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HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

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The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


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1.3 What is [n]etiquette?



EBefore posting or emailing a question, please use the available localGresources, such as the OpenVMS manuals, the HELP, and the resources andGinformation in and referenced by this FAQ. Please use these first. AlsoCplease specifically read the release notes and (if appropriate) theBcover letter for the product you are using. (The release notes areDgenerally placed in SYS$HELP:.) Quite often, these simple steps willDallow you to quickly find the answer to your own question---and moreFquickly than waiting for a response to question posted to a newsgroup,Gtoo. These steps will save you time, and will also help ensure you haveEa good reputation with the folks that might be included to answer oneDof your future questions, a question not covered in these resources.GPut another way, if you do not want your questions to be ignored in the@future---and please remember that the folks in the newsgroups do>not have to answer your questions---you won't want toC"annoy the natives" by asking a question that has alreadyDbeen answered far more times more than you might have realized, or aGquestion whose answer is readily available had you made a small effort.

8When posting, please consider the following suggestions:

    F
  • There is no particularly reliable way to recall, erase,H delete, or otherwise hide a message once it is emailed or once posted.I Once your message has reached an external email server or multiple newsD servers, the entire text is effectively a permanent fixture of theI network. And using the available search engines, a fixture that is easyG to locate and to correlate. (Do not assume that all tools or archivesE will honor the do-not-cache attributes, either---postings marked asC such can be among the most interesting ones to cache, after all.)D
    For details on some of the many available archives, please seeA Section 1.2.3.H
  • Include a valid e-mail address in the text of your posting or in aF "signature" appended to the end. Reply-to addresses in headers oftenF get garbled. Anonymous addresses can also simply be ignored, as fakeI addresses are regularly used by folks that are "trolling" andF by folks that are spamming. (Though to avoid spam-harvesting of your? email address, consider adding characters or a field into theF address---but remember to include details around which characters orF fields should be removed or altered if you decide to be particularly clever here.)I
  • If you are submitting a question, please be as specific as you can.G Include relevant information such as processor type, product versionsB (OpenVMS and layered products that apply), error message(s), DCLE command(s) used, and a short, reproducible example of problems. SayI what you've tried so far, so that effort isn't duplicated. Keep in mindG that there's not yet a telepathy protocol for the Internet. (The moreE detailed your description, the better that people can help you with your question.)G
  • If responding to a posting, include in your reply only as much ofA the original posting as is necessary to establish context. As aC guideline, consider that if you've included more text than you'veH added, you've possibly included too much. Never include signatures and other irrelevant material.I
  • Please be polite. If the question isn't worded the way you think isE correct or doesn't include the information you want, try to imagineD what the problem might be if viewed from the poster's perspective.D Requests for additional detailed information are often better sent3 through mail rather than posted to the newsgroup.D
  • If you have a problem with HP (or any other vendor's) product,@ please use the appropriate support channel. Do not assume that? newsgroup postings will get read, will be responded to by the< appropriate developers, or will be later followed up upon.
  • If you are posting from a web browser, news reader or if you are posting via email sent to INFO-VAX, please turn off MIME, vcard, attachments, and other mechanisms that assume anyone readingthe post has the corresponding capability---use the text-only option of your web browser, news reader, or mailer. Usenet is traditionally a text-only medium, and many news://comp.os.vms/ Gparticipants will use tools that have this support disabled, or that doGnot have this support. If the message uses MIME or attachments or such,Ethe text of your message will be buried in a large pile of gibberish,Dand some tools will send multiple copies of the text within a singleposting.<
  • If you find that the postings of a particular user areC uninteresting, annoying, or off-topic, most newsreaders include aB filter or killfile mechanism, and many mail clients have similarH filtering capabilities. Please do not "flame"---to emailC or to post vitriol -- any individual that might annoy you, pleaseH enable and filter all of that user's postings. Posting of vitriolG and of "flames" will eventually come back to hauntD you; netizens and the net itself have a very large and a very longC memory. Similarly, readers that decide that your postings are not@ worthy of reading will similarly tend to filter or to killfileB all of your postings. Please play nice, in other words.


SBefore posting your question to the news://comp.os.vms/ 1newsgroup or sending your message to the INFO-VAX> list, also please take the time to review available etiquette? information, such as that included in the following documents:



FThis information will document the etiquette of newsgroups, as well asEproviding you with the knowledge the vast amount of newsgroup-relatedEinformation that is readily available to you, and where to find it...



/  
Note

=Please do not post security holes or system crashers

DRather, please report these problems directly to HP. Why? So that HPBhas a chance to resolve and distribute a fix before other customersites can be affected.

