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Archive-name: dec-faq/vms/part8
Posting-Frequency: quarterly Last-modified: 02 Sep 2005 Version: VMSFAQ_20050902-08.TXT See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
Miscellaneous Information
Realize that defining this logical name will
cause license checks that are otherwise hidden
(unimplemented, latent, or part of a check for any
of a series of licenses) to become visible. In other
words, expect to see zero or more spurious license
check calls when you define this, in addition to the
check for the particular license.
For information on PAKGEN and on generating license
PAKs, please see Section 10.10. For information on
obtaining commercial and hobbyist licenses, and for
additional adminstrative information on LMF, please see
Section 2.8.4 and Section 2.8.1.
12-6
_______________________________________________________
13 Finding and Using Software
For information on programming on OpenVMS, see
Chapter 10.
__________________________________________________________
13.1 Where can I find freeware/shareware/software for OpenVMS?
o Details on many commercial OpenVMS products are
available in the catalog located at:
o http://www.hp.com/go/dspp_catalog
o The OpenVMS Freeware is is distributed with OpenVMS,
and is also available for download at various sites,
including the following:
o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
o ftp://ftp.montagar.com/
o ftp://mvb.saic.com/freewarev40/
and at various other sites. The website also
includes various updates and new packages that
become available after the CD-ROM distributions
are created.
Submissions to the OpenVMS Freeware can be made
via:
o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
To acquire the OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM distribution,
you can order an OpenVMS distribution from HP (the
Freeware is included)(see the OpenVMS SPD for part
numbers), or you can specifically order a Freeware
distribution from HP under part number:
o QA-6KZAA-H8
The Freeware CD-ROM set contains a large assortment
of freeware, and is a good starting point if looking
for utilities. Many of the packages listed below
are also on the Freeware CD. Some of the most oft-
requested OpenVMS tools on the Freeware CD include
13-1
Finding and Using Software
ZIP and UNZIP and GZIP (please see Section 13.11,
MMK (make), PINE, PERL, TAR, UUENCODE and UUDECODE.
Many other tools are available on the Freeware.
o The UUENCODE and UUDECODE tools and various
other tools are also available as part of TCP/IP
Services package. (Use the DCL command procedure
SYS$STARTUP:TCPIP$DEFINE_COMMANDS.COM available on
V5.0 and later to set up the necessary DCL foreign
command symbols used for these and for various other
tools provided by TCP/IP Services.)
o OpenVMS software (formerly at Western Kentucky
University (WKU) is now available via Madgoat and
via Process Software archives:
o http://www.process.com/openvms/index.html
o http://www.madgoat.com/
o The FILESERV packages are also available via
anonymous FTP from:
o ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/
o ftp.process.com, under [.WKU.VMS.FILESERV].
o ftp.vms.stacken.kth.se, under
[.MIRRORS.WKU.VMS.FILESERV].
o ftp.ctrl-c.liu.se, under [.WKU.VMS.FILESERV].
o ftp.riken.go.jp
o ftp.vsm.com.au, under kits and kits/decwindows.
o ftp.vsm.com.au, via the WWW instead of FTP.
The packages are also available via e-mail from
FILESERV@PROCESS.COM. Send the commands HELP and
DIR ALL in the body of a mail message to this email
address for further information on retrieving the
files.
o Arne Vajhøj operates an OpenVMS website, with
software and other pointers, at:
o http://www.levitte.org/~ava/
13-2
Finding and Using Software
o Jouk maintains a summary of various public-domain
and open-source software ports, and specifically
ports of packages for use on OpenVMS, at:
o http://nchrem.tnw.tudelft.nl/openvms/
o The Kermit file transfer package is available at:
o http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/
o ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/
o ZMODEM is available at:
o ftp://ftp.cs.pdx.edu/pub/zmodem
See the FILES file in that directory for further
details. Note that this freeware version of ZMODEM
will interoperate only with ZMODEM software that is
licensed from Omen Technology. (This package is also
available on various of the Freeware distributions.)
o A good source of software for OpenVMS systems
and for various other platforms is the Encompass
(formerly known as DECUS) library. Online catalogs
are available as well as some software via
o ftp://ftp.decus.org
o gopher://gopher.decus.org/
o http://www.decus.org/
o DECUS SIG Tape collections are available on Mark
Berryman's system,
o ftp://mvb.saic.com/
o David Jones's DECthreads-based HTTP_SERVER World-
Wide Web server for OpenVMS, often known as the OSU
webserver:
o http://kcgl1.eng.ohio-
state.edu/www/doc/serverinfo.html
o Secure Shell (SSH) support for OpenVMS is available.
Use of SSH V2 with current updates is recommended,
13-3
Finding and Using Software
as the security of older SSH releases have been
compromised. Server for OpenVMS:
o Secure Shell (SSH) Server for OpenVMS:
o http://kcgl1.eng.ohio-
state.edu/~JONESD/ssh/DOC/
Secure Shell (SSH) FISH Client for OpenVMS:
o http://www.free.lp.se/fish/
SSH V2 support is included with TCP/IP Services
V5.4 and later, and support is likely also
available within available third-party IP stacks.
For information on the SSH key file
configuration, see topic 151.22 and following in
the VMS notes conference on the Deathrow Cluster
(deathrow.vistech.net and openvms-rocks.com).
You can telnet into the host, and an announced
anonymous login is/was available; username DEMO,
password USER.
Information on OpenSSL (SSLeay) for OpenVMS:
o http://www.free.lp.se/openssl/
o http://www.free.lp.se/fish/
Information on OpenSSL (SSLeay) and OSU Web server
interoperation:
o http://www.ourservers.net/openvms_ports/
OpenSSL is included with OpenVMS V7.3-1 and later.
o DECwindows Motif V1.2-3 includes NCSA Mosaic 2.4
built for TCP/IP Services (UCX). V1.2-4 includes
Spyglass Enhanced Mosaic, which supports many of
the Netscape enhancements. Versions of the Netscape
Navigator and particularly the Mozilla Web Browser
are also available for OpenVMS. The Compaq Secure
Web Browser (CSWB) kit is a packaged version of the
Mozilla.org Mozilla Web Browser.
o A port of the NCSA Mosaic web browser that supports
TCP/IP Services, Multinet and SOCKETSHR/NETLIB is
available from:
o ftp://wvnvms.wvnet.edu/mosaic/
13-4
Finding and Using Software
Versions of the Mosaic web browser are also
available on the Freeware.
o Lynx (a character-cell World-Wide-Web web browser)
is available from
o ftp://ftp2.cc.ukans.edu/pub/lynx
Versions of Lynx, a character-cell web browser, are
also available on the OpenVMS Freeware.
o The Netscape Navigator and Mozilla web browsers are
available at:
o http://www.openvms.compaq.com/ebusiness/Technology.html
o http://www.mozilla.org/
o PGP (Phil Zimmerman's "Pretty Good Privacy") is
available from various distribution sites, including
those listed in the PGP FAQ. Information on PGP and
on OpenVMS downloads of PGP is available. Relevant
URLs include:
o http://www.ipgpp.org/
o http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html
o http://www.pgpi.com/
o http://www.yrl.co.uk/~phil/pds/pds.html
o http://www.nai.com/
o GNU Privacy Guard (GPG, GnuPG) is available.
