The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ) ABSTRACT This document contains answers to many common questions on the OpenVMS operating system, and covers OpenVMS, and OpenVMS running on Itanium, Alpha, and VAX hardware. Revision/Update Information OpenVMS V7.3-2 Revision/Update Information: Revision Date/October 2003 FAQ ________________________________________________________________ Contents __________________________________________________________ PREFACE i __________________________________________________________ OPENVMS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) iii ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1-1 __________________________________________________________ 1.1 WHAT CORE OPENVMS URLS DO YOU NEED TO KNOW? 1-1 __________________________________________________________ 1.2 WHAT ARE THE OPENVMS USENET NEWSGROUPS? 1-2 1.2.1 What is the scope of the comp.os.vms newsgroup? 1-2 1.2.2 What newsgroups carry VMS-related information? 1-3 1.2.3 What newsgroup archives are available? 1-3 1.2.4 What is the INFO-VAX mailing list? 1-3 1.2.4.1 How do I subscribe to or unsubscribe from INFO-VAX?, 1-4 __________________________________________________________ 1.3 WHAT IS [N]ETIQUETTE? 1-5 __________________________________________________________ 1.4 WHAT OPENVMS USER GROUP(S) ARE AVAILABLE? 1-8 __________________________________________________________ 1.5 OPENVMS SUPPORT, QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS? 1-9 1.5.1 Corporate contacts for OpenVMS Business Issues? 1-9 1.5.2 OpenVMS Ambassadors? 1-10 1.5.3 Contact for OpenVMS Marketing Issues and Questions? 1-10 1.5.4 Contact URLs for OpenVMS Technical Issues? 1-10 iii Contents ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 2 GENERAL INFORMATION 2-1 __________________________________________________________ 2.1 WHAT IS OPENVMS? WHAT IS ITS HISTORY? 2-1 __________________________________________________________ 2.2 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VMS AND OPENVMS? 2-2 2.2.1 How do I port from VMS to OpenVMS? 2-3 __________________________________________________________ 2.3 WHICH IS BETTER, OPENVMS OR UNIX? 2-3 __________________________________________________________ 2.4 IS HP CONTINUING FUNDING AND SUPPORT FOR OPENVMS? 2-4 __________________________________________________________ 2.5 WHAT OPENVMS CD-ROM DISTRIBUTION KITS ARE AVAILABLE? 2-4 __________________________________________________________ 2.6 IN WHAT LANGUAGE IS OPENVMS WRITTEN? 2-6 __________________________________________________________ 2.7 OBTAINING AND TRANSFERING OPENVMS LICENSEES? 2-6 2.7.1 Questions asked by Hobbyist OpenVMS licensees? 2-7 2.7.2 OpenVMS Educational and CSLG licenses? 2-8 2.7.3 What developer and partner licensing programs are available? 2-8 2.7.4 How do I obtain or transfer an OpenVMS license? 2-9 __________________________________________________________ 2.8 DOES OPENVMS SUPPORT THE EURO CURRENCY SYMBOL? 2-9 __________________________________________________________ 2.9 OPENVMS PORTS? ITANIUM? PORTS TO INTEL (IA-32) SYSTEMS? 2-9 __________________________________________________________ 2.10 ARE THERE ANY NETWORK-ACCESSIBLE OPENVMS SYSTEMS? 2-13 iv Contents __________________________________________________________ 2.11 WHAT VERSION OF OPENVMS DO I NEED? 2-14 __________________________________________________________ 2.12 HOW CAN I SUBMIT OPENVMS FREEWARE? 2-15 __________________________________________________________ 2.13 PORTING APPLICATIONS TO OPENVMS? 2-15 __________________________________________________________ 2.14 WHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO OPENVMS SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS? 2-17 __________________________________________________________ 2.15 MEMORY MANAGEMENT, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROCESS SCHEDULING, ETC? 2-17 __________________________________________________________ 2.16 BASIC UNITS OF MEASUREMENT? 2-19 2.16.1 How many bytes are in a disk block? 2-19 2.16.2 How many bytes are in a memory page? 2-21 2.16.3 How do I convert? Disk Blocks? KB, MB, GB, TB? 2-21 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 3 DOCUMENTATION 3-1 __________________________________________________________ 3.1 WHERE CAN I FIND ONLINE COPIES OF OPENVMS MANUALS? 3-1 __________________________________________________________ 3.2 WHAT ONLINE INFORMATION AND WEBSITES ARE AVAILABLE? 3-1 __________________________________________________________ 3.3 OPENVMS PRODUCT INFORMATION TELEPHONE NUMBERS? 3-5 __________________________________________________________ 3.4 HOW DO I EXTRACT THE CONTENTS OF A HELP TOPIC TO A TEXT FILE? 3-6 __________________________________________________________ 3.5 DOES OPENVMS MARKETING HAVE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS? 3-6 v Contents __________________________________________________________ 3.6 WHERE CAN I LEARN ABOUT OPENVMS EXECUTIVE INTERNALS? 3-6 __________________________________________________________ 3.7 WHERE CAN NEW USERS FIND TUTORIAL INFORMATION ABOUT OPENVMS? 3-7 3.7.1 Tutorial Websites? 3-7 3.7.2 Books and Tutorials? 3-9 __________________________________________________________ 3.8 WHAT OPENVMS MAILING LISTS ARE AVAILABLE? 3-10 __________________________________________________________ 3.9 WHAT IS THIS ASK THE WIZARD WEBSITE I'VE HEARD ABOUT? 3-12 __________________________________________________________ 3.10 ACCESS TO THE OPENVMS NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR DOCUMENTATION? 3-13 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 4 TIME AND TIMEKEEPING 4-1 __________________________________________________________ 4.1 UTC VS GMT VS VS UT1/UT1/UT2 TDF? WHAT ARE THESE ACRONYMS? 4-1 __________________________________________________________ 4.2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENVMS TIMEKEEPING, PLEASE? 4-2 4.2.1 Details of the OpenVMS system time-keeping? 4-4 4.2.1.1 VAX hardware time-keeping details..., 4-4 4.2.1.1.1 TOY clock, 4-4 4.2.1.1.2 EXE$GQ_SYSTIME, 4-4 4.2.1.1.3 EXE$GQ_TODCBASE, 4-4 4.2.1.1.4 EXE$GL_TODR, 4-4 4.2.1.2 Alpha hardware time-keeping details..., 4-5 4.2.1.2.1 Battery-Backed Watch (BB_WATCH) Chip, 4-6 4.2.1.2.2 EXE$GQ_SYSTIME, 4-6 4.2.1.2.3 EXE$GQ_SAVED_HWCLOCK, 4-6 4.2.1.3 Why does VAX need a SET TIME at least once a year?, 4-7 vi Contents 4.2.2 How does OpenVMS VAX maintain system time? 4-7 __________________________________________________________ 4.3 KEEPING THE OPENVMS SYSTEM TIME SYNCHRONIZED? 