=;The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)D

The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)



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2.6.1 Where can I download OpenVMS and Layered Product Kits?



@HP customers with commercial licenses and support contracts can Bdownload software product distribution kits from the following HP website:



EYou can also find pointers to the Software Rollout Report and to the /OpenVMS SPD listings via the above SQP website.

BInformation on obtaining and transfering licenses is available in †Section 2.6 and Section 2.8.4, while information on the OpenVMS =Hobbyist licensing program and on obtaining hobbyist product Jdistribution kits is in Section 2.8.1.^

2.7 In what language is OpenVMS written?



2OpenVMS is written in a wide variety of languages.

HIn no particular order, OpenVMS components are implemented using Bliss, AMacro, Ada, PLI, VAX and DEC C, Fortran, UIL, VAX and Alpha SDL, HPascal, MDL, DEC C++, DCL, Message, and Document. And this is certainly Hnot a complete list. However, the rumor is NOT true that an attempt was Hmade to write pieces of OpenVMS in every supported language so that the FRun-Time Libraries could not be unbundled. (APL, BASIC, COBOL and RPG 0are just some of the languages NOT represented!)

BThere are a large variety of small and not-so-small tools and DCL Ecommand procedures that are used as part of the OpenVMS build, and a Asource code control system capable of maintaining over a hundred Ethousand source files across multiple parallel development projects, and overlapping releases.l

2.8 Obtaining and Transfering OpenVMS licenses?



AThe following sections describe hobbyist and educational license Fprograms, as well as information on commercial licenses and transfers.

EFor information on the available commercial OpenVMS licenses and for ginformation on license transfers, please see Section 2.8.4. OpenVMS mHobbyist licenses are discussed in Section 2.8.1. For information on the Elicensing implementation, troubleshooting licensing problems, on the CLicense Unit Requirements Table (LURT), and other related details, kplease see Section 5.39. For configuring and troubleshooting LMF, see 2Section 12.4.Q

2.8.1 Questions asked by Hobbyist OpenVMS licensees?



CIf you are a member of an HP-recognized user group (eg: Encompass, FEnterex, DECUS), and are considering acquiring and using a VAX, Alpha Aor (soon) IA-64 system for hobbyist (non-commercial) use, (free) Clicense product authorization keys (PAKs) for OpenVMS VAX, OpenVMS HAlpha, and (reportedly) OpenVMS I64, and layered products are available.

DIn addition to the license keys, OpenVMS VAX and Alpha distribution GCD-ROM distribution kits are available with OpenVMS, DECwindows Motif, BDECnet and TCP/IP networking, compilers, and a variety of layered Hproducts. (A hobbyist distribution for OpenVMS I64 is expected.) (While Dthe hobbyist CD-ROM distributions are intended for and tailored for AOpenVMS Hobbyists, the contents and capabilities of the Hobbyist Ginstallation kits included within the OpenVMS Hobbyist distribution do Anot differ from the standard distribution installation kits. The Gproducts are chosen to reflect the most popular products and the space available on the media.)

@If you have questions on what else is authorized by the license Dagreement and on what other distribution media is available to you, ?well, please read the applicable software license agreement(s).

(For further information, please link to:



GOn the OpenVMS Hobbyist license registration form at the above website E(as of August 2005), you are offered the choice of the "OpenVMS HVAX" license(s), the "OpenVMS Alpha" license(s), and the C"Layered Products" licenses. You will want the operating Esystem license for your particular OpenVMS platform and you Fwill want the "Layered Products" licenses. You will want to 8select and to acquire two sets of license PAKs.

FFor vendors wishing to license products specifically for hobbyist use F(and to not issue hobbyist PAKs), the program provides hobbyists with !the license PAK OPENVMS-HOBBYIST.

?If you plan to use a hardware emulator (eg: VAX emulator) on a GMicrosoft Windows platform, make sure you have an OpenVMS distribution Ekit that can be installed and/or booted with the particular emulator Bpackage you plan to use. For additional information on emulators, _please see Section 13.12 and particularly please see the emulator-related documentation.R

2.8.1.1 Vendors offering Hobbyist Licenses



¯Hobbyist license product additions, and any updates for products already listed here are welcome. Please contact the FAQ Editor J

2.8.2 OpenVMS Educational and CSLG licenses?



FFor information on OpenVMS licenses for educational customers, please Hsee the HP Campus Software License Grant (CSLG) license program and the $OpenVMS Educational license program:

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2.8.3 What developer and partner licensing programs are available?



ECommercial software developers can join the HP DSPP program, and can E(potentially) receive discounts on various software product licenses =and software distributions, as well as on hardware purchases.



HThe DSPP program is the descendent of the DIGITAL ISVN and DIGITAL ASAP Eprograms and the Compaq CSA program, and the analogous developer and partner programs at HP.

gPlease see Section 2.15 for additional details on the DSPP program.

AFor information on the OpenbVMS Hobbyist and OpenVMS Educational Olicense programs, please see Section 2.8.1.Q

2.8.4 How do I obtain or transfer an OpenVMS license?



GTo transfer a commercial OpenVMS license from one owner to another, or Gto purchase a commercial license, you can contact HP at regional sales office or reseller.