Search the comp.os.vms newsgroup archives for
information regarding GnuPG; the source code,
binaries for various platforms, and documentation
are all available at:
o http://www.gnupg.org/
The OpenVMS source code and OpenVMS Alpha images can
be found at:
o http://saf.bio.caltech.edu/pub/SOFTWARE/openvms/
o ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/mathog/
As of this writing, the port only runs on OpenVMS
Alpha, but an investigation of an OpenVMS VAX port
is reportedly under consideration.
13-5
Finding and Using Software
o An archive of the CENA DECwindows, X Windows, and
VMS software packages can be found at the following
sites:
o http://decwarch.free.fr/
o ftp://ftp2.cnam.fr/decwindows/
o ftp://ftp.ctrl-c.liu.se/decwindows/
o ftp://ftp.vms.stacken.kth.se/mirrors/decwindows/
o http://www.multimania.com/pmoreau/decw/
Other FTP mirror sites for the DECwindows archive
include:
o axp.psl.ku.dk (Multinet)
o ftp2.cnam.fr (MadGoat)
ftp.x.org (in /contrib/vms) is effectively not a
mirror, but it does have various OpenVMS packages
from the DECwindows archive.
A list of the http mirror sites for the DECwindows
archive is available at:
o http://axp616.gsi.de:8080/wwwar/cena/decwindows/cena.html
Various of these packages are also available on the
Freeware.
o ImageMagick is an X11 package for display and
interactive manipulation of images. The package
includes tools for image conversion, annotation,
compositing, animation, and creating montages.
ImageMagick can read and write many of the more
popular image formats (e.g. JPEG, TIFF, PNM, XPM,
Photo CD, etc.).
o http://www.imagemagick.org/
Versions of ImageMagick are also included on the
Freeware.
o XV is a image viewing and editing tool and is
available from:
o ftp://ftp.cis.upenn.edu/pub/xv
o http://www.sanface.com/
13-6
Finding and Using Software
o ftp://www-pi.physics.uiowa.edu/~dyson/xv/
o Many software packages are available for displaying
various bitmap files (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, etc) on
OpenVMS. Xloadimage, Xli, Xv, ImageMagick are the
most common tools used under OpenVMS. Various web
browsers such as Mozilla (qv) can also display
various file formats on OpenVMS. You can find some
of these tools at the DECwindows Archive:
o http://www.multimania.com/pmoreau/decw/index.html
o http://www.multimania.com/pmoreau/decw/images.html
o GHOSTSCRIPT (gs) and GHOSTVIEW (gv) are available
from the Freeware V5.0 and Freeware V6.0
distributions:
o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
Versions are also available on the Freeware.
Also see:
o http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gnu/
o XPDF, a DECwindows viewer for PDF (Adobe Acrobat)
files, is available from:
o http://www.foolabs.com/xpdf/
Software and installation kits for XPDF are also
available on the Freeware.
Beware: the XPDF tool included on OpenVMS Freeware
V4.0 is dated, and has been found to have various
bugs. Use the Freeware V5.0 version of the XPDF kit,
or (better) later.
A Java-based PDF viewer is available from Adobe,
and is known to operate on recent OpenVMS Alpha
releases:
o http://www.adobe.com/
o Various OpenVMS-related tools-both freeware and
shareware-such as txt2pdf-are available from at:
o http://www.sanface.com/
13-7
Finding and Using Software
o The MPEG library version 1.1 is available for
OpenVMS VAX and Alpha at
o ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/vms/mpeglib-11-vms.readme
o ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/vms/mpeglib-11-vms.zip
Various MPEG players and related tools are available
on the Freeware.
o An Archie clone is available at INFO.CS.PUB.RO.
Telnet to that machine, and login as VMSARCI. It
contains now listings for over 30 ftp servers with
over 14 gigabytes of OpenVMS software.
The most useful commands are LIST, which generates a
list of scanned ftp servers, and FIND string, whichs
looks for a file containing "string" in the name;
the search modes are only "substring" [default] and
"exact", and regex search is not supported (so FIND
EMACS will work, but FIND *EMACS* or FIND *EMACS*.*
will not). The search is case-insensitive.
The maintainer of the site (stfp@roipb.cs.ipb.ro)
requests that anyone submit notifications of FTP
servers with OpenvMS software that are not listed on
the site.
o The Levitte (extended :-) Family (and OpenVMS)
website:
o http://www.levitte.org/
o http://www.levitte.org/~ava/
o Robert Alan Byer's OpenVMS Hobbyist Systems,
including OpenVMS public domain software and various
ports:
o http://www.ourservers.net/
o CalTech Software Archives:
o http://saf.bio.caltech.edu/pub/software/openvms/aaa_
contents.txt
o DJE Systems Website (David J. Dachtera)
o http://www.djesys.com/freeware/vms/
o Web Servers:
13-8
Finding and Using Software
Apache Web server (HP Secure Web Server (SWS,
formerly CSWS)):
o http://www.openvms.compaq.com/ebusiness/Technology.html
o http://www.er6.eng.ohio-
state.edu/~jonesd/apache/1_3_9/
The SOAP Toolkit is available at the OpenVMS
website.
OSU Web server
o http://www.er6.eng.ohio-
state.edu/www/doc/serverinfo.html
o http://www.kjsl.com/archives/
o email list: VMS-WEB-daemon-Request@KJSL.COM
WASD Web server
o http://wasd.vsm.com.au/wasd/
Purveyor Web server:
o email list: listserv@cjis.ci.lincoln.ne.us, no
subject, one line message: SUBSCRIBE PURVEYOR
FastCGI software is available from:
o http://www.DigitalSynergyInc.com/
o CD-R (CD-Recordable) media tools are available,
please see Section 9.7.
o Grace (WYSIWYG 2D plotting tool)
o http://plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il/Grace/
o The POV-Ray ("Persistance of Vision" Raytracer) ray-
tracing graphics package is available on the OpenVMS
Freeware.
o Majordomo mailing list handler:
o http://www.openvms.compaq.com/ebusiness/Technology.html
o PINE (OpenVMS tools for sending and receiving MIME
mail):
o ftp://ftp2.kcl.ac.uk/pub/vms/pine-vms/
o http://www.agh.cc.kcl.ac.uk/files/vms/pine-vms/
13-9
Finding and Using Software
A MIME tool is available in OpenVMS V7.2 and later.