AMost folks in the newsgroups are honest and deserve to know about>potential security problems, but a few folks can and will makeBnefarious use of this same information. Other sites will hopefully<return the courtesy, and will not post information that willGpotentially compromise your site and your computer environment.

e

1.4 What OpenVMS user group(s) are available?



@Encompass, the Enterprise Computing Association, is a user groupEcomprised of information technology professionals that are interestedBin the Enterprise-oriented products, services, and technologies ofCCompaq and of the former DIGITAL. Encompass offers newsletters, theFEncompass website, and offers various gatherings and related services,9including symposia events and local users group meetings.

AEncompass 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:



GThe organization comprised of customers of Hewlett-Packard Company (HP)@that is probably most analogous to the Encompass organization isInterex:



FLike Encompass, Interex offers various services and events of interestDto folks that presently work with and/or that wish to learn about HPCproducts and offerings. Please see the Interex website for details.f

1.5 OpenVMS Support, Questions and Comments?



AThe 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?



DThe HP corporate contact for OpenVMS business issues is Ann McQuaid,@the HP General Manager directly in charge of OpenVMS and OpenVMSGEngineering, while feature requests and other related matters should be9routed to MaryJane Vazquez, the OpenVMS Business Manager.

EAnn and MaryJane will quite obviously respond best to cogently-wordedAOpenVMS corporate-level business issues or requests. With all dueArespect to all involved, neither Ann nor MaryJane are appropriate@contacts for technical support matters nor for technical supportGrequests, nor for any other non-corporate-related, non-business-relatedAissues---these questions are best routed to the local or regionalBcustomer support center; to the support, technical and engineeringteams.

ETo reach Ann or MaryJane via electronic mail, place a dot between the=first and the surname, and append the expected HP.COM domain.=

1.5.2 OpenVMS Ambassadors?



The OpenVMS AmbassadorsG are senior HP engineers with advanced technical knowledge and advancedC training in OpenVMS, with detailed knowledge of current and futureH OpenVMS releases and product plans, and with contacts directly with theF HP and ISV hardware and software engineering organizations developingH OpenVMS and OpenVMS hardware platforms, as well as layered products andH tools. Further, Ambassadors are experienced with integrating HP OpenVMS@ and application-specific products and ISV applications to solve specific business requirements.

3OpenVMS Ambassadors are based throughout the world.

DYour HP sales representative or HP reseller will be able connect you#with your local OpenVMS Ambassador.Z

1.5.3 Contact for OpenVMS Marketing Issues and Questions?



JPlease see Section 3.4.S

1.5.4 Contact URLs for OpenVMS Technical Issues?



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

EPlease remember to review and to bookmark the following support URLs:




C

Chapter 2
General Information


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If you are searching for something here, please(consider using the text-format FAQ.

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2.1 What is OpenVMS? What is its history?



AOpenVMS, originally called VMS (Virtual Memory System), was firstEconceived in 1976 as a new operating system for the then-new, 32-bit,Gvirtual memory line of computers, eventually named VAX (Virtual Address eXtension).

GThe first VAX model, the 11/780, was code-named "Star", henceGthe code name for the VMS operating system, "Starlet", a name>that remains to this day the name for the system library files(STARLET.OLB, etc.).

GVMS version X0.5 was the first released to customers, in support of theChardware beta test of the VAX-11/780, in 1977. VAX/VMS Version V1.0;shipped in 1978, along with the first revenue-ship 11/780s.

COpenVMS was designed entirely within HP and specifically within theDformer Digital Equipment Corporation (DIGITAL). Two of the principal@designers were Dave Cutler and Dick Hustvedt, though with a wideAvariety of other contributors. OpenVMS was conceived as a 32-bit,@virtual memory successor to the RSX-11M operating system for theEPDP-11. Many of the original designers and programmers of OpenVMS hadAworked previously on RSX-11M, and many concepts from RSX-11M werecarried over to OpenVMS.

EOpenVMS VAX is a 32-bit, multitasking, multiprocessing virtual memoryDoperating system. Current implementations run on VAX systems from HPCand other vendors, as well as on hardware emulators; for additionallinformation on emulators, please see Section 13.12 and

FOpenVMS Alpha is a 64-bit multitasking, multiprocessing virtual memoryGoperating system. Current implementations run on Alpha systems from HP,and other vendors.

