X',)+:The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)C

The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)





%

ABSTRACT





GThis document contains answers to many common questions on the OpenVMS Foperating system, and covers OpenVMS, and OpenVMS running on Itanium, Alpha, and VAX hardware.

,Revision/Update InformationOpenVMS V7.3-1

.Revision/Update Information: Revision Date/June 2002

 , 4  
@Contents :Index



*

Preface







EThis is the OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) posting for the /comp.os.vms and comp.sys.dec usenet newsgroups.

BThe OpenVMS FAQ is archived in (at least) the following locations:



?Other internet FAQs are generally available in these locations:





/  
Note



GPlease send suggestions for changes or for additions to the FAQ to the FAQ Editor:

GPlease do not send technical questions to the FAQ Editor. The FFAQ editor is not in a position to answer general questions, Bnor to provide support. Rather, please post your questions to the Dappropriate newsgroup, or please contact your support organization. `Please also consider reading Section 1.3 before posting to the newsgroups.

:Your understanding in this is greatly appreciated.

/

Contributors



@Many people have contributed to this FAQ document, directly and Eindirectly. In many cases, part or all of an answer has been adapted Hfrom one or more postings from the comp.os.vms or other newsgroup. (The EFAQ editor wishes to thank to all of those folks who post answers to Gthe newsgroups, and that have contributed to the contents of this FAQ.)

GThe following is an incomplete list of the folks that have contributed Fdirectly or indirectly to the contents of the OpenVMS FAQ. Additions, Acorrections, and updates to this list of contributors and to the >contents of the FAQ itself are welcome, and all omissions and Cmisspellings are unintentional. Thanks to each of the contributors Ghere, and to all of the folks that have participated in the FAQ and in the newsgroups.

DPaul Anderson, Jason Armistead, Zoltan Arpadffy, John AtoZ, Bailey, ?Jeremy Begg, Colin Blake, Ken Blaylock, Bol, Craig Berry, Mark EBerryman, Jim Becker, Verell Boaen, Bol, Richard Brodie, Robert Alan FByer, Jeff Campbell, Antonio Carlini, Ken Chaney, Cristy, John Croll, DDavid J. Dachtera, Robert Deininger, Dale Dellutri, Leo Demers, Sue GDenham, Thomas Dickey, Eric Dittman, Jim Dunham, Eric, Glenn Everhart, GKen Fairfield, Yaacov Fenster, Gunther Froehlin, Harry Garonzik, Derek GGarson, Clair Grant, Hunter Goatley, Ruth Goldenberg, Vance Haemmerle, HKi Suk Hahn, SHarris, Fletcher Hearns, Phillip Helbig, Stephen Hoffman, FHorn, Jaf, Leif Jansson, Kevin Jenkins, Henry Juengst, inazu_k, Geoff BKingsmill, Fred Kleinsorge, Felix Kreisel, Veli Korkko, Ruslan R. GLaishev, Norm Lastovica, p_lee, Jerry Leichter, Richard Levitte, Steve FLionel, Kerry Main, John E. Malmberg, David Mathog, Dale Miller, Dick CMunroe, Patrick Moreau, Morrison, otis, Keith Parris, Plass, pvhp, ADavid Rabahy, Stan Rabinowitz, Mike Raspuzzi, Steve Reece, Aaron ESakovich, Brian Schenkenberger, Atlant Schmidt, Wayne Sewell, Steven @Shamlian, Scott Snadow, Scott Squires, stfp, Dave Sweeney, Mike CThompson, Arne Vajhøj, Martin Vorländer, Peter Weaver, 2William Webb, Williams, Paul Winalski, Uwe Zinser.

HAgain, thanks to each of these individuals for their assistance and for Btheir contributions, and particularly for sharing their expertise.1

The Fine Print



HAll trademarks, all registered trademarks, and all servicemarks used or Creferenced here are the properties of their respective owner(s) or holders.

EThe redistribution, reposting and/or the web-serving of complete and Dunaltered copies of this FAQ document is permitted. Other uses only with prior permission.

EWhile the information contained here is believed correct, the use of Gany and all information acquired from this document is entirely at the risk of the user(s).