4-8 4.3.1 Why does my OpenVMS system time drift? 4-10 4.3.2 How can I drift the OpenVMS system time? 4-10 4.3.3 How can I configure TCP/IP Services NTP as a time provider? 4-11 __________________________________________________________ 4.4 MANAGING TIMEZONES, TIMEKEEPING, UTC, AND DAYLIGHT SAVINGS? 4-13 4.4.1 How to troubleshoot TDF problems on OpenVMS? 4-16 4.4.2 Customizing your TDF (Timezone) Setting? 4-18 __________________________________________________________ 4.5 WHY DOES THE SET TIME COMMAND FAIL? HELP MANAGING DTSS? 4-19 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 5 SYSTEM MANAGEMENT INFORMATION 5-1 __________________________________________________________ 5.1 WHAT IS AN INSTALLED IMAGE? 5-1 __________________________________________________________ 5.2 ARE THERE ANY KNOWN VIRUSES FOR OPENVMS? 5-2 __________________________________________________________ 5.3 HOW DO I MOUNT AN ISO-9660 CD ON OPENVMS? 5-4 __________________________________________________________ 5.4 HOW DO I EXTRACT THE CONTENTS OF A PCSI KIT? 5-6 __________________________________________________________ 5.5 EMERGENCY (CONVERSATIONAL) SYSTEM STARTUP? 5-6 5.5.1 I've forgotten the SYSTEM password - what can I do? 5-10 5.5.2 My product licenses have expired - what can I do? 5-10 vii Contents __________________________________________________________ 5.6 HOW DO I CHANGE THE NODE NAME OF AN OPENVMS SYSTEM? 5-11 __________________________________________________________ 5.7 WHY DOESN'T OPENVMS SEE THE NEW MEMORY I JUST ADDED? 5-13 __________________________________________________________ 5.8 HOW DO I CHANGE THE TEXT IN A USER'S UIC IDENTIFIER? 5-14 __________________________________________________________ 5.9 WHAT ARE THE OPENVMS VERSION UPGRADE PATHS? 5-15 5.9.1 OpenVMS Alpha Upgrade (or Update) Paths 5-15 5.9.2 OpenVMS VAX Release Upgrade Paths 5-17 5.9.3 OpenVMS Cluster Rolling Upgrade Paths 5-18 5.9.4 OpenVMS Product Version and Support Information 5-18 5.9.5 OpenVMS Alpha Terminology 5-19 __________________________________________________________ 5.10 WHY DO I HAVE A NEGATIVE NUMBER IN THE PAGEFILE RESERVABLE PAGES? 5-20 __________________________________________________________ 5.11 DO I HAVE TO UPDATE LAYERED PRODUCTS WHEN UPDATING OPENVMS? 5-22 __________________________________________________________ 5.12 HOW DO I CHANGE THE VOLUME LABEL OF A DISK? 5-22 __________________________________________________________ 5.13 HOW CAN I SET UP A SHARED DIRECTORY? 5-23 __________________________________________________________ 5.14 WHY DO I GET EXTRA BLANK PAGES ON MY HP PRINTER? 5-24 __________________________________________________________ 5.15 DRIVERS AND CONFIGURATION OF NEW GRAPHICS CONTROLLERS? 5-25 5.15.1 The ELSA GLoria Synergy 5-25 5.15.2 PowerStorm 300, PowerStorm 350 5-26 5.15.3 PowerStorm 3D30, PowerStorm 4D20 5-26 5.15.4 Radeon 7500 5-27 viii Contents __________________________________________________________ 5.16 HOW CAN I ACQUIRE OPENVMS PATCHES, FIXES, AND ECOS? 5-27 __________________________________________________________ 5.17 HOW DO I MOVE THE QUEUE MANAGER DATABASE? 5-29 __________________________________________________________ 5.18 HOW DO I DELETE AN UNDELETABLE/UNSTOPPABLE (RWAST) PROCESS? 5-30 __________________________________________________________ 5.19 HOW DO I RESET THE ERROR COUNT(S)? 5-31 __________________________________________________________ 5.20 HOW DO I FIND OUT IF THE TAPE DRIVE SUPPORTS COMPRESSION? 5-33 __________________________________________________________ 5.21 CAN I COPY SYSUAF TO ANOTHER VERSION? TO VAX? TO ALPHA? 5-33 __________________________________________________________ 5.22 HOW DO I DELETE (TIMEOUT) IDLE PROCESSES? 5-36 __________________________________________________________ 5.23 DO I NEED A PAK FOR THE DECEVENT (HP ANALYZE) TOOL? 5-36 __________________________________________________________ 5.24 INITIALIZE ACCVIO AND ANSI TAPE LABEL SUPPORT? 5-37 __________________________________________________________ 5.25 HOW DO I RECOVER FROM INSVIRMEM ERRORS? 5-37 __________________________________________________________ 5.26 HOW CAN I PREVENT A SERIAL TERMINAL LINE FROM INITIATING A LOGIN? 5-38 __________________________________________________________ 5.27 HOW DOES PCSI USE THE IMAGE BUILD_IDENT FIELD? 5-38 __________________________________________________________ 5.28 HOW CAN I TELL WHAT SOFTWARE (AND VERSION) IS INSTALLED? 5-40 ix Contents __________________________________________________________ 5.29 WHAT FILE CHECKSUM TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE FOR OPENVMS? 5-41 __________________________________________________________ 5.30 WHAT (AND WHERE) IS THE OPENVMS MANAGEMENT STATION? 5-41 __________________________________________________________ 5.31 HOW TO DETERMINE CURRENT DISK FRAGMENTATION LEVEL? 5-41 __________________________________________________________ 5.32 SYSBOOT-I-FILENOTLOC, UNABLE TO LOCATE SYS$CPU_ROUTINES? 5-42 __________________________________________________________ 5.33 HOW CAN I CUSTOMIZE THE DCPS DEVICE CONTROL FOR A NEW PRINTER? 5-42 __________________________________________________________ 5.34 WHY DO $GETDEV MOUNTCNT AND SHOW DEVICE MOUNT COUNTS DIFFER? 5-44 __________________________________________________________ 5.35 WHAT SOFTWARE IS NEEDED FOR POSTSCRIPT PRINTERS? 5-44 __________________________________________________________ 5.36 HOW DO I REMOVE A PCSI-INSTALLED PATCH (ECO) KIT? 5-44 __________________________________________________________ 5.37 SYSINIT-E, ERROR MOUNTING SYSTEM DEVICE, STATUS=0072832C 5-45 __________________________________________________________ 5.38 RESOLVING LICENSE PAK PROBLEMS? 5-45 __________________________________________________________ 5.39 CHANGING THE OPENVMS VERSION NUMBER? 5-47 __________________________________________________________ 5.40 HOW TO PREVENT USERS FROM CHOOSING OBVIOUS PASSWORDS? 5-47 x Contents __________________________________________________________ 5.41 PLEASE HELP ME WITH THE OPENVMS BACKUP UTILITY? 5-49 5.41.1 Why isn't BACKUP/SINCE=BACKUP working? 5-49 5.41.1.1 Why has OpenVMS gone through the agony of this change?, 5-50 5.41.1.2 Can you get the old BACKUP behaviour back?, 5-50 5.41.2 What can I do to improve BACKUP performance? 5-50 5.41.3 Why is BACKUP not working as expected? 5-51 5.41.4 How do I fix a corrupt BACKUP saveset? 5-52 5.41.5 How do I write a BACKUP saveset to a remote tape? 5-54 5.41.6 How to perform a security disk erasure? 5-55 5.41.7 How to enable telnet virtual terminals? 