>AOpenVMS has also been ported to the Intel IA-64 architecture, anduCspecifically to HP Integrity systems using microprocessors from the"AIntel Itanium Processor Family. This implementation of OpenVMS is @officially known as "HP OpenVMS for Integrity Servers""Dand more commonly as "OpenVMS I64", and it operates in theEnative Itanium IA-64 architecture and 64-bit environment. OpenVMS I64aAprovides support for applications requiring 32- or 64-bit virtualiAaddressing capabilities entirely within the native 64-bit ItaniumeDexecution environment. (For details on this and related terminology,Oplease see Section 14.4.5.) 

pEFor more details on OpenVMS and its features, please read the OpenVMSs Software Product Description at:



-AAdditional information on the general features of various OpenVMSSFreleases, release dates, as well as the development project code names&of specific releases, is available at:

a

"EAdditional historical information---as well as pictures and a variety=@of other trivia---is available in the VAX 20th anniversary book:

a

pGFor information on the FreeVMS project, and on hobbyist and educational versions of OpenVMS, please see:



iwAlso please see the related software licensing topics Section 2.8.4, Section 2.8.1, and Section 2.15.i

2.2 What is the difference between VMS and OpenVMS?

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e<VMS and OpenVMS are two names for the same operating system.EOriginally, the operating system was called VAX-11/VMS; it changed totAVAX/VMS at around VAX/VMS V2.0. When the VMS operating system was Fported to the Alpha platform, it was renamed OpenVMS, for both VAX andDAlpha (and for the Itanium Processor Family), in part to signify theBhigh degree of support for industry standards such as POSIX, which'provides many features of UNIX systems.>

sGFor those versions with POSIX, an OpenVMS license allows you to installhFand run POSIX for OpenVMS at no additional charge; all you need is the>media and documentation which can be found on the ConsolidatedEDistribution and On-Line Documentation CD-ROMs. Support for the POSIXeGpackage on more recent OpenVMS releases is not available, various parts Fof POSIX such as calls from the API are being integrated more directlyFinto OpenVMS. For more information on POSIX for VMS see question SOFT2

cGWhat became confusing is that the OpenVMS name was introduced first foreFOpenVMS AXP V1.0 causing the widespread misimpression that OpenVMS wasGfor Alpha AXP only, while "regular VMS" was for VAX. In fact,iEthe official name of the VAX operating system was changed as of V5.5,eFthough the name did not start to be actually used in the product untilV6.0.ai

2.3 What's in a Name? Terminology and Products?

&

nGThe proper names for OpenVMS on the various platforms are "OpenVMSrFVAX", "OpenVMS Alpha", and "OpenVMS I64". UseEof "OpenVMS AXP" and of "VAX/VMS" are deprecated.ilans

EThe VAX and Alpha terms are largely interchangeably used as the namesoDof platforms, of processor or microprocessor implementations, and of'the respective computing architectures.o v

FSomewhat confusing to long-time OpenVMS users, Intel IA-32, IA-64, andEEM64T, and AMD AMD64 are the names of various computing architecturesuEand of architectural extensions. Only. These are not the names of anyo&implementations, nor of any platforms.apsu

, Intel Itaniumi G is the name of a family of microprocessor implementations of the InteliH IA-64 architecture, as Intel Pentium and Xeon are the names of familiesF of microprocessor implementations of Intel IA-32 and (potentially) of the EM64T extensions.

yI64mm1 is the generic name for the various HP Integrity aB platforms supported by HP OpenVMS for Integrity Servers (and moreE commonly as "OpenVMS I64"); for the platforms supported byt= OpenVMS I64. (For additional related terminology, please seeaE Section 14.4.5.)eD

2.3.1 How do I port from VMS to OpenVMS?

s

oyYou already did. Wasn't that easy? Please see Section 2.2 for details.a[

2.4 Which is better, OpenVMS or UNIX?

eo

bEThis question comes up periodically, usually asked by new subscriberseEand new posters who are long-time UNIX or Linux users. Sometimes, thecFquestion is ignored totally; other times, it leads to a long series ofDrepetitive messages that convince no one and usually carry little ifEany new information. Please do everyone a favor and avoid re-startingl!this perpetual, fruitless debate.t

lFThat said, OpenVMS and the better implementations of UNIX are all fineGoperating systems, each with its strengths and weaknesses. If you're inyGa position where you need to choose, select the one that best fits youraFown requirements, considering, for example, whether or not the layered<products or specific OS features you want are available, andCconsidering the expected cost-of-ownership over the lifetime of theesystem installation.

.FIf you are asking this question, you are probably comparing OpenVMS toAUNIX. It was once certainly true that OpenVMS and UNIX were quite Fdifferent. In more recent times, there are tools and C APIs on OpenVMSFthat directly provide or that easily support porting UNIX programs andDcommands, and there are equivalent packages bringing various OpenVMS*features and mechanisms to UNIX platforms.

yDIf you seek UNIX tools on OpenVMS rather than the more philosophicalFdiscussion found in this section, please see the GNV package and other{GNU discussions in Section 13.2.6, and please see the plethora of C callstGcurrently available in the HP C Run-Time Library documentation, briefly Qdiscussed over in Section 13.2.1.mk

2.5 Is HP continuing funding and support for OpenVMS?

ts

/Yes.

