is not saved (ID#2414).
Install procedure does not issue warnings when unsupported host platform is used (ID#2431).
Putty Console does not work (no proper session is available) when CHARON-AXP runs as a service (ID#2452).
Ticket #7682: "BOOT EWA0" command in the SRM console leads to the emulators hanging (ID#2469).
ID#2470 - Ticket #7684: BOOT DKA500 may boot from wrong device.
ID#2471 - Ticket #7687: Pressing "F6" button terminates emulator. The default behavior has been changed to "none".
Ticket #7716: SRM console HELP command is missing (ID#2472).
Network Control Center utility does not recognize teamed interfaces (ID#2331)
Some license messages are absent in the LOG file, for example "the license is expired" (ID#2040)
NFS issue: "cp" command never ends and the "cp" process becomes zombie (ID#2257)
SRM variables get saved in wrong console variables (ID#2295)
Handling of some exceptional cases in DIT2 due to resource lock must be implemented to avoid possible overflow (ID#2404).
Grammar error in message text: some typos have been corrected (ID#2428)
Embedded network adapters and additional ones (having the same name) conflict without any notification (ID#2429)
System hangs OpenVMS 7.1-2 with printing jobs (ID#2441)
Compilation of C code using FP flags /FLOAT=IEEE /IEEE=DENORM result in zero values (ID#2446)
log_method="append" does not work if specified separately from the other configuration commands for the logging definition (ID#2450).
Utilities help does not start on "F1" on Windows 2008 / Vista operating systems (ID#2498)
Ultrium tape drive fails on all VMS commands (ID#2386)
Ticket #7774: Problems NDIS6 driver - memory leak was found (ID#2490)
Many question marks sometimes displayed in the Network Control Center Chinese help file (ID#2373)
Tape error: "-BACKUP-F-NOTANSI, tape is not valid ANSI format" (ID#2521)
Exception (C0000005): Segmentation violation occurs on different configuration and applications (ID#2527, 2528, 2534, 2510)
The OpenVMS V8.3 CPUSANITY bugcheck while performing KGPSA initialization
Outgoing FTP hang problem on GS80/GS160 models (ID#1999)
A problem with Fortran compiled code generating exceptions (ID#145)
Several problems with physical tapes including tape initialization, label handling, tape restore and Files-11 file system on the tape
A problem reporting version 2.2 instead of 2.3 in the SRM console
A problem with VMS freezing during shutdown
A problem with freezing VMS boot after "%PKQDRIVER-W- PKA0, Chip reset failed, trying again" error message
A problem with EW devices not showing up at AS2x00 CRM console
A problem with multi instance configuration preventing more than one CHARON-AXP instance from running
A problem with certain CPU affinity configurations causing "division by zero" crash
"Back" button does not always work during installation
An error message could appear during uninstallation of CHARON-AXP through Control Panel
Setting particular disk and tape types with media_type parameter on KZPBA is not supported for \\PhysicalDriveX configuration style
Emulated PCI network adapter DE435 is not recognized in the AXP SRM console, however it is recognized and works for the guest OS.
CHARON-AXP may wrongly report that no license is present if the correct license is present.
Too many scheduled starts and stops of CHARON-AXP service in a short period of time could cause CHARON-AXP crash.
AlphaServer model 2100 could have problems with initializing of the network controller (DECchip 21040).
CHARON Network Control Center utility does not have proper Simplified Chinese interface.
Ultrium SCSI-1 DAT-72 tape drives currently do not work with CHARON-AXP.
Virtual tape cannot be unloaded and container file replaced on Tru64.

Distribution and Installation

The kit is distributed as a standard CHARON installation (new version). The installer version is 7.0.

Before installation:

Make sure there are no CHARON-AXP configurations running.
Deinstall all CHARON products prior to the version 4.8 with Windows Control Panel applet.
Make sure that Windows has all recent updates installed:
- Do not enable "Automatic updates" (since they may affect CHARON execution), but instead run "Check for updates" applet (Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Update) and install all the important updates.
- Mandatory update / SHA2 support: please check this update has been installed or install it manually using the following link https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/3033929.aspx#ID0EDC

Installation instructions:

Unpack CHARON kit into a temporary (installation) folder.
Run the "InstallShell.exe" file in the installation folder.
Choose the products to install and proceed with suggested steps.
Please note that the media may contain more products than allowed by your license.

Product Documentation and Knowledge Base