5-55 5.41.7.1 Volume Shadowing MiniCopy vs MiniMerge?, 5-56 5.41.7.1.1 MiniCopy?, 5-57 5.41.7.1.2 MiniMerge?, 5-57 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 6 INFORMATION ON MAIL 6-1 __________________________________________________________ 6.1 MAIL KEEPS SAYING I HAVE NEW MESSAGES, BUT I DON'T. WHAT DO I DO? 6-1 __________________________________________________________ 6.2 HOW DO I SEND OR READ ATTACHMENTS IN VMS MAIL? 6-1 __________________________________________________________ 6.3 HOW CAN I BLOCK SMTP MAIL RELAY SPAM? 6-3 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 7 INFORMATION ON UTILITIES 7-1 __________________________________________________________ 7.1 HOW DO I PLAY AN AUDIO CD ON MY WORKSTATION? 7-1 __________________________________________________________ 7.2 HOW DO I ACCESS A MICROSOFT WINDOWS FLOPPY DISK FROM OPENVMS? 7-2 xi Contents __________________________________________________________ 7.3 HOW DO I PLAY SOUND FILES ON AN ALPHASTATION? DECSOUND DOESN'T WORK. 7-3 __________________________________________________________ 7.4 WHY IS DECMIGRATE NOT WORKING WITH FORTRAN? 7-3 __________________________________________________________ 7.5 HOW DO I READ IBM EBCDIC TAPES ON OPENVMS? 7-4 __________________________________________________________ 7.6 HOW CAN I PATCH AN OPENVMS ALPHA IMAGE? 7-4 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 8 DCL DETAILS 8-1 __________________________________________________________ 8.1 HOW DO I RUN A PROGRAM WITH ARGUMENTS? 8-1 __________________________________________________________ 8.2 HOW CAN I CLEAR THE SCREEN IN DCL? 8-2 __________________________________________________________ 8.3 USING REPLY/LOG FROM DCL? DISABLING CONSOLE OPCOMS? 8-2 __________________________________________________________ 8.4 HOW DO I GENERATE A RANDOM NUMBER IN DCL? 8-3 __________________________________________________________ 8.5 WHAT DOES THE MCR COMMAND DO? 8-4 __________________________________________________________ 8.6 HOW DO I CHANGE THE OPENVMS SYSTEM PROMPT? 8-5 __________________________________________________________ 8.7 CAN I DO DECNET TASK-TO-TASK COMMUNICATION WITH DCL? 8-6 __________________________________________________________ 8.8 HOW CAN I GET THE WIDTH SETTING OF A TERMINAL? 8-6 __________________________________________________________ 8.9 HOW CAN I SUBSTITUTE SYMBOLS IN A PIPE? 8-7 xii Contents __________________________________________________________ 8.10 USE OF RUN/DETACH, LOGINOUT, AND LOGICAL NAMES? 8-7 __________________________________________________________ 8.11 HOW TO USE ESCAPE AND CONTROL CHARACTERS IN DCL? 8-8 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 9 FILES 9-1 __________________________________________________________ 9.1 HOW CAN I UNDELETE A FILE? 9-1 __________________________________________________________ 9.2 WHY DOES SHOW QUOTA GIVE A DIFFERENT ANSWER THAN DIR/SIZE? 9-1 __________________________________________________________ 9.3 HOW DO I MAKE SURE THAT MY DATA IS SAFELY WRITTEN TO DISK? 9-2 __________________________________________________________ 9.4 WHAT ARE THE LIMITS ON FILE SPECIFICATIONS AND DIRECTORIES? 9-3 __________________________________________________________ 9.5 WHAT IS THE LARGEST DISK VOLUME SIZE OPENVMS CAN ACCESS? 9-4 __________________________________________________________ 9.6 WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM FILE SIZE, AND THE RMS RECORD SIZE LIMIT? 9-6 __________________________________________________________ 9.7 HOW DO I WRITE CD-RECORDABLE OR DVD MEDIA ON OPENVMS? 9-7 9.7.1 CD and DVD notation, terminology? 9-9 9.7.2 Use of RRD42 and other older (embossed-media) CD drives? 9-11 __________________________________________________________ 9.8 WHAT I/O TRANSFER SIZE LIMITS EXIST IN OPENVMS? 9-12 xiii Contents __________________________________________________________ 9.9 CAN I USE ODBC TO CONNECT TO OPENVMS DATABASE FILES? 9-12 __________________________________________________________ 9.10 IF MY DISKS ARE SHOWN AS VIOC COMPATIBLE, AM I USING XFC? 9-13 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 10 OPENVMS PROGRAMMING INFORMATION 10-1 __________________________________________________________ 10.1 MODULAR PROGRAMMING, FACILITY PREFIXES AND SYMBOL NAMING? 10-1 __________________________________________________________ 10.2 CAN I HAVE A SOURCE CODE EXAMPLE OF CALLING...? 10-2 __________________________________________________________ 10.3 HOW DO I GET THE ARGUMENTS FROM THE COMMAND LINE? 10-4 __________________________________________________________ 10.4 HOW DO I GET A FORMATTED ERROR MESSAGE IN A VARIABLE? 10-4 __________________________________________________________ 10.5 HOW DO I LINK AGAINST SYS$SYSTEM:SYS.STB ON AN ALPHA SYSTEM? 10-5 __________________________________________________________ 10.6 HOW DO I DO A SET DEFAULT FROM INSIDE A PROGRAM? 10-5 __________________________________________________________ 10.7 HOW DO I TURN MY FORTRAN COMMON INTO A SHAREABLE IMAGE ON ALPHA? 10-5 __________________________________________________________ 10.8 HOW DO I CONVERT BETWEEN IEEE AND VAX FLOATING DATA? 10-6 __________________________________________________________ 10.9 HOW DO I GET THE ARGUMENT COUNT IN A FORTRAN ROUTINE? 10-6 xiv Contents __________________________________________________________ 10.10 HOW DO I GET A UNIQUE SYSTEM ID FOR LICENSING PURPOSES? 10-7 __________________________________________________________ 10.11 WHAT IS AN EXECUTABLE, SHAREABLE, SYSTEM OR UWSS IMAGE? 10-8 __________________________________________________________ 10.12 HOW DO I DO A FILE COPY FROM A PROGRAM? 10-9 __________________________________________________________ 10.13 WHAT IS A DESCRIPTOR? 10-9 __________________________________________________________ 10.14 HOW DO I CREATE A PROCESS UNDER ANOTHER USERNAME? 10-11 __________________________________________________________ 10.15 WHY DO LIB$SPAWN, LIB$SET_SYMBOL FAIL IN DETACHED PROCESSES? 10-13 __________________________________________________________ 10.16 WHERE CAN I OBTAIN BLISS, AND THE LIBRARIES AND SUPPORTING FILES? 10-13 __________________________________________________________ 10.17 HOW CAN I OPEN A FILE FOR SHARED ACCESS? 10-15 __________________________________________________________ 10.18 HOW CAN I HAVE COMMON SOURCES FOR MESSAGES, CONSTANTS? 10-15 __________________________________________________________ 10.19 HOW DO I ACTIVATE THE OPENVMS DEBUGGER FROM AN APPLICATION? 