Also see the mmencode base64 encode and decode
available at:
o http://nucwww.chem.sunysb.edu/htbin/software_
list.cgi
o Menufinder (menu-driven system management
environment):
o http://www.itre.com/mf/download.html
o SYSLOGCLIENT (a client for processing SYSLOG
requests) has been provided for download by Mark
Hemker at:
o http://home.insightbb.com/~hemker/vms.html
o tcgmsg, pvm, mpi, linda:
o ftp://v36.chemie.uni-konstanz.de/tcgmsg_
vms/tcgmsg_vms.zip
o OpenVMS software that can control a Tripp-Lite
Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) is available
from:
o http://saf.bio.caltech.edu/pub/software/openvms/tcontrol.zip
UPShot web-based software for controlling a UPS is
available from:
o http://www.tmesis.com/apc/beta.htmlx
OpenVMS software for controlling Liebert UPS devices
are available from the Liebert website:
o http://www.liebert.com/apc/beta.htmlx
o Examples of using the OpenVMS Foreign MAIL interface
are available at:
o http://www.hhs.dk/anonymous/pub/vms/collection/foreignmail.zip
o http://www.hhs.dk/anonymous/pub/vms/nbl/nbl.zip
o For tools to manage or to search your OpenVMS MAIL
file, see:
o http://vms.process.com/scripts/fileserv/fileserv.com?MLSEARCH
13-10
Finding and Using Software
o AscToHTM attempts to convert any plain text file to
HTML, while AscToTab restricts itself to files that
are plain text tables. (Versions are also availabe
on the OpenVMS Freeware).
o http://www.jafsoft.com/asctohtm/index.html
o http://www.jafsoft.com/asctotab/index.html
o Information on the SAMBA package, a package that
provides SMB-based Microsoft Windows PC disk and
print services for OpenVMS, is available at:
o http://ifn03.ifn.ing.tu-bs.de/ifn/sonst/samba-
vms.html
o http://www.samba.org/
o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
To subscribe to the SAMBA-VMS mailing list e-mail
listproc@samba.org with no subject line and the
following single line of text:
subscribe samba-vms Your Full Name
Also see:
o http://lists.samba.org/
o The Perl language is available for OpenVMS, see
Section 13.9 for details.
o XML is available for OpenVMS.
Source code of an XML Parser is available from
Oracle.
Also see:
o http://www.python.org/sigs/xml-sig/
An XML parser is available as part of OpenVMS V7.3
and later.
o Python kit, and resource, and documentation sites
include:
o http://www.pi-net.dyndns.org/anonymous/kits/
o http://vmspython.dyndns.org/
o http://www.python.org/
13-11
Finding and Using Software
o GTK+ (The GIMP GUI Tookit) for OpenVMS:
o http://www.openvms.compaq.com/ebusiness/Technology.html
o The OpenVMS Porting Library now available, and
is intended to permit easier porting of C and C++
applications from UNIX systems to OpenVMS:
o http://www.openvms.compaq.com/ebusiness/Technology.html
GTK is also available.
o Mlucas (specialized FFT):
o ftp://hogranch.com/pub/mayer/README.html
o Tools to monitor the terminals and the activity
of other OpenVMS users (in addition to existing
auditing capabilities in OpenVMS) are available.
Peek and Spy (Networking Dynamics) and Contrl
(Raxco) are two of the commercial packages, while
the freeware Supervisor package is available on
OpenVMS VAX.
o http://www.networkingdynamics.com/
o http://www.raxco.com/
o Python for OpenVMS:
o http://www.python.org/
Also see the OpenVMS Freeware.
o Various packages for OpenVMS:
o http://richj.home.mindspring.com/richware/index.html
o http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/links/cool_vax_
vms.html
o TSM (Terminal Server Manager) is available via:
o http://www.compaq.com/support/digital_networks_
archive/servers/tsm/index.html
o Look at Freeware V5.0 at
http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
13-12
Finding and Using Software
o Beware: The TSM saveset shipped on the Freeware
V5.0 disk media is known to be corrupted.
Download a new copy of the saveset from the
Freeware V5.0 FTP server or from the Freeware
V5.0 website.
o TCL for OpenVMS:
o ftp://sapodilla.rsmas.miami.edu/pub/VMS-tcl/
o make, gmake, mmk and other build tools are available
on the Freeware.
o An OpenVMS port of the ht://Dig web search engine is
available at:
o ftp://ftp.pdv-systeme.de/vms/
o A mySQL database client is available at:
o http://mysql.holywar.net/Downloads/MySQL-
3.22/mysql-3.22.25-clients-vms.zip
o http://mysql.holywar.net/Downloads/MySQL-
3.22/mysql-3.22.25-clients-vms.readme
For additional information related to the mySQL
port, please search the comp.os.vms newsgroup
archives. A MySQL port is also available on the
OpenVMS Freeware.
o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
o If you need to change the file modification date
and are looking for a utility such as the UNIX touch
tool, look at DFU on the OpenVMS Freeware (DFU SET
or simular), or use an existing DCL commands such
as:
$ SET FILE/PROTECT=(current_protection_mask) [...]*.*
o A table listing translations between UNIX shell and
OpenVMS DCL commands was posted to comp.os.vms by
Christopher Smith some time ago. This page should be
available from the google newsgroup archives.
For information on and the status of the OpenOffice
port for OpenVMS, please see:
o http://www.oooovms.dyndns.org
13-13
Finding and Using Software
o The UNIX touch tool is available via various means:
$ RENAME filename.ext;version *
o http://nucwww.chem.sunysb.edu/helplib/@hvmsapps/TOUCH
MadGoat FILE tool (see the MadGoat archives)
o use /REVISION_DATE or /CREATION_DATE
o The DFU tool (see the OpenVMS Freeware)
o The pair:
$ set file 'p1' /acl=(ident=[system],access=none)
$ set file 'p1' /acl=(ident=[system],access=none) /delete
$ SET FILE/VERSION=0
o The following touch hack:
$! Command procedure SETDATE.COM
$!
$! Changes the DATES for an input file to a
$! file named OUTFILE.
$!
$assign/nolog 'p1' outfile
$convert/fdl=sys$input 'p1' outfile:
date
creation 01-apr-2010
expiration 01-Apr-2012
revision 01-Apr-2011
backup
...
o The following RMS system service sequence:
o sys$open(), with the XABRDT XAB structure
chained.
o set the desired values within the XABRDT XAB.
o sys$close()
Various OpenVMS tools and utilities are available at:
o http://wwwvms.mppmu.mpg.de/vmssig/src/
OpenVMS ports of the xmcd and MPlayer tools have also
been reported as available.
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Finding and Using Software
__________________________________________________________
13.2 Where can I find UNIX tools for OpenVMS?
There are OpenVMS DCL and UNIX shell command comparison
tables posted at:
o http://wwwvms.mppmu.mpg.de/vmsdoc/UNIX_VMS_CMD_
XREF.HTML
o http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/unixhelp/VMStoUNIX.html
The GNV package (Section 13.2.6) and the various C
library calls available in current/recent libraries are
the replacement for the POSIX package.
