V',)+;The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)D

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.

FWhile this document is available in multiple formats, the text-format ?version is far and away generally the easiest format to search.

,Revision/Update Information OpenVMS V8.3

.Revision/Update Information: Revision Date/September 2006

 , 4  
@Contents :Index



*

Preface







bThis is the OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) posting for the news:comp.os.vms !and news:comp.sys.dec usenet newsgroups.



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Suggestions and Updates 6 Welcome!



Please send your suggestions for changes, additions, or corrections directly to FAQ Editor 





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No Support Questions, 4 Please



wPlease do not send technical questions to the FAQ Editor G. The FAQ Editor Bis not in a position to answer general questions, nor to Gprovide general product support. Rather, please post your questions to Ethe appropriate newsgroup, or please contact your preferred hardware 1and/or software support organization(s) directly.

AYour understanding in this matter is greatly appreciated.



%If you believe any particular discussion worthy of inclusion in a future edition of the FAQ and particularly once you have or know both the question and the answer, please then send the entire discussion along to the FAQ Editor for potential inclusion.

QDo note that the FAQ Editor p takes URL link continuity seriously, and strives to maintain current links. This is, however, a large task, and it is only becoming more difficult. URL link continuity is also something that you can assist with, of course. If you should find a dead link or a stale URL pointer, please notify the FAQ Editor . If you have or can find the current, correct or updated URL, of course, that greatly assists the FAQ Editor . in maintaining the most current set of links.

Thank you!



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Post to Newsgroups With 3 Care!

wPlease consider reading Section 1.3 before posting to the news:comp.os.vms Eor any other newsgroups. (What you post can come back to haunt you.) 


Contributors



Many people have contributed to this FAQ, directly and/or indirectly. In many cases, part or all of an answer included in the FAQ has been adapted from one or more postings from the news:comp.os.vms or other newsgroup---this though individual citations and specific quotations are generally not included in this FAQ. (The FAQ Editor >wishes to thank to all of those folks who post answers to the Dnewsgroups, and that have contributed to the contents of and to the "general improvements 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.

GJim Agnew, Paul Anderson, Jason Armistead, Zoltan Arpadffy, John AtoZ, DBailey, Gary Barclay, (The) Beav, Jeremy Begg, Colin Blake, Fabrice ?Blanquart, Ken Blaylock, Kenneth Block, Bol, Craig Berry, Mark FBerryman, Jim Becker, Verell Boaen, Bol, Jim Brankin, Richard Brodie, HColin Butcher, Robert Alan Byer, Jeff Campbell, Scott Campbell, Antonio CCarlini, Keith Cayemberg, Ken Chaney, Cristy, John Croll, David J. CDachtera, Robert Deininger, Dale Dellutri, Leo Demers, Sue Denham, AThomas Dickey, Eric Dittman, Mike Duffy, Jim Dunham, Eric, Glenn AEverhart, Ken Fairfield, Yaacov Fenster, Gunther Froehlin, Harry DGaronzik, Derek Garson, John Gillings, Andy Goldstein, Clair Grant, HHunter Goatley, Ruth Goldenberg, Vance Haemmerle, Ki Suk Hahn, SHarris, BRich Hearn, Fletcher Hearns, Phillip Helbig, Hein van den Heuvel, HStephen Hoffman, Eberhard Heuser-Hofmann, Sue Holt, Mark Hopkins, Horn, HJaf, Leif Jansson, Kevin Jenkins, Don R. Jones, Henry Juengst, inazu_k, HGeoff Kingsmill, Fred Kleinsorge, Felix Kreisel, Veli Korkko, Ruslan R. ELaishev, Peter "EPLAN" Langstoeger, Norm Lastovica, p_lee, AJerry Leichter, Richard Levitte, Tom Linden, Steve Lionel, Denis GMaillard, Kerry Main, John E. Malmberg, David Mathog, Dale Miller, Ian HMiller, Dick Munroe, Patrick Moreau, Morrison, otis, George Pagliarulo, EKeith Parris, Guy Peleg, Plass, pvhp, David Rabahy, Stan Rabinowitz, BMike Raspuzzi, Steve Reece, Neil Rieck, Ian Ring, Aaron Sakovich, CWarren Sander, Mark Schafer, Brian Schenkenberger, Atlant Schmidt, HWayne Sewell, Steven Shamlian, Sue Skonetski, Scott Snadow, Sue Sommer, FScott Squires, stfp, Dave Sweeney, Mike Thompson, Arne Vajhøj, BMartin Vorländer, Peter Weaver, William Webb, Williams, Paul Winalski, Uwe Zinser.