10-16 __________________________________________________________ 10.20 DEALING WITH ENDIAN-NESS? 10-16 __________________________________________________________ 10.21 HOW TO RESOLVE LINK-I-DATMISCH ERRORS? 10-17 __________________________________________________________ 10.22 COMPAQ C AND OTHER OPENVMS C PROGRAMMING CONSIDERATIONS? 10-17 10.22.1 Other common C issues 10-20 10.22.2 Other common C++ issues 10-22 xv Contents __________________________________________________________ 10.23 STATUS OF PROGRAMMING TOOLS ON OPENVMS VAX? 10-24 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 11 DECWINDOWS 11-1 __________________________________________________________ 11.1 HOW DO I LET SOMEONE ELSE DISPLAY SOMETHING ON MY WORKSTATION? 11-1 __________________________________________________________ 11.2 HOW DO I CREATE A DISPLAY ON ANOTHER WORKSTATION? 11-3 __________________________________________________________ 11.3 HOW CAN I GET THE INFORMATION FROM SHOW DISPLAY INTO A SYMBOL? 11-3 __________________________________________________________ 11.4 HOW DO I GET A LOG OF A DECTERM SESSION? 11-4 __________________________________________________________ 11.5 WHY DOES THE DELETE KEY DELETE FORWARD INSTEAD OF BACKWARD? 11-4 __________________________________________________________ 11.6 WHY IS DECWINDOWS MOTIF NOT STARTING? 11-5 __________________________________________________________ 11.7 HOW DO I SET THE TITLE ON A DECTERM WINDOW? 11-8 __________________________________________________________ 11.8 HOW DO I CUSTOMIZE DECWINDOWS, INCLUDING THE LOGIN SCREEN? 11-8 __________________________________________________________ 11.9 WHY DOESN'T XTAPPADDINPUT() WORK ON OPENVMS? 11-10 __________________________________________________________ 11.10 WHY DO THE KEYBOARD ARROW KEYS MOVE THE DECWINDOWS CURSOR? 11-11 __________________________________________________________ 11.11 WHY DOES HALF MY DECWINDOWS DISPLAY BLANK? 11-11 __________________________________________________________ 11.12 %DECW-W-NODEVICE, NO GRAPHICS DEVICE FOUND ON THIS SYSTEM? 11-12 xvi Contents __________________________________________________________ 11.13 HOW CAN I RESET THE WARNING BELL VOLUME? 11-14 __________________________________________________________ 11.14 HOW CAN I ALTER THE DECWINDOWS CDE BACKDROP? 11-15 __________________________________________________________ 11.15 HOW CAN I ENABLE THE DECWINDOWS TCP/IP TRANSPORT 11-15 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 12 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 12-1 __________________________________________________________ 12.1 WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON ESCAPE AND CONTROL SEQUENCES? 12-1 __________________________________________________________ 12.2 DOES DECPRINT (DCPS) WORK WITH THE LRA0 PARALLEL PORT? 12-3 __________________________________________________________ 12.3 HOW DO I CHECK FOR FREE SPACE ON A (BACKUP) TAPE? 12-3 __________________________________________________________ 12.4 SO WHAT HAPPENED TO SYS$CMSUPER? 12-4 __________________________________________________________ 12.5 CORRECTLY USING LICENSE PAKS AND LMF? 12-5 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 13 FINDING AND USING SOFTWARE 13-1 __________________________________________________________ 13.1 WHERE CAN I FIND FREEWARE/SHAREWARE/SOFTWARE FOR OPENVMS? 13-1 xvii Contents __________________________________________________________ 13.2 WHERE CAN I FIND UNIX TOOLS FOR OPENVMS? 13-14 13.2.1 POSIX-compliant versions of POSIX routines and utilities 13-14 13.2.2 C system and library routines 13-14 13.2.3 X Windows utilities and routines 13-14 13.2.4 TCP/IP Tools and Utilities for OpenVMS? 13-15 13.2.5 The vi text editor 13-15 13.2.6 Various GNU tools 13-16 13.2.6.1 GCC compiler, 13-16 __________________________________________________________ 13.3 WHERE CAN I GET THE MOZILLA WEB BROWSER? 13-17 __________________________________________________________ 13.4 WHERE CAN I GET JAVA FOR OPENVMS? 13-18 __________________________________________________________ 13.5 OBTAINING USER INPUT IN DCL CGI SCRIPT? 13-19 __________________________________________________________ 13.6 HOW CAN A BATCH JOB GET ITS OWN BATCH ENTRY NUMBER? 13-19 __________________________________________________________ 13.7 HOW DO I CONVERT TO NEW CMS OR DTM LIBRARIES? 13-20 __________________________________________________________ 13.8 WHERE CAN I GET NEW CERTIFICATES FOR NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR? 13-21 __________________________________________________________ 13.9 WHY DOESN'T DCL SYMBOL SUBSTITUTION WORK? 13-22 __________________________________________________________ 13.10 WHERE CAN I GET PERL FOR OPENVMS? 13-23 __________________________________________________________ 13.11 OBTAINING THE DECMIGRATE (VEST AND TIE) TRANSLATOR? 13-24 __________________________________________________________ 13.12 WHERE CAN I GET ZIP, UNZIP, SELF-EXTRACTING ZIP, ETC? 13-25 __________________________________________________________ 13.13 ARE VAX HARDWARE EMULATORS AVAILABLE? 13-26 xviii Contents ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 14 HARDWARE INFORMATION 14-1 __________________________________________________________ 14.1 WHAT ARE THE OPENVMS DIFFERENCES AMONG VAX, ALPHA, AND IA-64? 14-1 __________________________________________________________ 14.2 SEEKING PERFORMANCE INFORMATION FOR ALPHA (AND VAX) SYSTEMS? 14-2 __________________________________________________________ 14.3 CONSOLE COMMANDS, SERIAL LINES, AND CONTROLS? 14-3 14.3.1 What commands are available in the Alpha SRM console? 14-3 14.3.2 What does SRM mean? What is PALcode? 14-4 14.3.3 Alpha COM ports and VAX console serial line information? 14-4 14.3.3.1 Which terminal device name is assigned to the COM ports?, 14-4 14.3.3.2 Which serial port is the console on the MicroVAX 3100?, 14-4 14.3.3.3 How can I set up an alternate console on a VAXstation?, 14-5 14.3.3.4 Please explain the back panel of the MicroVAX II, 14-5 14.3.4 What are Alpha console environment variables? 14-6 14.3.5 What are the boot control flag values? 14-7 14.3.5.1 What are the Alpha APB boot flag values?, 14-7 14.3.5.2 What are the VAX VMB boot flag values?, 14-8 14.3.6 How do I boot an AlphaStation without monitor or keyboard? 14-11 14.3.7 Downloading and using SRM console Firmware? 14-11 14.3.7.1 Where can I get updated console firmware for Alpha systems?, 14-12 14.3.7.2 How do I reload SRM firmware on a half-flash Alpha system?, 14-13 14.3.7.3 How do I switch between AlphaBIOS/ARC and SRM consoles?, 14-13 14.3.8 Console Management Options 14-16 xix Contents __________________________________________________________ 14.4 WHAT PLATFORMS WILL OPENVMS OPERATE ON? 14-17 14.4.1 on the Alpha Multia? 