_____________________________
13.2.1 C system and library routines
Common C system and library routines are present in the
DEC C run-time library, which is available for V5.5 and
later, and is shipped in V6.1 and later. DEC C is the
upgrade for VAX C, DEC C and VAX C can coexist on the
same system OpenVMS VAX system, and both compilers can
be enabled via the "C" license PAK.
Also see SYS$EXAMPLES:, and (if either is installed)
the DECW$EXAMPLES: and TCPIP$EXAMPLES (or prior to
V5.0, UCX$EXAMPLES:) areas.
The HP C Run-Time Library documentation is now part
of the OpenVMS Operating System Documentation, and
separate from the HP C compiler documentation.
o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/doc/
Additionally, there have been large-scale increases to
the capabilities and features available within recent
HP C compilers. If you have not taken the opportunity
to skim the current C compiler documentation, you
may well be surprised with the sheer volume of new
C capabilities discussed there.
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Finding and Using Software
_____________________________
13.2.2 X Windows utilities and routines
Various X Windows utilities are available for
DECwindows. DECwindows is an implementation of the X
Windows environment and libraries, and provides various
libraries, and provides various desktop interfaces,
including COE, Motif, and XUI.
xwd, xev, mosaic web browser, xrdb, bmtoa and atobm,
xpr, ico, etc. are available. Look in DECW$UTILS:
in DECwindows Motif V1.2-3 and later. Also see
DECW$EXAMPLES: for example X and C programs.
Miscellaneous tools and examples are also available.
Examples include the older DWAUTH (X Windows SYSUAF
authorize-like tool) tool, various versions of grep,
fgrep, yacc, vmstar, uuencode, gawk, etc. html tools,
the mx SMTP mail exchange package, X windows flight
simulator, the mxrn X windows news reader, the
OSU HTTPD WWW server, a WWW gopher browser, Castle
Wolfenstein (Wolf3D), etc. are all on the various
OpenVMS Freeware distributions. (Also see the GNV
package (Section 13.2.6) for related materials, APIs,
and tools.)
_____________________________
13.2.3 TCP/IP Tools and Utilities for OpenVMS?
TCP/IP Services (formerly known as UCX) contains tools
such as ping, uuencode, smtp, snmp, rcp, nfs, tnfs,
etc.
OpenVMS V6.2 and later includes DCL-integrated support
for various IP tools, with commands such as SET
HOST/TELNET, and COPY/FTP. This interface requires
the installation of an IP stack, and TCP/IP Services
(UCX) V3.3 and later as well as any then-current or
now-current third-party IP stack can be used. Once the
IP stack is installed and configured, the DCL command
qualifiers such as /FTP, /RCP, /RLOGIN, /TELNET, and
/TN3270 are available on various DCL commands including
DIRECTORY.
Various C programming examples in TCPIP$EXAMPLES and
(on releases prior to V5.0) in UCX$EXAMPLES:.
13-16
Finding and Using Software
_____________________________
13.2.4 The vi text editor
vile, vim and elvis are all clones of the vi text
editor, and all operate on OpenVMS.
Versions of vile are available on the Freeware and at:
o http://www.clark.net/pub/dickey/vile/vile.html
vim: vi improved
o http://www.polarfox.com/vim/
_____________________________
13.2.5 The Emacs Text Editor
OpenVMS ports of versions of the Emacs text editor can
be found on various OpenVMS Freeware distributions (eg:
OpenVMS Freeware V7.0 has a port of Emacs 21.2), and at
various web sites including:
o http://www.glug.org/people/ttn/software/emacs-for-
vms/
"Emacs isn't a text editor, it's a way of life."
For comparisions of OpenVMS text editors and UNIX, see
the following:
o http://www.unh.edu/cis/docs/vms-to-unix/Emacs/cheat-
sheet.html
_____________________________
13.2.6 GNV: Various GNU tools
Information on the GNU on VMS (GNV; "GNU's Not VMS")
Project, which aims to port and provide GNU software
(bash, flex, bison, tar, grep, gcc emulation, etc) to
OpenVMS, is available at:
o http://gnv.sourceforge.net/
Software info:
o http://vms.gnu.ai.mit.edu/software/
Software archive:
o ftp://vms.gnu.ai.mit.edu/gnu-vms/software/
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Finding and Using Software
Various GNU tools are also available on the Freeware.
_____________________________
13.2.6.1 GCC compiler
Yes, gcc is available for OpenVMS Alpha and OpenVMS
I64.
o gcc compilation compatibility for OpenVMS Alpha
and I64 is available as a component of the GNV
package. This causes the HP C compiler to emulate
the interface and compilation behaviours of gcc.
http://h71000.www7.hp.com/opensource/opensource.html#gnv
o GNV Home Page
http://gnv.sourceforge.net/
o GCC Home Page - GNU Project - Free Software
Foundation (FSF)
http://gcc.gnu.org/
o GNU/FSF
ftp://ftp.tmk.com/vms-freeware/gcc-for-alpha/
o Help GCC - SUNY NCSB
http://nucwww.chem.sunysb.edu/helplib/@hvmsapps/GCC
o Redhat's gcc Archive
ftp://ftp.mirror.ac.uk/sites/sources.redhat.com/ftp/gcc/releases
o Malmberg's Ftp Service - gcc281_u
ftp://ftp.qsl.net/pub/wb8tyw/gcc281_u/
o updated header-files for GNU C 2.8
ftp://ftp.qsl.net/pub/wb8tyw/gcc281_u/
In addition to gcc, the HP C compiler and other
development tools are part of the OpenVMS Hobbyist
licensing program for non-commercial users, and these
and other tools are available to commercial developers
via the HP DSPP partner program. (See Section 2.15 for
information on DSPP.)
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__________________________________________________________
13.3 What is the status of PL/I on OpenVMS?
Kednos now owns and supports the former DIGITAL PL/I
compiler and run-time support on OpenVMS, and is the
contact for product status, support and associated
plans.
As of this writing, (older) versions of the PL/I
run-time library and associated supporting images
remain available on OpenVMS VAX and on OpenVMS Alpha,
including the DECmigrate VEST translated images run-
time support on OpenVMS Alpha, though neither the PL/I
shareable image nor the DECmigrate (AEST) translated
image support for the PL/I run-time are available
(from HP) on nor present on OpenVMS I64 systems.
Newer versions of the PL/I run-time library may be
(are?) available from Kednos for various OpenVMS
platforms; please contact Kednos for product details
and availability.
o http://www.kednos.com
__________________________________________________________
13.4 Where can I get the Mozilla Web Browser?
Mozilla.org is an open source organization providing
HTML-related tools; software that is the basis for
various utilities including the Mozilla web browser and
the Secure Web Browser (SWB) package.