FActive development of new OpenVMS releases is underway, as well as thecontinuation of support.

f@Please see the following URLs for details, roadmaps, and related information:

/g

2.6 What OpenVMS distribution kits are available?

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t$Various distributions are available.

:BFor the most current information on the available part numbers andGcurrent products (OpenVMS distribution kits, media, documentation, etc)/Eand the most current associated licensing information, please see thetFcurrent OpenVMS Software Product Description (SPD) document, availableat:t

l

ryThe CD-ROMs listed in Table 2-1 contain just the OpenVMS AlpharFoperating system. The operating system distribution kits are bootable,@and can be used to run BACKUP from the optical media, as well as*performing an installation or upgrade.

c s  e&  w i y m  a x s  l n o m w f o  p n a n p  / m
Table 2-1 OpenVMS Alpha Media Kits
Part Description
 QA-MT1AG-H8u C OpenVMS Alpha V6.2-1H3 hardware release CD-ROM; also requires QA-MT1AA-H8.6.2<
 QA-MT1AR-H8a 5 OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-2 maintenance release CD-ROMt
 QA-MT1AT-H8t 5 OpenVMS Alpha V7.2-1 maintenance release CD-ROM
 QA-MT1AU-H8s 5 OpenVMS Alpha V7.2-2 maintenance release CD-ROMe
 QA-MT3AA-H8g @ OpenVMS Alpha and VAX products and documentation on CD-ROM
 QA-MT3AE-H8x 3 OpenVMS Alpha and VAX documentation on CD-ROM


tEOpenVMS I64 is distributed on DVD-ROM media, and is bootable. OpenVMSrFI64 licensing is implemented on a per-processor-socket basis, with theDclassic license tiers based on the numbers of processor sockets thatFcan be present. Further, three general product and licensing groupingsCare optionally available with OpenVMS I64, the Foundation OperatingpBEnvironment (FOE), the Enterprise Operating Environment (EOE), andA(as/when/if available) the Mission Critical Operating Environmentn(MCOE).wrfrFSeperate per-product licenses are generally also available for various<of the products within the Operating Environment groups.

d   o&  d c u n f n e  u n e e 
Table 2-2 OpenVMS I64 Order Numbers
Part Description
 BA322AA#???b  OpenVMS I64 FOE Productr
 BA323AA#???  OpenVMS I64 EOE ProductV
 BA324AA#???l  OpenVMS I64 MCOE Product


;The product suffix required for the order numbers listed inrTable 2-2 can be found in Table 2-3.

sd  ! a&  m O s n s a  n  e  h 
Table 2-3 OpenVMS I64 Media Suffix
Suffix Description
A18= $ OpenVMS I64 FOE V8.2 DVD media
AJRg  OE media kit on DVD media
0D1V  Factory installation


aCThe OpenVMS VAX, OpenVMS Alpha and OpenVMS I64 source listings setsSreferenced in Table 2-4 include the source listings of most ofaDOpenVMS, and these machine-readable distributions are invaluable forGany folks working directly with OpenVMS internals, as well as for folkso<interested in seeing examples of various OpenVMS programminginterfaces.

em   &  o e c t c o p H  v p o   t =  v s . m .  e n
Table 2-4 OpenVMS Source Listings Kits
Part Description
 QB-MT1AB-E8r 3 OpenVMS Alpha Source Listings kit and licensen
 QT-MT1AB-Q8 + OpenVMS Alpha Source Listings Updates
BA422AAo 1 OpenVMS I64 Source Listings kit and licensew
 QB-001AB-E8i 1 OpenVMS VAX Source Listings kit and licensel
 QT-001AB-Q8o ) OpenVMS VAX Source Listings Updates/
BA422AA> 1 OpenVMS I64 source listings kit and licensel


/EAdditional OpenVMS packages and technologies including NetBeans, XML,n"SOAP, UDDI, JDK, Perl, Tomcat, SSLnm <3oaCand such are discussed within the OpenVMS e-Business InfrastructuretPackage SPD 80.58.xx. m? Again, please see the OpenVMS SPD and the documents and partse4 referenced there for the most current information.p

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t#o6ee to the RSX-11M operating system for theEPDP-11. Many of the original dknown as DECUServe) and Ken Farmer's OpenVMS.Org forums:eroi  J

1.2.3 What newsgroup archives are available?

E

t'Extensive archives of INFO-VAX mailings