14-19 14.4.2 on AlphaPC 164LX? AlphaPC 164SX? 14-20 14.4.2.1 on the NoName AXPpci33 system?, 14-20 14.4.3 on the Alpha XL series? 14-21 14.4.4 OpenVMS on the Personal Workstation -a and -au series? 14-21 14.4.4.1 OpenVMS on the Whitebox Windows-Only series Alpha?, 14-22 14.4.4.2 OpenVMS and Personal Workstation ATA (IDE) bootstrap?, 14-23 14.4.5 On the Intel Itanium IA-64 platform? 14-23 14.4.5.1 Where can I get Intel Itanium information?, 14-24 __________________________________________________________ 14.5 WHAT IS THE LEAST EXPENSIVE SYSTEM THAT WILL RUN OPENVMS? 14-24 __________________________________________________________ 14.6 WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ON ALPHA SYSTEMS? 14-25 __________________________________________________________ 14.7 DESCRIBE ALPHA INSTRUCTION EMULATION AND INSTRUCTION SUBSETS? 14-27 __________________________________________________________ 14.8 WHAT IS THE ACCURACY OF THE ALPHA TIME OF YEAR (BB_WATCH) CLOCK? 14-28 __________________________________________________________ 14.9 SO HOW DO I OPEN UP THE DEC 3000 CHASSIS? 14-29 __________________________________________________________ 14.10 WHAT IS BYTE SWIZZLING? 14-29 __________________________________________________________ 14.11 WHAT IS THE LAYOUT OF THE VAX FLOATING POINT FORMAT? 14-30 __________________________________________________________ 14.12 WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFO ABOUT VAX SYSTEMS? 14-31 xx Contents __________________________________________________________ 14.13 WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON NETBSD FOR VAX SYSTEMS? 14-32 __________________________________________________________ 14.14 WHAT SYSTEM DISK SIZE LIMIT ON THE MICROVAX AND VAXSTATION 3100? 14-32 __________________________________________________________ 14.15 WHAT IS THE ACCURACY OF VAX THE TIME OF YEAR (TOY) CLOCK? 14-33 __________________________________________________________ 14.16 WHAT ARE THE VAX PROCESSOR (CPU) CODES? 14-33 __________________________________________________________ 14.17 WHERE CAN I GET SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE SUPPORT INFORMATION? 14-35 __________________________________________________________ 14.18 WHERE CAN I GET HARDWARE SELF-MAINTENANCE SUPPORT ASSISTANCE? 14-36 __________________________________________________________ 14.19 WHY DOES MY SYSTEM HALT WHEN I POWER-CYCLE THE CONSOLE TERMINAL? 14-36 __________________________________________________________ 14.20 CAN I REUSE OLD KEYBOARDS, MICE AND MONITORS WITH A PC? 14-37 __________________________________________________________ 14.21 WHICH VIDEO MONITOR WORKS WITH WHICH GRAPHICS CONTROLLER? 14-39 __________________________________________________________ 14.22 WHERE CAN I GET INFORMATION ON STORAGE HARDWARE? 14-40 __________________________________________________________ 14.23 WHY DOES MY LK401 KEYBOARD UNEXPECTEDLY AUTOREPEAT? 14-40 __________________________________________________________ 14.24 PROBLEM - MY LK411 SENDS THE WRONG KEYCODES OR SOME KEYS ARE DEAD 14-41 xxi Contents __________________________________________________________ 14.25 WHICH DE500 VARIANT WORKS WITH WHICH OPENVMS VERSION? 14-41 __________________________________________________________ 14.26 THIRD-PARTY DISK/TAPE/CONTROLLERS/SCSI/WIDGETS ON OPENVMS? 14-43 14.26.1 Lists of third-party widgets on OpenVMS? 14-45 14.26.2 Are the 2X-KZPCA-AA and SN-KZPCA-AA LVD Ultra2 SCSI? 14-46 14.26.3 Resolving DRVERR fatal device error? 14-46 __________________________________________________________ 14.27 LOOKING FOR CONNECTOR WIRING PINOUTS? 14-46 __________________________________________________________ 14.28 WHAT CONNECTORS AND WIRING ADAPTERS ARE AVAILABLE? 14-49 __________________________________________________________ 14.29 WHAT IS FLOW CONTROL AND HOW DOES IT WORK? 14-50 __________________________________________________________ 14.30 CD-R AND DVD DEVICE REQUIREMENTS? 14-51 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 15 INFORMATION ON NETWORKS AND CLUSTERS 15-1 __________________________________________________________ 15.1 HOW TO CONNECT OPENVMS TO A MODEM? 15-1 __________________________________________________________ 15.2 OPENVMS AND IP NETWORKING? 15-1 15.2.1 How to connect OpenVMS to the Internet? 15-1 15.2.2 Connecting to an IP Printer? 15-1 15.2.3 How do I connect a PostScript printer via TCP/IP? 15-2 15.2.4 How do I set a default IP route or gateway on OpenVMS? 15-3 15.2.5 How can I set up reverse telnet (like reverse LAT)? 15-4 15.2.6 Why can't I use PPP and RAS to connect to OpenVMS Alpha? 15-4 xxii Contents __________________________________________________________ 15.3 OPENVMS AND DECNET NETWORKING? 15-4 15.3.1 Can DECnet-Plus operate over IP? 15-5 15.3.2 What does "failure on back translate address request" mean? 15-5 15.3.3 Performing SET HOST/MOP in DECnet-Plus? 15-6 __________________________________________________________ 15.4 HOW TO DETERMINE THE NETWORK HARDWARE ADDRESS? 15-6 15.4.1 How do I reset the LAN (DECnet-Plus NCL) error counters? 15-9 15.4.2 How do I install DECnet Phase IV on VMS 7.1? 15-9 __________________________________________________________ 15.5 HOW CAN I SEND (RADIO) PAGES FROM MY OPENVMS SYSTEM? 15-10 __________________________________________________________ 15.6 OPENVMS, CLUSTERS, VOLUME SHADOWING? 15-11 15.6.1 OpenVMS Cluster Communications Protocol Details? 15-11 15.6.1.1 OpenVMS Cluster (SCS) over DECnet? Over IP?, 15-11 15.6.1.2 Configuring Cluster SCS for path load balancing?, 15-12 15.6.1.2.1 Cluster Terminology?, 15-12 15.6.1.2.2 Cluster Communications Control?, 15-14 15.6.1.2.3 Cluster Communications Control Tools and Utilities?, 15-15 15.6.2 Cluster System Parameter Settings? 15-16 15.6.2.1 What is the correct value for EXPECTED_VOTES in a VMScluster?, 15-16 15.6.2.2 Explain disk (or tape) allocation class settings?, 15-18 15.6.2.2.1 How to configure allocation classes and Multi-Path SCSI?, 15-19 15.6.3 Tell me about SET HOST/DUP and SET HOST/HSC 15-20 15.6.4 How do I rename a DSSI disk (or tape?) 15-21 15.6.5 Where can I get Fibre Channel Storage (SAN) information? 15-23 15.6.6 How can I split up an OpenVMS Cluster? 15-23 xxiii Contents 15.6.7 Details on Volume Shadowing? 