OpenVMS Engineering is continuously porting
Mozilla.org's web browser to OpenVMS, and OpenVMS ports
of the current Mozilla baselevels and releases are
available. The OpenVMS Mozilla port includes the web
browser, the mail client, the Composer HTML editor, an
IRC chat client, a netnews (NNTP) reader, and various
other tools.
The Mozilla web browser download and the development
and release schedules for this and for other Mozilla-
related tools are available at:
o http://www.mozilla.org/
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Finding and Using Software
The available Secure Web Browser (SWB) kit is a
packaged version of the Mozilla Web Browser, and
typically the SWB version number matches the underlying
Mozilla version.
A hardware configuration appropriate for Mozilla
generally involves an OpenVMS Alpha system with an
EV56 Alpha microprocessor, or an EV6 or more recent
processor, and with 256 megabytes of system memory.
The performance of Mozilla on EV5-based and earlier
Alpha microprocessor systems is generally viewed as
inadequate, this due to the extensive use of an Alpha
instruction subset that is first available with the
EV56 microprocessor generation.
Mozilla is not available for OpenVMS VAX.
Various versions of the Netscape Navigator web browser
are based on the Mozilla code-base.
__________________________________________________________
13.5 Where can I get Java for OpenVMS?
Java is available on and is included with OpenVMS
Alpha, starting with the OpenVMS Alpha V7.2 and later
releases. Java download kits are available for OpenVMS
Alpha V7.1 and later releases.
Java is not available on OpenVMS VAX. As for why: the
Java language definition requires a floating point
format (IEEE) that is not native to VAX, and this would
require the emulation of all floating point operations
within Java applications. Further, the C source code
used to implement for Java itself is heavily dependent
on passing IEEE floating point values around among the
many internal subroutines, and adding support for VAX
would entail changes to the HP C compiler for OpenVMS
VAX-and specifically to the VAX VCG code generator that
is used by HP C on OpenVMS VAX systems-in order to add
support for passing IEEE-format floating point doubles
around. Alternatively, extensive changes to the Java
source code to remove the assumption that the double is
an IEEE floating point value.
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Finding and Using Software
There are currently no plans to make a version of Java
available for OpenVMS VAX. (A prototype version of Java
was created for OpenVMS VAX, and performance was found
to be inadequate. At best.)
If Java2 or other environment lifts the requirements
for IEEE floating point as part of the language
definition, this decision may be revisited.
If you are having problems with Display Postscript, you
need to upgrade your Java kit-1.2.2-3 and later remove
the requirement for Display Postcript extensions, and
Java 1.2.2-3 is required with DECwindows V1.2-6 and
later.
For additional information on Java for Alpha systems,
please see the OpenVMS documentation (V7.2 and later),
and the following site:
o http://www.compaq.com/java/alpha/index.html
HP Secure Web Server (SWS, formerly CSWS) includes
CSWS_JAVA, which provides the following Apache Tomcat
technologies: JavaServer Pages 1.1, Java Servlet
2.2, and MOD_JK. Also available is CSWS_PHP, a PHP
implementation. (SWS is based on the Apache web server.
See SOFT1.)
__________________________________________________________
13.6 Obtaining user input in DCL CGI script?
If you choose to use the GET method, then the form
data is available in the DCL symbol QUERY_STRING, in
URL-encoded format.
If you use the POST method, then you need to read the
form data from stdin. For a DCL CGI script running
under the Netscape FastTrack web server, you can read
the data using the following READ command:
$ READ SYS$COMMAND postdata
to read the information in.
The following describes the use of DCL command
procedures as CGI scripts with the OSU web server:
o http://www.levitte.org/~ava/cgiscripts_other.htmlx
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Finding and Using Software
DCL CGI is also discussed in the Writing Real Programs
in DCL book, and in the Ask The Wizard website.
__________________________________________________________
13.7 How can a batch job get its own batch entry number?
To have a batch procedure retrieve its own batch entry
number, use the following:
$ Entry = F$GETQUI("DISPLAY_ENTRY", -
"entry_number","display_entry","this_job")
Remember that the entry numbers issued by the OpenVMS
Job Controller are always opaque longword values. Do
not assume you know the format of the entry number,
nor the range of entry numbers you might see, nor the
algorithm that is used to assign enty numbers. You
should simply assume opaque longword.
__________________________________________________________
13.8 How do I convert to new CMS or DTM libraries?
A change was made to the format of the CMS database
for CMS libraries starting with V3.5-03-to ensure
that earlier versions of CMS are unable to access the
database once the "conversion" to V3.5-05 and later is
made, you must issue the following two commands when
upgrading from V3.5-03 and prior. (The only differences
between CMS version V3.5-03 and CMS version V3.5-05
involve changes to ensure that no earlier version of
CMS can access the "converted" database, and corrupt
it.)
To perform the "conversion", issue the following
commands for each CMS library present:
$ RENAME disk:[directory]00CMS.* 01CMS.*
$ COPY NLA0: disk:[directory]00CMS.CMS
The new file 00CMS.CMS must have the same security
settings as the 01CMS.CMS file, and is created solely
to ensure continued compatibility with tools that
expect to find a 00CMS.CMS file (eg: various versions
of the Language-Sensitive text editor LSEDIT).
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Finding and Using Software
If you choose to install and use the longer variant
names support that is available with CMS V4.1 or later,
you cannot mix earlier CMS versions within a cluster.
If you attempt to mix older and newer versions, you
will typically see the following BADLIB and BADTYPSTR
error sequence when accessing the CMS library from the
older CMS versions:
%CMS-F-BADLIB, there is something wrong with your library
-CMS-F-BADTYPSTR, header block type is 145; it should be 17
Please see the CMS V4.1 release notes for additional
details on this.
To perform the equivalent "conversion" for DEC Test
Manager (DTM) V3.5 and prior versions to V3.6 and later
versions, issue the following DCL commands for each DTM
library present:
$ RENAME disk:[directory]00DTM.* 01DTM.*
$ COPY NLA0: disk:[directory]00DTM.DTM
Like CMS, this change is intended to prevent older
versions of DTM from accessing newer libraries, and
corrupting the contents. Like CMS, once the libraries
are renamed, they cannot and should not be renamed
back to the older names; like CMS, the changes are not
downward-compatible.
To convert version 1 (ancient) DTM and CMS libraries
forward, please see the DTM CONVERT and the CMS CONVERT
commands.
__________________________________________________________
13.9 Where can I get Perl for OpenVMS?
OpenVMS support is included in the standard
distribution of Perl, the popular scripting language
created by Larry Wall. In addition to nearly all
of the functionality available under Unix, OpenVMS-
specific Perl modules provide interfaces to many native
features, as well as access to Oracle, Ingres, and
Sybase databases via the Perl DBI available on OpenVMS.
