Serial lines

General Description

Configuration of CHARON-VAX serial lines is performed in 3 steps:

Loading virtual serial lines controller, for example:
load DHV11/DHV11 TXA
In this example, an instance of a "DHV11" serial line controller is loaded and named "TXA"
Note that VAX console adapters ("UART", "QUART") do not need to be loaded; they are preloaded.
Mapping an object type to host resources: For example:
load physical_serial_line TTA1 set OPA0 line="/dev/ttyS1"
In this example the object "physical_serial_line" is loaded, named "TTA1", and mapped to the "/dev/ttyS1" host physical serial port.
Connect the loaded virtual line controller and the mapped object:
set TXA line[5]=TTA1
In this example, the 6th line of the DHV11 controller "TXA" loaded at step 1 is connected to the mapping object "TTA1" loaded at the step 2.

Console

CHARON-VAX offers a one- or four-port serial console depending on the specified VAX model. The one line serial line controller is identified in CHARON-VAX with the name UART. The four serial lines controller is identified in CHARON-VAX with the name QUART.

UART is used in Qbus systems only (e.g. the MicroVAX/VAXserver 3600/3900).

QUART is used in SCSI (e.g. MicroVAX 3100 model 96/98, VAXstation 4000 model 90) and SCSI/Qbus systems (e.g. VAX4000 model 106/108). The last QUART line (line[3]) is the console port (known in VAX/VMS as OPA0).

CHARON-VAX console ports can be configured to connect to an external terminal via the host system COM/TTY port or can be connected via TCP/IP.

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physical_serial_line

Parameter

Type

Description

line

Text string

A defined TTY port on host system:

"/dev/tty<N>" - virtual serial lines
"/dev/ttyS<N>" - onboard serial lines
"/dev/ttyUSB<N>" - modem or usb serial lines adapters

baud

Numeric

Forces the baud rate of the corresponding TTY port to a specified value.The variety of supported values depends on the underlying physical communication resource (TTY port). The most widely used values are: 300, 1200, 9600, 19200, 38400.Example:

set OPA0 baud=38400

break_on

Text string

Specifies what byte sequences received over the physical serial line will trigger a HALT command.This parameter works only for the console line (for the one UART line and "line[3]" of QUART).Specify the following values: "Crtl-P", "Break" or "none" ("none" disables triggering HALT condition).Example:

set OPA0 break_on="Crtl-P"

The default value is "Break" for line 3 of QUART and "none" for other lines.

stop_on

Text string

Specifies what byte sequences received over the physical serial line will trigger a STOP condition. The STOP condition causes CHARON-VAX to exit.Specify the value as the following: “F6” or “none” ("none" disables triggering STOP condition).Example:

set OPA0 stop_on="F6"

The default value is "none".

Setting "F6" triggers the STOP condition upon receipt of the "<ESC>[17~" sequence. Terminals usually send these sequences on pressing F6 button

log

Text string

A string specifying a file name to store content of console sessions or a directory where log files for each individual session will be stored.If an existing directory is specified, CHARON-VAX automatically enables creation of individual log files for each session. If the "log" parameter is omitted, CHARON-VAX does not create a console log.Examples:

set OPA0 log=”log.txt”

set OPA0 log=”/opt/charon/logs"

Example of mapping a console line to an onboard serial line:

load physical_serial_line OPA0 set OPA0 line="/dev/ttyS1"

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virtual_serial_line

Parameter

Type

Description

host

Text string

A remote host’s IP address or a host name (and optional remote TCP/IP port number) for the virtual serial line connection. If omitted, the virtual serial line does not initiate a connection to the remote host and will listen for incoming connection requests.Specify the value in the following form:

set OPA0 host="<host-name>[:<port-no>]"

If "<port-no>" is not specified, the virtual serial line uses the TCP/IP port number specified by the "port" parameter (see below).

port

Numeric

TCP/IP port number for the virtual serial line. A virtual serial line always listens on this port for incoming connection requests.