15-25 15.6.7.1 Does volume shadowing require a non-zero allocation classes?, 15-25 ________________________________________________________________ INDEX ________________________________________________________________ TABLES 1-1 Core Websites 1-1 2-1 OpenVMS Media Kits 2-5 2-2 OpenVMS ECO Kits 2-5 2-3 OpenVMS Source Listings CD-ROM Kits 2-6 2-4 OpenVMS Alpha Version Rule-Of-Thumb 2-14 3-1 OpenVMS Websites 3-2 3-2 Telephone Numbers 3-5 3-3 OpenVMS Tutorial Websites 3-7 3-4 DP Books 3-9 3-5 OpenVMS Mailing Lists 3-10 11-1 X Windows Display Commands 11-1 xxiv ________________________________________________________________ Preface i ________________________________________________________________ OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) This is the OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) posting for the comp.os.vms and comp.sys.dec usenet newsgroups. Suggestions and Updates Welcome! Please send your suggestions for changes, additions, or corrections directly to the FAQ Editor. Please! No Support Questions! Please do not send technical questions to the FAQ Editor. The FAQ editor is not in a position to answer general questions, nor to provide support. Rather, please post your questions to the appropriate newsgroup, or please contact your prefered hardware or software support organization(s) directly. Your understanding in this 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. Thank you! Post to Newsgroups With Care! Please consider reading Section 1.3 before posting to the comp.os.vms or any other newsgroups. iii OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) _____________________________ 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 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 newsgroups, and that have contributed to the contents of this FAQ.) The following is an incomplete list of the folks that have contributed directly or indirectly to the contents of the OpenVMS FAQ. Additions, corrections, and updates to this list of contributors and to the contents of the FAQ itself are welcome, and all omissions and misspellings are unintentional. Thanks to each of the contributors here, and to all of the folks that have participated in the FAQ and in the newsgroups. Paul Anderson, Jason Armistead, Zoltan Arpadffy, John AtoZ, Bailey, Jeremy Begg, Colin Blake, Ken Blaylock, Kenneth Block, Bol, Craig Berry, Mark Berryman, Jim Becker, Verell Boaen, Bol, Jim Brankin, Richard Brodie, Robert Alan Byer, Jeff Campbell, Scott Campbell, Antonio Carlini, Keith Cayemberg, Ken Chaney, Cristy, John Croll, David J. Dachtera, Robert Deininger, Dale Dellutri, Leo Demers, Sue Denham, Thomas Dickey, Eric Dittman, Jim Dunham, Eric, Glenn Everhart, Ken Fairfield, Yaacov Fenster, Gunther Froehlin, Harry Garonzik, Derek Garson, John Gillings, Andy Goldstein, Clair Grant, Hunter Goatley, Ruth Goldenberg, Vance Haemmerle, Ki Suk Hahn, SHarris, Fletcher Hearns, Phillip Helbig, Hein van den Heuvel, Stephen Hoffman, Eberhard Heuser-Hofmann, Sue Holt, Horn, Jaf, Leif Jansson, Kevin Jenkins, Henry Juengst, inazu_k, Geoff Kingsmill, Fred Kleinsorge, Felix Kreisel, Veli Korkko, Ruslan R. Laishev, Norm Lastovica, p_ lee, Jerry Leichter, Richard Levitte, Steve Lionel, Kerry Main, John E. Malmberg, David Mathog, Dale Miller, Dick Munroe, Patrick Moreau, Morrison, otis, George Pagliarulo, Keith Parris, Plass, pvhp, David Rabahy, Stan Rabinowitz, Mike Raspuzzi, Steve Reece, iv OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Aaron Sakovich, Warren Sander, Mark Schafer, Brian Schenkenberger, Atlant Schmidt, Wayne Sewell, Steven Shamlian, Sue Skonetski, Scott Snadow, Scott Squires, stfp, Dave Sweeney, Mike Thompson, Arne Vajhøj, Martin 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 of any omissions, corrections, or updates that might be needed within this list. And thanks to each of these individuals for their assistance and for their contributions, and particularly for sharing their expertise. __________________________________________________________ FAQ Archives and FAQ Locations The OpenVMS FAQ is archived in (at least) the following locations: o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/faq/ o ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.os.vms/ o comp.answers and news.answers newsgroups o http://www.faqs.org/ o http://www.google.com/ o http://www.kjsl.com/vmsfaq o http://eisner.decus.org/vms/faq.htm Other internet FAQs are generally available in these locations: o comp.answers and news.answers newsgroups o ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/... o http://www.faqs.org/ o http://www.google.com/ v OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) __________________________________________________________ FAQ File Formats and Production Information This FAQ is available in ASCII text, Postscript, Bookreader, HTML, and other document file formats. 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 recommends downloading, using and searching the ASCII text FAQ format. The OpenVMS FAQ is maintained in DECdocument SDML format and all FAQ maintenance and the primary output file format conversions are performed on OpenVMS systems. For information on the DECdocument product, please contact Touch Technologies. __________________________________________________________ Old FAQ Section Notations Available in Index For the folks that are familiar with older editions of this FAQ and specifically for those folks looking for the older section name keywords, please see the index entries located under FAQ Sections (Old). These older section names include the prefixes DCL, DECW, DOC, FILES, MISC, MGMT, INTRO, SOFT, VMS, etc., followed by the section number. __________________________________________________________ The Fine Print All trademarks, registered trademarks, servicemarks and registered servicemarks used or referenced here are the properties of their respective owner(s) or holders. The redistribution, reposting and/or the web-serving of complete and unaltered copies of this FAQ document is permitted. Other uses only with prior permission. While the information contained here is believed correct, the use of any and all information acquired from this document is entirely at the risk of the user(s). vi OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Though the editor of this FAQ is an employee of Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), this posting and the information contained within this FAQ are neither official statements nor commitments of HP. vii _______________________________________________________ 1 Introduction __________________________________________________________ 