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Finding and Using Software
A website useful for getting started with Perl on
OpenVMS-where you will find such things as download
links, instructions, auxiliary tools, and sample
scripts-is available at:
o http://www.sidhe.org/vmsperl
If you have a C compiler, the best way to obtain
Perl is to download and build it yourself. The latest
production quality source kit is available from:
o http://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/stable.tar.gz
You will need GUNZIP and VMSTAR (both available from
the OpenVMS Freeware CD, or from other sites) to
unpack the archive; once you've done that, read the
instructions in the README.vms file.
Binary distributions for most Alpha and VAX
environments are available on the OpenVMS Freeware CD-
ROM and from various websites, including the following:
o http://www.sidhe.org/vmsperl/prebuilt.html
o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
During active Perl development cycles, test kits are
sometimes found at: from:
o ftp://ftp.sidhe.org/
Watch the mailing list (see below) for details on
experimental releases.
Charles Lane maintains pages on how to write CGI
scripts in Perl for the OSU HTTP server, as well as
more general tips, tricks, and patches for building and
running Perl on OpenVMS:
o http://www.crinoid.com/crinoid.htmlx
There are OpenVMS-specific Perl modules that implement
interfaces to a subset of the VMS System Services.
With these modules, you can get (and often set) device,
job, queue, user, system, and performance information.
The lock manager, RMS indexed files, screen management
utilities, and Intracluster Communication Services are
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Finding and Using Software
also accessible via Perl. The relevant modules are all
available from:
o http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/by-module/VMS
To subscribe to the OpenVMS Perl mailing list (a
discussion forum for both user support and new
development), send an email message to vmsperl-
subscribe@perl.org
The mailing list archives may be searched at:
o http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl
__________________________________________________________
13.10 Obtaining the DECmigrate (AEST or VEST, and TIE)
translator?
The DECmigrate image translation family provides tools
that translate OpenVMS VAX images for use on OpenVMS
Alpha, and OpenVMS Alpha images for use on OpenVMS I64,
Details are available at:
o http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/products/omsva/omsva.html
VEST is the name sometimes given to the DECmigrate
translation tool for VAX images, AEST is the name
given to the Alpha translation tools, and TIE names
the DECmigrate run-time environment within OpenVMS.
(If you've ever noticed images with filenames ending
with _TV and wondered what this meant, these images are
part of TIE.) And yes, you can use AEST to re-translate
images that were translated using VEST; you can perform
a second translation of a VAX image.
Please see Section 13.12 for related information.
Please see the website for the most current details
on availability and plans and status of translations
for OpenVMS I64 platforms.
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Finding and Using Software
__________________________________________________________
13.11 Where can I get Zip, Unzip, self-extracting zip, etc?
Many packages are provided in ZIP, GZIP, or BZIP2
format, which requires you to acquire the associated
unzip tool to unpack it. You can get ZIP and UNZIP and
related and similar tools from the following areas:
o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/ . Look in the
[000TOOLS...] and [*ZIP*...] directories.
o ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/
o ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/
o http://zinser.no-ip.info/www/vms/sw/zip.htmlx
o http://www.djesys.com/zip.html
o http://www.djesys.com/unzip.html
o The master Info-Zip web site is at http://www.info-
zip.org/ . OpenVMS ports of current versions of zip
and unzip are typically available at this web site,
as is a mailing list.
Freeware V4.0 [000TOOLS...]*ZIP*.EXE
The Freeware V4.0 [000TOOLS...] pre-built
versions of ZIP will erroneously return BILF
errors on OpenVMS V7.2 and later. This is not
the only error lurking within these pre-built
versions, just the most obvious. Accordingly,
please use one of the far more current versions
that are now readily available, whether on the
most recent Freeware distribution, or from one of
the sites listed above.
Do not use the Freeware V4.0
[000TOOLS...]*ZIP*.EXE images.
Directions for creating and using the sfx self-
extracting zip file compression mechanism are available
in the unzip kit that is available at:
o Look in a recent unzip* directory at
http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
o With the UNZIP542 directory from Freeware V5.0, look
for the file UNZIPSFX.TXT.
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Finding and Using Software
If you want to build the zip images for yourself (eg:
for an older OpenVMS version), pull over the entire
contents of a recent unzip and unzip directory, or
Info-Zip directory, or visit one of the web sites.
With most OpenVMS ports of the tools, find and invoke
LINK.COM. No compilers are needed, as objects are
provided with most distributions.
HP OpenVMS Engineering uses a tool known as FTSV for
creating self-extracting compressed files using the
OpenVMS DCX compression tools, as seen with various
OpenVMS ECO (patch) kits. (sfx typically provides
better compression than does DCX.) FTSV and FTSO are
available on Freeware V7.0, for OpenVMS VAX and OpenVMS
Alpha. Due to changes in the image headers, no version
of FTSV is presently available for OpenVMS I64.
__________________________________________________________
13.12 Are VAX Hardware Emulators Available?
Software-based emulators of the VAX architecture and
for specific VAX hardware platforms are available from
various sources:
o Software Resources International (SRI) CHARON-VAX
http://www.softresint.com/
o Tim Stark's TS10
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ts10/
o Bob Supnik's Trailing Edge
http://simh.trailing-edge.com/
VAX emulators that operate on PC systems and/or on
OpenVMS Alpha systems are available. For information
on an alternative to using a VAX emulator- on the
available DECmigrate VAX executable image translator-
please see Section 13.10.
13-27
_______________________________________________________
14 Hardware Information
__________________________________________________________
14.1 What are the OpenVMS differences among VAX, Alpha, and
IA-64?
In terms of software, very few. As of OpenVMS V6.1,
the OpenVMS VAX and OpenVMS Alpha platforms achieved
"feature parity". Subsequent work has seen significant
enhancements and new features added on OpenVMS Alpha.
OpenVMS I64 started with "feature parity" with OpenVMS
Alpha at the V8.2 release, and OpenVMS Alpha and
OpenVMS I64 are based on and built from the same
source pool. (There are low-level platform-specific
differences, and there is platform-specific code within
the shared source code pool.) Most applications can
just be recompiled and run.
Some differences to be aware of:
o The default double-precision floating type on
OpenVMS Alpha is VAX G_float, whereas on VAX it
is usually D_float. D_float is available on Alpha,
but D_float values are converted to G_float for
computations and then converted back to D_float when
stored. Because the G_float type has three fewer
fraction bits than D_float, some applications may
get different results. IEEE float types are also
available on OpenVMS Alpha.
o The preferred floating point format on the Alpha and
on the IA-64 architectures is IEEE.
o Data alignment is extremely important for best
performance on OpenVMS Alpha and on OpenVMS I64.
This means that data items should be allocated at
addresses which are exact multiples of their sizes.
