New with OpenVMS Version 8.3

The OpenVMS operating system distribution media menu provides a new option (7) that enables you to perform patch-related operations.

When you select option 7, you are brought to a submenu that provides options enabling you to search for patch kits, install patches, remove recent patches for which there is recovery data, and to show and delete recovery data. You can perform these operations even when the operating system cannot be booted (in which case you would not be able to use the DCL command PRODUCT). For more information, see “Using the Patches and Recovery Data Option (7)”.

Common Data Security Architecture (CDSA) is configured and initialized automatically during installation and upgrades and is required for Secure Delivery purposes and other security features.

If you install a newer version of CDSA without upgrading the base operating system, you must initialize the CDSA software, using the following command. Enter the command from an account that has both SYSPRV and CMKRNL privileges (for example, the SYSTEM account).

$ @SYS$STARTUP:CDSA$UPGRADE

HP SSL is now included as part of the OpenVMS operating system.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for OpenVMS Alpha and I64 systems provides secure transfer of sensitive information over the Internet.

Most kits included on the OpenVMS Version 8.3 distribution media are signed using Secure Delivery.

Most of the software kits included on the distribution media are now signed using Secure Delivery. A notable exception is the OpenVMS operating system, which is not signed because it is shipped in bootable form rather than as a signed, single file kit.

For OpenVMS I64, when you install or upgrade the operating system by booting from the distribution media, layered products that have been signed are validated by the PCSI utility with the aid of a digital signature file (also referred to as a manifest). Validation involves using the Secure Delivery component of CDSA to authenticate the originator of the product kit and to verify its contents.

For OpenVMS Alpha, layered product validation is not performed initially when installing or upgrading from the distribution media (CD). This restriction is due to space limitations of the OpenVMS Alpha distribution CD, which prevents CDSA from being present in usable form while booted from the CD. However, after installing or upgrading OpenVMS to Version 8.3, any signed kits that you install subsequently are validated, including signed kits that ship on the distribution media.

In addition, on both OpenVMS Alpha and OpenVMS I64 systems, the DCL command PRODUCT SHOW HISTORY displays the validation status of installed products and identifies those that were installed from unsigned kits or were installed prior to the availability of the Secure Delivery functionality.

Encryption for OpenVMS is now installed as part of the OpenVMS operating system rather than as a separately installed and licensed product.

When you install or upgrade OpenVMS, Encryption for OpenVMS creates its own ENCRYPT and DECRYPT commands. Encryption for OpenVMS starts automatically (after SSL for OpenVMS, which also starts automatically). If during an upgrade an earlier version of ENCRYPT software is found, the upgrade procedure removes the product. For more information about Encryption for OpenVMS, see the HP OpenVMS Version 8.3 New Features and Documentation Overview.

	CAUTION: DECRAM Users: With Version 8.3 of OpenVMS, the DCL command DECRAM has been removed because it conflicts with the new DECRYPT command (DECRYPT overwrites the default definition of DECR, which you might have been using to run DECram). You should update any command procedures that use the DECRAM command so that they use the foreign command style of DCL to run DECRAM: $ DECRAM == "$MDMANAGER" This change affects only the use of the DCL command; all other aspects of the DECram product remain the same. For pre-upgrade requirements regarding DECram, see “Remove Older Versions of DECram for OpenVMS (Alpha Only)”.

DECwindows client files are made available through the DWMOTIF_SUPPORT kit (prior to Version 8.3, the client files were included directly with the OpenVMS operating system kit).

The OpenVMS installation and upgrade procedures install this kit automatically. The DWMOTIF_SUPPORT kit name is listed during the installation or upgrade of the operating system, or when using certain OpenVMS operating system menu options or DCL commands (such as the PRODUCT SHOW PRODUCT command).

WBEM (Web-Based Enterprise Management) Services for OpenVMS is available as an optional product on OpenVMS I64 systems. This product is based on the Common Information Model (CIM), differentiating it from the original OpenVMS WBEM offering that is based on the Simple Network Maintenance Protocol (SNMP). This product is required for use of Instant Capacity (iCAP) and Pay per use (PPU) (supported on cell-based Integrity servers). (Note that Instant Capacity and Pay per use are mutually exclusive on any cell-based Integrity server.)

The HP nPartition Provider has been ported to OpenVMS to support Instant Capacity (iCAP) features on cell-based Intel® Itanium® servers (OpenVMS I64 only). The OpenVMS Version 8.3 nPartition Provider does not support local or remote management of nPartitions (such as remote WBEM connections).

OpenVMS I64 now supports satellite booting.

Using the OpenVMS InfoServer utility (software application), OpenVMS I64 now supports network booting of the OpenVMS I64 OE DVD for installations as well as upgrades.

OpenVMS I64 can take advantage of Hyper-Threading on systems that have dual-core Intel Itanium 2 processors. Hyper-Threading provides the ability for processors to create a second virtual core that may allow additional efficiencies of processing. For example, a dual-core processor with Hyper-Threading active can run four threads. (A core is the actual data processing engine within a processor. A single processor can have multiple cores. Cores are also referred to as logical CPUs.) For more details about enabling (and disabling) Hyper-Threading, see “Enabling or Disabling Hyper-Threading on Dual-Core Processors”.