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_____________________________________ Core OpenVMS Information http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/ OpenVMS Future Release Contents, Release Schedules http://www.openvms.compaq.com/openvms/roadmap/openvms_ roadmaps.htm OpenVMS and Core Layered Product Documentation http://www.openvms.compaq.com/doc/ http://www.openvms.compaq.com/commercial/ Core OpenVMS Support Search Engine URLs, FTP Patch Area 1-1 Introduction ________________________________________________________________ Table 1-1 (Cont.) Core Websites _______________________________________________________ URL_______Contents_____________________________________ http://askq.compaq.com/ http://www.itrc.hp.com/ ftp://ftp.itrc.hp.com/openvms_patches/ with older sites available (pending completion of a move into ITRC): http://ftp.support.compaq.com.au/pub/ecoinfo/ecoinfo/ ftp://ftp.support.compaq.com/public/vms/vax/... ftp://ftp.support.compaq.com/public/vms/axp/... The OpenVMS Freeware http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/ The OpenVMS Hobbyist _________http://www.openvmshobbyist.org/________________________ __________________________________________________________ 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 comp.os.vms newsgroup and the vmsnet.* heirarchy of newsgroups. _____________________________ 1.2.1 What is the scope of the comp.os.vms newsgroup? The 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 comp.os.vms. 1-2 Introduction _____________________________ 1.2.2 What newsgroups carry VMS-related information? The vmsnet.* hierarchy is operated by the Encompass users group (formerly known as DECUS), and contains various newsgroups of interest, including vmsnet.misc and vmsnet.alpha. Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Besuchen Sie bitte den newsgroup de.comp.os.vms. The comp.sys.dec newsgroup carries general discussions about various HP computer systems, and specifically systems that were acquired by HP as part of the acquisition of Compaq, systems which had previously been acquired by Compaq as part of the acquisition of Digital Equipment Corporation (DIGITAL). Also of interest are resources and conferencing systems including Encompasserve (formerly known as DECUServe), Ken Farmer's OpenVMS.Org forums, and the Compaq Working Group folks: o telnet://eisner.decus.org/ o http://www.openvms.org/ o http://www.compaqworkinggroup.org/ _____________________________ 1.2.3 What newsgroup archives are available? Extensive archives of INFO-VAX mailings and comp.os.vms postings are archived and available at ftp://crvax.sri.com/info-vax/. Google also has extensive newsgroup archives available at http://www.google.com/. _____________________________ 1.2.4 What is the INFO-VAX mailing list? INFO-VAX is a mailing list which is bidirectionally gatewayed to the comp.os.vms newsgroup. This means that postings to comp.os.vms get automatically sent to INFO-VAX subscribers and messages sent to the INFO-VAX list are automatically posted to comp.os.vms. INFO-VAX can be a useful way to participate in the newsgroup if you can't access the newsgroup directly through 1-3 Introduction a newsreader. Note that INFO-VAX is a closed mailing list, which means that only subscribers may post to it. Please see Section 1.2.4.1 for information on how to subscribe, and how you can subscribe such that you can post from multiple addresses but still receive no more than one copy of the mailings. Please remember that propogation delays can and do vary, meaning that mailings and postings may be delayed or even lost. It is quite possible that postings may not be delivered for several days, and that some postings will appear out of the expected order. For details on the available archives, please see Section 1.2.3. _____________________________ 1.2.4.1 How do I subscribe to or unsubscribe from INFO-VAX? The address for subscription requests is Info-VAX- Request[at]Mvb.Saic.Com. Subscription requests are handled automatically by a mail server. This mail server ignores the subject line and processes each line of the message as a command. The syntax for subscribing and unsubscribing, as well as setting various parameters on your subscription, is: SUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX (ADD is a valid synonym) UNSUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX (REMOVE, SIGNOFF, and SIGN-OFF are valid synonyms) SET INFO-VAX DIGEST (to receive in Digest format) SET INFO-VAX NODIGEST (to receive each message individually) SET INFO-VAX NOMAIL (to establish an email address for posting, though not receiving, mail.) SET INFO-VAX MAIL (to establish an email address for both posting and receiving mail.) The mail server is not case-sensitive; case is irrelevant. Attempts to fetch copies of the mailing list are rejected for reasons of confidentiality. Any message not understood by the mailserver will be returned entirely unprocessed. The INFO-VAX moderator can be contacted directly at the email address Mark.Berryman[at]Mvb.Saic.Com. 1-4 Introduction If you are on Bitnet, send a mail message containing the text SUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX to LISTSERVE[at][nearest- Listserv-system). To unsubscribe, send a message containing the text SIGNOFF INFO-VAX to the same Listserv system. If you are on the Internet in the UK, send a message containing the word SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE to info- vax-request[at]ncdlab.ulcc.ac.uk. __________________________________________________________ 1.3 What is [n]etiquette? Before posting or emailing a question, please use the available local resources, such as the OpenVMS manuals, the HELP, and the resources and information in and referenced by this FAQ. Please use these first. Also please specifically read the release notes and (if appropriate) the cover letter for the product you are using. (The release notes are generally placed in SYS$HELP:.) Quite often, these simple steps will allow you to quickly find the answer to your own question-and more quickly than waiting for a response to question posted to a newsgroup, too. These steps will save you time, and will also help ensure you have a good reputation with the folks that might be included to answer one of your future questions, a question not covered in these resources. Put 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 to "annoy the natives" by asking a question that has already been answered far more times more than you might have realized, or a question whose answer is readily available had you