Quadword alignment will offer the best performance,
especially for character values and those smaller
than 32 bits. Compilers will naturally align
14-1
Hardware Information
variables where they can and will issue warnings
if they detect unaligned data items.
o HP C is the only C compiler HP offers on OpenVMS
Alpha and on OpenVMS I64, and is a direct descendant
of Compaq C and DEC C on OpenVMS Alpha. HP C is
highly compatible with DEC C on OpenVMS VAX, but
does differ somewhat in its syntax and support
when compared with the older VAX C compiler most
OpenVMS VAX programmers are traditionally familiar
with. Read up on the /EXTERN_MODEL and /STANDARD
qualifiers to avoid the most common problems, and
see the documentation in the DEC C for OpenVMS VAX
manuals around migrating from VAX C to DEC C. (In
addition to HP C, there have been open-source ports
such as Gnu C available for OpenVMS.)
o The page size on Alpha and IA-64 systems is
variable, but is at least 8 kilobytes. This can
have some effect on applications which use the
$CRMPSC system service as well as on the display of
available memory pages. The page size is available
from $GETSYI using the SYI$_PAGE_SIZE itemcode.
There are also a number of manuals which discuss
migration to OpenVMS Alpha and to OpenVMS I64 available
in the OpenVMS documentation, both in the main
documentation and (depending on the age of the manuals
involved) in the archived documentation section.
As mentioned earlier, more recent OpenVMS Alpha
and OpenVMS I64 releases have added features and
support that are not available on OpenVMS VAX. Salient
additions include the following:
o 64-bit addressing in OpenVMS Alpha V7.0 and later,
and on OpenVMS I64.
o Multi-host SCSI support (SCSI TCQ) in V6.2 and later
o PCI support (platform-dependent)
o OpenVMS Galaxy (vPars) support in OpenVMS Alpha V7.2
and later
14-2
Hardware Information
Please see Section 14.4.5 for Intel Itanium
terminology.
__________________________________________________________
14.2 Seeking performance information for Alpha (and VAX)
systems?
HP makes a wide range of performance documents
available through its FTP and WWW Internet servers
(see Section 3.2).
The following contain information on Integrity, Alpha
and VAX products, with the VAX information largely
accessable via archive-related links at the Alpha-
related product web pages:
o http://www.hp.com/go/server/
o http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/vax/index.html
The following sites are reachable via the AlphaServer
information pages, and contain information on various
retired VAX and Alpha products:
o http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/archive/index.html
o http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/performance/perf_
tps.html
Also see CPU2000:
o http://www.spec.org/osg/cpu2000/
o http://www.spec.org/osg/cpu2000/results/cpu2000.html
__________________________________________________________
14.3 Console Commands, Serial Lines, and Controls?
This section contains information on VAX and Alpha
consoles, and details related to console commands,
serial lines, and configuration settings.
14-3
Hardware Information
_____________________________
14.3.1 What commands are available in the Alpha SRM console?
In addition to the normal BOOT commands and such (see
Section 14.3.5.2 for some details) and the normal
contents of the console HELP text, operations such
as I/O redirection and floppy disk access are possible
at the SRM console prompt:
1 Format a FAT floppy, and insert it into the
AlphaStation floppy drive.
2 Perform the following at AlphaStation SRM Console :
>>> show * > env.dat
>>> show conf > conf.dat
>>> cat env.dat > fat:env.dat/dva0
>>> cat conf.dat > fat:conf.dat/dva0
3 You may use the SRM "ls" command to display the
contents of the floppy.
>>> ls fat:env.dat/dva0
>>> ls fat:conf.dat/dva0
4 You can now transfer the FAT-format floppy to
another system.
_____________________________
14.3.2 What does SRM mean? What is PALcode?
The abbreviation SRM is derived from the Alpha System
Reference Manual, the specification of the Alpha
architecture and the associated firmware.
PALcode is a name assigned to a particular set of
functions provided by the SRM firmware. PALcode
is used to provide low-level functions required by
higher-level operating system or application software,
functions which may not be directly available in Alpha
hardware. PALcode is implemented using available
Alpha instructions and using the Alpha processor,
though PALcode operates in a mode which simplifies
programming. PALcode is also permitted access to
processor-specific and otherwise internal features
of a particular Alpha microprocessor implementation;
microprocessor-specific features which are not easily
accessable to operating system or application code.
14-4
Hardware Information
_____________________________
14.3.3 Alpha COM ports and VAX console serial line information?
This section contains information on the Alpha COM
communication ports, and related settings, as well as
on the VAX console bulkhead and VAX console serial line
connection.
_____________________________
14.3.3.1 Which terminal device name is assigned to the COM
ports?
COM2 is normally TTA0:. COM1 is normally TTB0: if
the Alpha workstation is booted with the SRM console
environment variable set to graphics, and is OPA0: if
the console is set to serial.
On the DEC 2000 series (sometimes incorrectly known by
the name of the system as sold for Microsoft Windows NT
Alpha; as the DECpc 150 AXP series) on older OpenVMS
Alpha releases, COM1 through COM4 are known as OPA0:
through OPA3:. On all current OpenVMS releases, these
ports are serviced by the terminal driver and not by
the console OPDRIVER driver.
Often the easiest way to determine the OpenVMS terminal
name assigned to the port is to connect a terminal,
log in interactively, and look at the output of SHOW
TERMINAL. (Device names can vary by OpenVMS version,
as well as by the SRM console environment variable
selection.)
For serial console hardware and related information,
and for pin-outs and related information, please see
Section 14.3 and Section 14.26.
_____________________________
14.3.3.2 Which serial port is the console on the MicroVAX 3100?
Just to keep life interesting, the MicroVAX 3100 has
some "interesting" console ports behaviours based
on the setting of the BREAK enable switch. When the
console is not enabled to respond to BREAK, MMJ-1
is the console port. MMJ-3 will (confusingly) output
the results of the selftest in parallel with MMJ-1.
When the console is enabled to respond to BREAK, MMJ-3
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Hardware Information
becomes the console port, and MMJ-1 will (confusingly)
output the results of selftest in parallel with MMJ-3.
_____________________________
14.3.3.3 How can I set up an alternate console on a VAXstation?
Most VAXstation series systems and a few Alpha series
systems have a switch - most often labeled S3, largely
for historical reasons-that enables one of the serial
lines as the system console device; as OPA0:. This
disables console output to the graphics display. (For a
related behaviour, please see Section 11.10.)
All VAXstation 3100 series systems provide a S3 slide
switch, though the oldest may be missing the cut-out
through the enclosure that provides access to the
switch. The slide switch is located near the diagnostic
LED display. (The slide switch is accessable with the
cover removed.)
Various members of the DEC 3000 series Alpha systems
also have a similarly-labled S3 switch for selection of
the alternate console.
The particular port that becomes the console can vary.