<For information on the hobbyist license program, please see 2Section 2.8.1.i

2.9 Does OpenVMS support the Euro currency symbol?



COpenVMS can generate the %xA4 character code used for the EEuro, and the DECwindows DECterm can display the glyph. Please check Ewith the vendor of your terminal or terminal emulator for additional details.}

2.10 OpenVMS Ports? Itanium? Ports to IA-32, EM64T or AMD64 systems?



EOpenVMS has been ported to and is operational on four architectures: DVAX, Alpha, IA-64, and IA-32. The first three have available native Dports of OpenVMS, the fourth is available via emulation. VAX is the Doldest architecture, and limited to 32-bit virtual and up to 34-bit Gphysical addressing. The Alpha and IA-64 architectures are both 64-bit Garchitectures, with 64-bit virtual addressing available. The available HIA-32 emulation is provided for the OpenVMS VAX and other VAX operating ?systems, and provides a 32-bit VAX environment. For additional ]information on the emulation, please see Section 13.12.

BAs for (the lack of) a native port for IA-32, OpenVMS Engineering Dpresently and continues to believe that there would be insufficient Fmarket (read: profit, customer interest) to justify the cost involved =in a native port of OpenVMS to systems using the Intel IA-32 Garchitecture. In addition to the direct costs involved in any port and Hin addition to the substantial effort involved in moving backwards from Fa 64-bit environment on Alpha and on IA-64 to a 32-bit platform (such Fas IA-32), and the exceedingly non-trivial device qualification costs Fand the costs in moving backwards into older PCI and I/O environments D(IA-32 systems more than a few years old have equivalently aged I/O Dsupport and buses), each organization and each person maintaining a ?product or a package for OpenVMS will have to justify a port toF"OpenVMS IA-32", "OpenVMS EM64T" or "OpenVMS HAMD64", akin to the decisions and the effort involved in porting a Fproduct from OpenVMS VAX to OpenVMS Alpha, or the port to OpenVMS I64.

HPlatform ports of many of the various products can be easy, and many of @the ports of applications using documented OpenVMS features are Fexpected to require little more than a source rebuild. Other products Ecan and do depend on platform-specific or undocumented features, and @the associated ports can be more involved. Regardless, ports of <operating systems are very large and involved projects. The Gprerequisite product requirements for an OpenVMS operating system port Fare also non-trivial, as well---compilers in particular are obviously Hrequired, and the suite of compilers provided must maintain a very high Gdegree of source-level compatibility across the platforms. In the case of the HP IntegrityG port, OpenVMS I64 V8.0 used cross-compilers and cross-tools operating D on OpenVMS Alpha systems, while V8.2 and later have various native  compilers available.

DThe OpenVMS I64 port was centrally built using the existing OpenVMS AAlpha environment and around the work and the knowledge from the ?OpenVMS Alpha port, and OpenVMS Engineering fully expects that Ccustomers and ISVs will use and will continue to use OpenVMS Alpha ?systems to assist with their own ports to OpenVMS I64. OpenVMS DEngineering fully expects to see customers using mixed-architecture 0clusters and fully shared file systems, as well.

EOpenVMS Engineering is well aware of the AMD AMD64 (64-bit) platform Aand processors. (At least one of the available VAX emulators can Freportedly utilize parts of the AMD64 instruction set, please contact Gthe VAX emulator vendor(s) or maintainer(s) for assistance and details Hon their products.) OpenVMS Engineering is also well aware of the Intel EM64T platform and processors.GThere are no plans to provide a native port of HP OpenVMS for Aany systems based on the AMD AMD64 nor Intel EM64T architectures.

FAs part of the work leading to the Itanium port, senior engineers had Cextensively evaluated the products and the architectures available Hacross the high-end 64-bit computing space, and chose to target Itanium Dfor 64-bit environments---this while under the Compaq organization. CThis included looking at IA-32. HP (a co-developer of Itanium with FIntel) had seperately chosen to target Intel Itanium for its high-end Fcomputer products. Compaq then announced plans for the future of AlphaHthrough EV7-series products and platforms, and HP (entirely seperately) announced plans for PA-RISC@ products and platforms. The Itanium target has been maintained F consistently since the Itanium port was announced by Compaq, and has F also been consistently maintained by HP and by the combined company. C For those folks prefering to follow the schedules and the product I deliveries, OpenVMS Engineering had OpenVMS I64 V8.0 ready (internally) I ahead of schedule---and with more features available within the release G than had been originally planned for the release. (For information on E and for schedules of future OpenVMS releases, please see the roadmap+ that is available at the OpenVMS website.)

EOpenVMS I64 itself does not require and does not plan to utilize the FItanium IA-32 32-bit environment for the operation of OpenVMS itself. AOpenVMS I64 V8.0 and later run natively on the Itanium processor Ffamily, with no use of IA-32 instructions. While OpenVMS can and does Gsupport 32-bit OpenVMS applications and addressing on Itanium, this is Edone with sign-extension addressing techniques entirely analogous to Ewhat was done with 32-bit applications operating in the 64-bit Alpha Henvironment. Both OpenVMS 32-bit and 64-bit applications operate within Hthe native Itanium instruction set and run-time environment, and do not "use the Itanium IA-32 environment.