Again, any omission from this list and any errors or misspellings are entirely unintentional. Please notify the FAQ Editor Fof any omissions, corrections, or updates that might be needed within Hthis list. And thanks to each of these individuals for their assistance @and for their contributions, and particularly for sharing their expertise.A

FAQ Archives and FAQ Locations



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



?Other internet FAQs are generally available in these locations:

7

FAQ File Formats and Production Information



GThis FAQ is available in ASCII text, Postscript, Bookreader, and HTML, Dand potentially in other file formats. Certain formats, such as the FAdobe Acrobat PDF conversion from the Postscript format, are provided >downstream from the FAQ text formatting, and are provided and maintained by others.

As the HTML-format FAQ is not a single monolithic (and accordingly large) HTML file, it is the most difficult format to search using the most common standard (platform-local) tools. Accordingly, the FAQ Editor Frecommends downloading, using and searching the ASCII text FAQ format.

EThe OpenVMS FAQ is maintained in DECdocument SDML format and all FAQ ?maintenance and the primary output file format conversions are Aperformed on OpenVMS systems. For information on the DECdocument +product, please contact Touch Technologies.>

Old FAQ Section Notations Available in Index



DFor the folks that are familiar with older editions of this FAQ and @specifically for those folks looking for the older section name Fkeywords, please see the index entries located under FAQ Sections F(Old). These older section names include the prefixes DCL, DECW, HDOC, FILES, MISC, MGMT, INTRO, SOFT, VMS, etc., followed by the section number.1

The Fine Print



DCorrections and suggestions are welcome. Should you believe you can Bprovide better stewardship of this FAQ, or should you have strong Hfeelings over the content, structure, organization or implementation of Bthe FAQ, do realize you may be offered the editorship. The editor Cmaintains this document as a free service to the OpenVMS community.

EWhile the information contained here is believed correct, the use of Gany and all information acquired from this document is entirely at the Erisk of the user(s). If your system should crash or your data should Hbecome corrupted or the answer(s) found here should be found erroneous, 1that is solely your risk and your responsibility.

HThough various folks that have contributed to this FAQ are or have been @employees of Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), this posting and the Ginformation contained within this FAQ are not an official statement of BHP, nor a commitment by HP. All information, comments or opinions Hincluded, cited or otherwise referenced here may or may not reflect the Astated opinions of HP, of the FAQ editor, or of any other entity.

'All trademarks, registered trademarks, servicemarks and registered servicemarks used or referenced here are the properties of their respective owner(s) or holders. Please route any corrections, requests or related updates to the FAQ Editor 

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.

(The master copy of this FAQ is posted at



BTranslations of this FAQ into various languages may be available, @please contact the maintainer(s) of any translated document for Fassistance or feedback involving the particular translated edition of this FAQ.


A

Chapter 1
Introduction


A

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

k

1.1 What core OpenVMS URLs do you need to know?



If 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
H Core OpenVMS Information, including roadmaps and release schedules
  L http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/
   
4 OpenVMS and Core Layered Product Documentation
  3 ' http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/doc/
   
D Core OpenVMS Support Search Engine URLs, the ITRC support and ? discussion forums, and the ITRC FTP-accessable Patch Area
   K ? http://www2.itrc.hp.com/service/james/CPQhome.do R (formerly the NLSA Natural Language Search Assistant, and formerly  AskQ.)
   I http://www.itrc.hp.com/
   A 5 ftp://ftp.itrc.hp.com/openvms_patches/
   
 The OpenVMS Freeware
  8 , http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
   
* The OpenVMS Hobbyist License Program
  1 % http://www.openvmshobbyist.org/
  L http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/license_software_programs/index.html
m

1.2 What are the OpenVMS Usenet Newsgroups?



There are a huge number of newsgroups available, some of which discuss topics of interest to folks using OpenVMS operating system. Key among these are the news:comp.os.vms 3newsgroup and the vmsnet.* heirarchy of newsgroups.S

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



The news:comp.os.vms newsgroup is the primary newsgroup for discussion of the HP OpenVMS operating system and the computer systems on which it runs. Questions about layered products which run on OpenVMS are also welcome, though many of them (in particular, language compilers and database systems) have more specific newsgroups. If a question has some relationship to OpenVMS, it belongs in news: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 Epart of the acquisition of Compaq, systems which had previously been Cacquired by Compaq as part of the acquisition of Digital Equipment Corporation (DIGITAL).