The printer MMJ connection is used on all VAXstation
3100 series. On VAXstation II, the console DB9 is
used, rather than the graphics display. On most (all?)
AlphaStation series systems, typically the COM1 serial
port becomes the console.
Also see Section 14.3.6, Section 11.10, and
Section 14.17. Beware the two different DB9 pin-outs;
see Section 14.27 for related details.
For information on registering software license product
authorization keys (PAKs), please see Section 5.6.2.
_____________________________
14.3.3.4 Please explain the back panel of the MicroVAX II
The MicroVAX-series console bulkhead interface was used
with the KA630, as well as with the KA650 and KA655
processors.
14-6
Hardware Information
There are three controls on the console bulkhead of
these systems:
Triangle-in-circle-paddle: halt enable.
dot-in-circle: halt (<break>) is enabled,
and auto-boot is disabled.
dot-not-in-circle: halt (<break>) is disabled,
and auto-boot is enabled.
Three-position-rotary: power-up bootstrap behaviour
arrow: normal operation.
face: language inquiry mode.
t-in-circle: infinite self-test loop.
Eight-position-rotary: console baud rate selection
select the required baud rate; read at power-up.
There are several different bulkheads involved,
including one for the BA23 and BA123 enclosures,
and one for the S-box (BA2xx) series enclosure. The
console bulkheads typically used either the MMJ serial
line connection, or the MicroVAX DB9 (not the PC DB9
pin-out), please see the descriptions of these in
section Section 14.26. For available adapters, see
Section 14.27.
Also present on the console bulkhead is a self-test
indicator: a single-digit LED display. This matches the
final part of the countdown displayed on the console or
workstation, and can be used by a service organization
to determine the nature of a processor problem. The
particular countdown sequence varies by processor
type, consult the hardware or owner's manual for
the processor, or contact the local hardware service
organization for information the self-test sequence
for a particular processor module. Note that self-tests
2, 1 and 0 are associated with the transfer of control
from the console program to the (booting) operating
system.
14-7
Hardware Information
_____________________________
14.3.4 What are Alpha console environment variables?
Alpha systems have a variety of variables with values
set up within the SRM system console. These environment
variables control the particular behaviour of the
console program and the system hardware, the particular
console interface presented to the operating system,
various default values for the operating system
bootstrap, and related control mechanisms-in other
words, "the environment variables provide an easily
extensible mechanism for managing complex console
state."
The specific environment variables differ by platform
and by firmware version-the baseline set is established
by the Alpha Architecture:
AUTO_ACTION ("BOOT", "HALT", "RESTART", any other value
assumed to be HALT), BOOT_DEV, BOOTDEF_DEV, BOOTED_DEV,
BOOT_FILE, BOOTED_FILE, BOOT_OSFLAGS, BOOTED_OSFLAGS,
BOOT_RESET ("ON", "OFF"), DUMP_DEV, ENABLE_AUDIT ("ON",
"OFF"), LICENSE, CHAR_SET, LANGUAGE, TTY_DEV.
OpenVMS Galaxy (vPars) firmware can add console
environment variables beginning with such strings
as LP_* and HP_*, and each particular console
implementation can (and often does) have various sorts
of platform-specific extensions beyond these variables.
These variables allow both vPars (virtual partitions)
and lPars and lPars (logical partition) support; vPars
is a generic name for soft partitioning constructs
such as OpenVMS Galaxy, while lPars is a generic name
applied to hard partitioning constructs.
The contents of a core set of SRM console environment
variables are accessible from OpenVMS Alpha using the
f$getenv lexical and the sys$getenv system service.
(These calls are first documented in V7.2, but have
been present in OpenVMS Alpha for many releases.)
Access to arbitary SRM console environment variables
is rather more involved, and not directly available to
application software operating outside of kernel-mode.
14-8
Hardware Information
_____________________________
14.3.5 What are the boot control flag values?
Integrity, VAX and Alpha primary bootstraps support
flag values; a mechanism which permits the system
manager to perform specific customizations or site-
specific debugging of the OpenVMS system bootstrap.
While very similar, there are differences among
the boot flag implementations for the various
architectures.
_____________________________
14.3.5.1 What are the I64 IPB boot flag values?
The OpenVMS I64 primary bootstrap flags are processed
within the IA-64 primary bootstrap image IPB.EXE;
within the SYS$EFI.SYS structures. The primary
bootstrap boot flags are largely parallel to those
of OpenVMS Alpha (see Section 14.3.5.2, though the
console and the console mechanisms used to specify the
boot command, the boot flags, and boot command options
do differ markedly.
You can specify the boot flags via an EFI environment
variable VMS_FLAGS , or via the boot alias boot options
mechanism, or by appending the requested boot flags
onto the specification of VMS_LOADER.EFI.
To set the bootstrap flags environment variable at the
EFI shell prompt, use:
Shell> SET VMS_FLAGS "0,1"
When you register an EFI boot alias (please see
Section 14.4.5 for Intel Itanium terminology), you
will be asked if you want to enter boot options, and
what type. To add boot flags to a boot alias, select
Unicode as the boot options type, and enter an SRM-like
options string, such as the conversational bootstrap
selected by the following example:
-flages 0,1
For related information on managing EFI boot aliases
from OpenVMS I64, please see Section 14.3.10.
14-9
Hardware Information
When using VMS_LOADER.EFI to request boot flags, you
will want to specify the invocation as follows:
fsn:\efi\vms\vms_loader -flags 0,1
The above shows a conversational bootstrap request.
Typical boot flags are listed in Table 14-1.
________________________________________________________________
Table 14-1 I64 Conversational Bootstrap Flags
_______________________________________________________
Bit_______Example_Mnemonic__________Description________
0 0,1 CONV Conversational
bootstrap
1 0,2 DEBUG Load SYSTEM_
DEBUG.EXE (XDELTA)
2 0,4 INIBPT Stop at initial
system breakpoints
16 0,10000 DBG_INIT Enable verbose
bootstrap messages
17 0,20000 USER_MSGS Enable additional
bootstrap messages
17 0,200000? Request for a
bootstrap from
_____________________________________________USB_keydisk________
For a conversational bootstrap of the OpenVMS I64 root
SYS4 associated with the fs2: EFI file system device
with full bootstrap messaging enabled, specify:
fs2:\efi\vms\vms_loader -flags 4,30001
_____________________________
14.3.5.2 What are the Alpha APB boot flag values?
The flags listed in Table 14-2 are passed (via register
R5) to the OpenVMS Alpha primary bootstrap image
APB.EXE. These flags control the particular behaviour
of the bootstrap.
BOOT -FL root,flags
14-10
---------------------------- #include <rtfaq.h> -----------------------------
For additional, please see the OpenVMS FAQ -- www.hp.com/go/openvms/faq
--------------------------- pure personal opinion ---------------------------
Hoff (Stephen) Hoffman OpenVMS Engineering hoff[at]hp.com
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