GBut yes, a native IA-32 port or a native AMD AMD64 or Intel EM64T port Hof OpenVMS would certainly be nice to have---this, of course, following Gthe traditional Linux preference for having a Linux port available for Hmost (all?) computer architectures known, and even for certain high-end Erefrigerators and toasters, and similar appliance-like devices. (The Hdownside of this all-encompassing approach: this requires near-infinite Eengineering and support costs from the various vendors involved, and Hthe qualification efforts and costs of most everything---everywhere. Or Ereduced or eliminated testing and support efforts. Or an unfortunate Acombination of these two. These costs are huge, and the benefits Hderived from the work are comparatively small when given the comparable Ecosts of more targeted (and thus supported and supportable) hardware @configurations---the platform targets are and must be carefully Cselected and considered by each vendor. Put another way, there are Eno plans to provide a native port of HP OpenVMS for systems Hbased on Intel IA-32 processors, nor for systems based on AMD AMD64 nor )Intel EM64T architectures and processors.

EAll this material having been written, have you looked at the system Gconfigurations and pricing of the available HP Integrity Intel Itanium systems?D Low-end computer hardware is clearly a commodity product, and the J systems are priced, serviced, upgraded, and replaced accordingly. Intel D Itanium is a commodity microprocessor presently used in platforms J available from various hardware vendors, including (obviously) from HP. F Further, Itanium is a microprocessor available from and supported byA Intel, a semiconductor vendor known for exceedingly high-volume @ microprocessor fabrication process and production capabilities.

FFor information on supported platforms and processors, please see the .OpenVMS Software Product Description (SPD) at:



\Please see Section 14.4.5 for Intel Itanium terminology.m

2.11 Are there any network-accessible OpenVMS systems?



2Yes, though various restrictions can and do apply.

^

2.12 What version of OpenVMS do I need?



HFor information on supported platforms, please see the OpenVMS Software @Product Description (SPD) for the particular OpenVMS version of interest.



HFor a table of the minimum and (as applicable) maximum OpenVMS versions Frequired for various platforms, please see the hardware support chart Dat HP OpenVMS website and (as available) the following (potentially volatile; intra-website) link:



HFor information on the Multia, related Alpha single-board computers, or iother officially unsupported systems, please see Section 14.4.1 and 7Section 14.4.2.1.

GThe following is a rule-of-thumb for Alpha platform support. The table iTable 2-5 contains the earliest OpenVMS Alpha release with support 5for a particular series of Alpha microprocessors:

i  " 4 * +                                      
Table 2-5 OpenVMS Alpha Version Rule-Of-Thumb
Generic Microprocessor Generation OpenVMS Version General Comments
EV4 21064 V1.0 < few systems; most EV4 require later; upgrade available
EV5 21164 V6.2 " subsequent upgrade available
EV56 21164A  V6.2-1H3 * subsequent upgrade to V7.1 and later
EV6 21264 V7.1-2 5 subsequent upgrade typically to V7.2-1 or later
EV67 21264A V7.1-2 5 subsequent upgrade typically to V7.2-1 or later
EV68  21264B, C and D V7.2-1 = believed/probable; currently an unconfirmed expectation
HSpecific hardware present and various system configurations can require fOpenVMS Alpha releases later than those referenced in Table 2-5.^

2.13 How can I submit OpenVMS Freeware?



=For the guidelines and submission info, please visit the URL:



HTo order the current OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM kit (shipping and handling 7charges apply), please request part number QA-6KZAA-H8.\

2.14 Porting applications to OpenVMS?



DPorting can range from simple to rather complex, and depends on the 'features used on the original platform.

CThis section covers generic porting, and porting among OpenVMS VAX DOpenVMS Alpha, and OpenVMS I64. (Porting among OpenVMS VAX, OpenVMS EAlpha and OpenVMS I64 is often quite simple and involves little more Fthan rebuilding from source, though a few applications using features Gspecific to the platform or the architecture, or using undocumented or Cunsupported interfaces can and likely will require some additional effort to port.)

ASeveral manuals on porting from OpenVMS VAX to OpenVMS Alpha are Eavailable in the OpenVMS documentation set, including information on Fporting VAX Macro32 assembler code to the Macro32 compiler on OpenVMS DAlpha, on management differences, on upgrading privileged code, and application migration:



>Documentation on porting to OpenVMS I64 is available, as well.

:Details on the C programming environment are available at:



6Details on porting VAX C to HP C are are available at:



+An OpenVMS Porting Library is available at:



BInformation on the Enterprise Toolkit, a Visual-based development Fenvironment for developing applications for OpenVMS using a Microsoft platform, is available at:



?Details on DCE, CORBA, BridgeWorks, and COM/DCOM middleware is available at:



1Information on the COE standards is available at:



CA wide variety of programming development tools and middleware are <available as commercial products (eg: DECset, IBM WebSphere AMQ---formerly MQseries), and various tools are also available as Eshareware or as Freeware. Please see other sections of this FAQ, and please see:






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