HThough the editor of this FAQ is an employee of Hewlett-Packard Company @(HP), this posting and the information contained within are not official statements of HP.


A

Chapter 1
Introduction


k

1.1 What core OpenVMS URLs do you need to know?



BIf you have no other OpenVMS URLs bookmarked, you will want to be [familiar with the URLs listed in Table 1-1:

]   #                                     
Table 1-1 Core Websites
URL Contents
$ http://www.openvms.compaq.com/
   Core OpenVMS Information
H http://www.openvms.compaq.com/openvms/roadmap/openvms_roadmaps.htm
  0 OpenVMS Future Release Contents, Schedules
( http://www.openvms.compaq.com/doc/.
http://www.openvms.compaq.com:8000/4
http://www.openvms.compaq.com/commercial/
  4 OpenVMS and Core Layered Product Documentation
 http://askq.compaq.com/1
http://ftp.digital.com.au/pub/ecoinfo/;
ftp://ftp.service.digital.com/public/vms/vax/...;
ftp://ftp.service.digital.com/public/vms/axp/...
  = Core OpenVMS Support Search Engine URLs, FTP Patch Area
- http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/
   The OpenVMS Freeware
m

1.2 What are the OpenVMS Usenet Newsgroups?



GThere are a huge number of newsgroups available, some of which discuss Ftopics of interest to folks using OpenVMS operating system. Key among Bthese are the comp.os.vms newsgroup and the vmsnet.* heirarchy of newsgroups.S

1.2.1 What is the scope of the comp.os.vms newsgroup?



EThe comp.os.vms newsgroup is the primary newsgroup for discussion of Ethe HP OpenVMS operating system and the computer systems on which it Eruns. Questions about layered products which run on OpenVMS are also Dwelcome, though many of them (in particular, language compilers and Hdatabase systems) have more specific newsgroups. If a question has some 3relationship to OpenVMS, it belongs in comp.os.vms.R

1.2.2 What newsgroups carry VMS-related information?



@The vmsnet.* hierarchy is operated by the Encompass users group H(formerly known as DECUS), and contains various newsgroups of interest, 'including vmsnet.misc and vmsnet.alpha.

FSprechen Sie Deutsch? Besuchen Sie bitte den newsgroup de.comp.os.vms.

HThe comp.sys.dec newsgroup carries general discussions about various HP Gcomputer systems, and specifically systems that were acquired by HP as Fpart of the acquisition of Compaq, which had previously been acquired Fby Compaq as part of the acquisition of Digital Equipment Corporation (DIGITAL).

BAlso of interest are resources and conferencing systems including EEncompasserve (formerly known as DECUServe), the OpenVMS.Org forums, #and the Compaq Working Group folks:

J

1.2.3 What newsgroup archives are available?



EExtensive archives of INFO-VAX mailings and comp.os.vms postings are Earchived and available at ftp://crvax.sri.com/info-vax/. Google also Fhas extensive newsgroup arechives available at http://www.google.com/.5

1.2.4 What is INFO-VAX?



EINFO-VAX is a mailing list which is bidirectionally gatewayed to the Ccomp.os.vms newsgroup. This means that postings to comp.os.vms get Dautomatically sent to INFO-VAX subscribers and messages sent to the 6INFO-VAX list are automatically posted to comp.os.vms.

FPlease remember that propogation delays can and do vary, meaning that Hmailings and postings may be delayed or even lost. It is quite possible Cthat postings may not be delivered for several days, and that some /postings will appear out of the expected order.

aFor details on the available archives, please see Section 1.2.3.Y

1.2.4.1 How do I subscribe to or unsubscribe from INFO-VAX?



EThe address for subscription requests, as well as notes intended for Gthe moderator, is Info-VAX-Request@Mvb.Saic.Com. Subscription requests Eare handled automatically by a mail server. This mail server ignores Fthe subject line and processes each line of the message as a command. CThe syntax for subscribing and unsubscribing and setting digest or non-digest modes is:

 