break_on

Text string

Specifies what byte sequences received over virtual serial line must trigger HALT command.This parameter works only for console line (for CHARON-VAX it is the only line of UART and the "line[3]" of QUART).Specify the following values: "Crtl-P", "Break" or "none" to disable triggering HALT condition.Example:

set OPA0 break_on="Crtl-P"

The default value is "Break" for line 3 of QUART and "none" for other lines.

stop_on

Text string

Specifies what byte sequences received over the virtual serial line will trigger a STOP condition. The STOP condition causes CHARON-VAX to exit.Specify the value as the following: “F6” or “none” ("none" disables triggering STOP condition).Example:

set OPA0 stop_on="F6"

The default value is "none".Setting "F6" triggers the STOP condition upon receipt of the "<ESC>[17~" sequence.

log

Text string

A string specifying a file name to store content of console sessions or a directory where log files for each individual session will be stored.If an existing directory is specified, CHARON-VAX automatically enables creation of individual log file for each session. If the "log" parameter is omitted CHARON-VAX does not create any console log.Examples:

set OPA0 log=”log.txt”

set OPA0 log=”/opt/charon/logs"

Example of mapping a console line to an onboard serial line:

load virtual_serial_line OPA0 set OPA0 port=10003 stop_on="F6"

Notes on "virtual_serial_line" options:

Use the combination of "port" and "host" parameters as follows to connect a 3rd party terminal emulator or similar program.
load virtual_serial_line/chserial TTA0 host="192.168.1.1" port=10000
In this example CHARON-VAX connects to port 10000 of a host with TCP/IP address "192.168.1.1" and at the same time it accepts connections on local port 10000.
It is possible to specify a port on a remote host (note that CHARON always acts as a server). The syntax is:
load virtual_serial_line/chserial TTA0 host="192.168.1.1:20000" port=10000
In this example CHARON-VAX accepts connection on local port 10000 and connects to remote port 20000 of a host with TCP/IP address "192.168.1.1"

Note that the examples above are mainly used for inter-CHARON communications. They are used to connect CHARON-VAX to an application that communicates to CHARON-VAX as described below. Example of two CHARON systems connected to each other:On host "A":

load virtual_serial_line/chserial TXA0 port=5500 host="B"

On host "B":

load virtual_serial_line/chserial TXA0 port=5500 host="A"

On two hosts executing CHARON-VAX, the two TXA0 lines connect to each other, thus creating a "serial" cable between the two emulated VAXes. The sequential order in which the instances of CHARON-VAX are started makes no difference.

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operator_console

Parameter

Type

Description

break_on, stop_on

Text string

These two parameters are hardcoded to the following values and cannot be changed:

stop_on="F6" break_on="Ctrl-P,F5"

Example:

load operator_console OPA0

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"ttyY" notation specifics

Note that the "ttyY" notation can have different forms depending on the nature of the device used:

Linux virtual tty (switchable by alt+F1-atl+F12 on a text console) – are represented as "/dev/ttyN" where N is from 0 to 11. Those tty devices must be free from the Linux "getty/mgetty" and similar programs (specified in "/etc/inittab")
Onboard serial lines are represented as "/dev/ttySN" where N is a number. For example "/dev/ttyS1"
Proprietary (depending on a driver) devices are represented as "/dev/ttyXXX" where XXX is a complex letter/number notation. For example "/dev/ttyR01" is the first port of a MOXA card and "/dev/ttyaa" stands for the first port of a DIGI card.

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Linking serial controller port to host connection

The final step of CHARON-VAX serial line configuration is the association of each loaded serial port with a CHARON-VAX host connection instance as follows:

set <serial controller instance name> line[<line number>]=<serial line instance name>

Example:

set quart line[0]=TTA0

This command connects the first serial line ("line[0]") of a "QUART" serial line controller to a CHARON-VAX connection instance named "TTA0". As explained earlier, TTA0 may be a virtual serial line connected to port, or a physical serial line connected to host serial port or virtual terminal. In an example below, the command connects the sixth serial line of a previously loaded controller (named "TXA") to "TTA1". "TTA1" could be defined, for example, as a physical serial line connected to COM/TTY port:

set TXA line[5]=TTA1

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