made a small effort. When posting, please consider the following suggestions: o There is no particularly reliable way to recall, erase, delete, or otherwise hide a message once it is emailed or once posted. Once your message has reached an external email server or multiple news servers, the entire text is effectively a permanent fixture of the network. And using the available 1-5 Introduction search engines, a fixture that is easy to locate and to correlate. For details on some of the many available archives, please see Section 1.2.3. o Include a valid e-mail address in the text of your posting or in a "signature" appended to the end. Reply-to addresses in headers often get garbled. Anonymous addresses can also simply be ignored, as fake addresses are regularly used by folks that are "trolling" and by folks that are spamming. (Though to avoid spam-harvesting of your email address, consider adding characters or a field into the address-but remember to include details around which characters or fields should be removed or altered if you decide to be particularly clever here.) o If you are submitting a question, please be as specific as you can. Include relevant information such as processor type, product versions (OpenVMS and layered products that apply), error message(s), DCL command(s) used, and a short, reproducible example of problems. Say what you've tried so far, so that effort isn't duplicated. Keep in mind that there's not yet a telepathy protocol for the Internet. (The more detailed your description, the better that people can help you with your question.) o If responding to a posting, include in your reply only as much of the original posting as is necessary to establish context. As a guideline, consider that if you've included more text than you've added, you've possibly included too much. Never include signatures and other irrelevant material. o Please be polite. If the question isn't worded the way you think is correct or doesn't include the information you want, try to imagine what the problem might be if viewed from the poster's perspective. Requests for additional detailed information are often better sent through mail rather than posted to the newsgroup. 1-6 Introduction o 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. o 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 reading the 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 comp.os.vms participants will use tools that have this support disabled, or that do not have this support. If the message uses MIME or attachments or such, the text of your message will be buried in a large pile of gibberish, and some tools will send multiple copies of the text within a single posting. o If you find that the postings of a particular user are uninteresting, annoying, or off-topic, most newsreaders include a filter or killfile mechanism, and many mail clients have similar filtering capabilities. Please do not "flame"-to email or to post vitriol - any individual that might annoy you, please enable and filter all of that users postings. Posting of vitriol and flames will eventually come back to haunt you. Similarly, readers that decide that your postings are not worthy of reading will similarly tend to filter or to killfile all of your postings. Please play nice, in other words. Before posting your question to the comp.os.vms newsgroup 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: o ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/primer/part1 o ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/faq/part1 1-7 Introduction o ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/emily- postnews/part1 o ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/writing- style/part1 o ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/posting- rules/part1 This information will document the etiquette of newsgroups, as well as providing you with the knowledge the vast amount of newsgroup-related information that is readily available to you, and where to find it... Note Please do not post security holes or system crashers Rather, please report these problems directly to HP. Why? So that HP has a chance to resolve and distribute a fix before other customer sites can be affected. Most folks in the newsgroups are honest and deserve to know about potential security problems, but a few folks can and will make nefarious use of this same information. Other sites will hopefully return the courtesy, and will not post information that will potentially compromise your site and your computer environment. __________________________________________________________ 1.4 What OpenVMS user group(s) are available? Encompass, the Enterprise Computing Association, is a user group comprised of information technology professionals that are interested in the Enterprise- oriented products, services, and technologies of Compaq and of the former DIGITAL. Encompass offers newsletters, the Encompass website, and offers various gatherings and related services, including symposia events and local users group meetings. Encompass is a descendent of the organization known as DECUS, the Digital Equipment Computer Users Society. 1-8 Introduction For more information on Encompass, please visit the Encompass web site: o http://www.encompassus.org/ The organization comprised of customers of Hewlett- Packard Company (HP) that is probably most analogous to the Encompass organization is Interex: o http://www.interex.org/ Like Encompass, Interex offers various services and events of interest to folks that presently work with and/or that wish to learn about HP products and offerings. Please see the Interex website for details. __________________________________________________________ 1.5 OpenVMS Support, Questions and Comments? The following section includes contacts for OpenVMS Feedback, and information on how to obtain technical support information. _____________________________ 1.5.1 Corporate contacts for OpenVMS Business Issues? The following folks are the HP corporate contacts for OpenVMS business issues, listed in descending order from Carleton (Carly) Fiorina to the Vice President of the OpenVMS Engineering organization: o Carly Fiorina o Peter Blackmore o Scott Stallard o Richard Marcello o Mark Gorham These folks will quite obviously respond best to cogently-worded OpenVMS corporate-level business issues. These folks are noit appropriate contacts for any OpenVMS technical support issues nor for any OpenVMS technical support requests, nor for any other non-corporate-related, non-business-related issues. 1-9