"
1SUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX      (ADD is a valid synonym) HUNSUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX (REMOVE, SIGNOFF, and SIGN-OFF are valid synonyms) 6SET INFO-VAX DIGEST     (to receive in Digest format) ?SET INFO-VAX NODIGEST   (to receive each message individually) 




GThe mail server is not case-sensitive; case is irrelevant. Attempts to =fetch copies of the mailing list are rejected for reasons of Fconfidentiality. Any message not understood by the mailserver will be 7forwarded to a human (allegedly) for manual processing.N

1.3 What is etiquette?



FBefore posting or emailing a question, please use the available local Hresources, such as the OpenVMS manuals, the HELP, and the resources and Hinformation in and referenced by this FAQ. Please use these first. Also Dplease specifically read the release notes and (if appropriate) the Ccover letter for the product you are using. (The release notes are Egenerally placed in SYS$HELP:.) Quite often, these simple steps will Eallow you to quickly find the answer to your own question---and more Gquickly than waiting for a response to question posted to a newsgroup, Htoo. These steps will save you time, and will also help ensure you have Fa good reputation with the folks that might be included to answer one Eof your future questions, a question not covered in these resources. HPut another way, if you do not want your questions to be ignored in the Afuture---and please remember that the folks in the newsgroups do ?not have to answer your questions---you won't want to D"annoy the natives" by asking a question that has already Ebeen answered far more times more than you might have realized, or a Gquestion whose answer is readily available had you made a small effort.

8When posting, please consider the following suggestions:



EBefore posting your question to the comp.os.vms newsgroup or sending Gyour message to the INFO-VAX list, also please take the time to review Havailable etiquette information, such as that included in the following documents:



GThis information will document the etiquette of newsgroups, as well as Fproviding you with the knowledge the vast amount of newsgroup-related Einformation that is readily available to you, and where to find it...



/  
Note

=Please do not post security holes or system crashers

ERather, please report these problems directly to HP. Why? So that HP Chas a change to resolve and distribute a fix before other customer Csites can be affected. Most folks in the newsgroups are honest and Gdeserve to know about potential security problems, but a few folks can Gand will make nefarious use of this same information. Other sites will Bhopefully return the courtesy, and not post information that will Gpotentially compromise your site and your computer environment.

e

1.4 What OpenVMS user group(s) are available?



AEncompass, the Enterprise Computing Association, is a user group Fcomprised of information technology professionals that are interested Cin the Enterprise-oriented products, services, and technologies of DCompaq and of the former DIGITAL. Encompass offers newsletters, the GEncompass website, and offers various gatherings and related services, 9including symposia events and local users group meetings.

BEncompass is a descendent of the organization known as DECUS, the )Digital Equipment Computer Users Society.

GFor more information on Encompass, please visit the Encompass web site:



HThe organization comprised of customers of Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) Athat is probably most analogous to the Encompass organization is Interex:



GLike Encompass, Interex offers various services and events of interest Eto folks that presently work with and/or that wish to learn about HP Cproducts and offerings. Please see the Interex website for details.f

1.5 OpenVMS Support, Questions and Comments?



BThe following section includes contacts for OpenVMS Feedback, and ;information on how to obtain technical support information.S

1.5.1 Corporate contacts for OpenVMS Business Issues?



GThe following folks are the HP corporate contacts for OpenVMS business Fissues, listed in descending order from Carlton Fiorina, President of BHewlett-Packard Company to Mark Gorham, the Vice President of the !OpenVMS Engineering organization:



AThese folks will quite obviously respond best to cogently-worded =OpenVMS corporate-level business issues. These folks are NOT Fappropriate contacts for any OpenVMS technical support issues nor for :any OpenVMS technical support requests, nor for any other 3non-corporate-related, non-business-related issues.Z

1.5.2 Contact for OpenVMS Marketing Issues and Questions?



:Please see Section 3.5.S

1.5.3 Contact URLs for OpenVMS Technical Issues?



@For technical issues and technical support, please contact your Hsoftware support organization, or your local HP Customer Support Center ?or HP Reseller. In North America, you can call 1-800-OK-COMPAQ.

<Please remember to review the following useful support URLs:






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