BAlso of interest are resources and conferencing systems including =Encompasserve (formerly known as DECUServe) and Ken Farmer's OpenVMS.Org forums:

J

1.2.3 What newsgroup archives are available?



'Extensive archives of INFO-VAX mailings and news:comp.os.vms &postings are archived and available atESRI International: ,http://mvb.saic.com/freeware/info-vax/ 

Google3 also has extensive newsgroup archives available at

F

1.2.4 What is the INFO-VAX mailing list?



aINFO-VAX is a mailing list which is bidirectionally gatewayed to the news:comp.os.vms Dnewsgroup. This means that postings to news:comp.os.vms get automatically sent to INFO-VAX subscribers and messages sent to the INFO-VAX list are automatically posted to news:comp.os.vms 

DINFO-VAX can be a useful way to participate in the newsgroup if you Dcan't access the newsgroup directly through a newsreader. Note that EINFO-VAX is a closed mailing list, which means that only subscribers fmay post to it. Please see Section 1.2.4.1 for information on how to Asubscribe, and how you can subscribe such that you can post from Bmultiple addresses but still receive no more than one copy of the mailings.

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?



)The address for subscription requests is DInfo-VAX-Request[at]Mvb.Saic.Com. Subscription requests are handled Eautomatically by a mail server. This mail server ignores the subject 9line and processes each line of the message as a command.

AThe syntax for subscribing and unsubscribing, as well as setting 0various parameters on your subscription, is:

g  " &                              
Table 1-2 INFO-VAX Mail Server Commands
Command Description
HELP ( Acquire information on mail server
 SUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX  Join to the mailing list
 UNSUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX  Leave the mailing list
 SET INFO-VAX DIGEST N Select periodic omnibus mail messages from the mail server, rather than 4 multiple individual messages for each posting.
 SET INFO-VAX NODIGEST 3 Separate mail delivery of each message posted
 SET INFO-VAX NOMAIL M Establish an email address for posting, though not for receiving, mail.
 SET INFO-VAX MAIL N Establish an email address for both posting and for receiving mail from  the mailing list.


HThe mail server is not case-sensitive; case is irrelevant. Settings and Epolicies can be retrieved from the mail server, typically using HELP.

FThe INFO-VAX moderator can be contacted directly at the email address Mark.Berryman[at]Mvb.Saic.Com.Q

1.3 What is [n]etiquette?



FBefore posting or emailing a question, please use the available local Hresources, such as the OpenVMS manuals, the HELP, and the resources and einformation in and referenced by this FAQ. See Section 1.1, for *instance. Please (try to) use these first.

When posting, please consider the etiquette/netiquette suggestions that are available in RFC 1855, a document available at various sites including: )http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt .



/  
Note

=Please do not post security holes or system crashers

ERather, please report these problems directly to HP. Why? So that HP Fhas a chance to resolve and to distribute a fix before other customer sites can be affected.

BMost folks in the newsgroups are honest and deserve to know about ?potential security problems, but a few folks can and will make Cnefarious use of this same information. Other sites will hopefully =return the courtesy, and will 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?



EThe HP corporate contact for OpenVMS business issues is Ann McQuaid, Athe HP General Manager directly in charge of OpenVMS and OpenVMS HEngineering, while feature requests and other related matters should be 9routed to MaryJane Vazquez, the OpenVMS Business Manager.

FAnn and MaryJane will quite obviously respond best to cogently-worded BOpenVMS corporate-level business issues or requests. With all due Brespect to all involved, neither Ann nor MaryJane are appropriate Acontacts for technical support matters nor for technical support Hrequests, nor for any other non-corporate-related, non-business-related Bissues---these questions are best routed to the local or regional Ccustomer support center; to the support, technical and engineering teams.

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




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