Archive-name: dec-faq/vms/part1 Posting-Frequency: quarterly Last-modified: 02 Sep 2005 Version: VMSFAQ_20050902-01.TXT See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge 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. This document is available in various formats, and the text-format version of this FAQ is generally the easiest format to search. Revision/Update Information OpenVMS V8.2-1 Revision/Update Information: Revision Date/September 2005 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 1.2.1.1 Using the Natural Language Search Assistant (AskQ)?, 1-2 1.2.2 What newsgroups carry VMS-related information? 1-4 1.2.3 What newsgroup archives are available? 1-5 1.2.4 What is the INFO-VAX mailing list? 1-5 1.2.4.1 How do I subscribe to or unsubscribe from INFO-VAX?, 1-5 __________________________________________________________ 1.3 WHAT IS [N]ETIQUETTE? 1-7 __________________________________________________________ 1.4 WHAT OPENVMS USER GROUP(S) ARE AVAILABLE? 1-10 __________________________________________________________ 1.5 OPENVMS SUPPORT, QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS? 1-11 1.5.1 Corporate contacts for OpenVMS Business Issues? 1-11 1.5.2 OpenVMS Ambassadors? 1-12 1.5.3 Contact for OpenVMS Marketing Issues and Questions? 1-12 1.5.4 Contact URLs for OpenVMS Technical Issues? 1-12 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? 2-3 __________________________________________________________ 2.3 WHAT'S IN A NAME? TERMINOLOGY AND PRODUCTS? 2-3 2.3.1 How do I port from VMS to OpenVMS? 2-4 __________________________________________________________ 2.4 WHICH IS BETTER, OPENVMS OR UNIX? 2-4 __________________________________________________________ 2.5 IS HP CONTINUING FUNDING AND SUPPORT FOR OPENVMS? 2-5 __________________________________________________________ 2.6 WHAT OPENVMS DISTRIBUTION KITS ARE AVAILABLE? 2-5 2.6.1 Where can I download OpenVMS and Layered Product Kits? 2-8 __________________________________________________________ 2.7 IN WHAT LANGUAGE IS OPENVMS WRITTEN? 2-8 __________________________________________________________ 2.8 OBTAINING AND TRANSFERING OPENVMS LICENSES? 2-9 2.8.1 Questions asked by Hobbyist OpenVMS licensees? 2-9 2.8.1.1 Vendors offering Hobbyist Licenses, 2-10 2.8.2 OpenVMS Educational and CSLG licenses? 2-11 2.8.3 What developer and partner licensing programs are available? 2-11 2.8.4 How do I obtain or transfer an OpenVMS license? 2-12 __________________________________________________________ 2.9 DOES OPENVMS SUPPORT THE EURO CURRENCY SYMBOL? 2-12 __________________________________________________________ 2.10 OPENVMS PORTS? ITANIUM? PORTS TO IA-32, EM64T OR AMD64 SYSTEMS? 2-12 iv Contents __________________________________________________________ 2.11 ARE THERE ANY NETWORK-ACCESSIBLE OPENVMS SYSTEMS? 2-16 __________________________________________________________ 2.12 WHAT VERSION OF OPENVMS DO I NEED? 2-17 __________________________________________________________ 2.13 HOW CAN I SUBMIT OPENVMS FREEWARE? 2-19 __________________________________________________________ 2.14 PORTING APPLICATIONS TO OPENVMS? 2-19 __________________________________________________________ 2.15 WHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO OPENVMS SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS? 2-20 __________________________________________________________ 2.16 MEMORY MANAGEMENT, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROCESS SCHEDULING, ETC? 2-21 __________________________________________________________ 2.17 BASIC UNITS OF MEASUREMENT? 2-22 2.17.1 How many bytes are in a disk block? 2-23 2.17.2 How many bytes are in a memory page? 2-24 2.17.3 How do I convert? Disk Blocks? KB, MB, GB, TB? 2-25 ________________________________________________________________ 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? 3-2 __________________________________________________________ 3.3 HOW DO I EXTRACT THE CONTENTS OF A HELP TOPIC TO A TEXT FILE? 3-5 __________________________________________________________ 3.4 DOES OPENVMS MARKETING HAVE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS? 3-5 v Contents __________________________________________________________ 3.5 WHERE CAN I LEARN ABOUT OPENVMS EXECUTIVE INTERNALS? 3-5 __________________________________________________________ 3.6 WHERE CAN NEW USERS FIND TUTORIAL INFORMATION ABOUT OPENVMS? 3-6 3.6.1 Tutorial Websites? 3-6 3.6.2 Books and Tutorials? 3-8 __________________________________________________________ 3.7 WHAT OPENVMS MAILING LISTS ARE AVAILABLE? 3-10 __________________________________________________________ 3.8 WHAT IS THIS ASK THE WIZARD WEBSITE I'VE HEARD ABOUT? 3-11 __________________________________________________________ 3.9 WHERE CAN I FIND THE LATEST C RUN-TIME LIBRARY MANUALS? 3-12 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 4 TIME AND TIMEKEEPING 4-1 __________________________________________________________ 4.1 A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENVMS TIMEKEEPING, PLEASE? 4-1 4.1.1 Details of the OpenVMS system time-keeping? 4-2 4.1.1.1 VAX hardware time-keeping details..., 4-3 4.1.1.1.1 TOY clock, 4-3 4.1.1.1.2 EXE$GQ_SYSTIME, 4-3 4.1.1.1.3 EXE$GQ_TODCBASE, 4-3 4.1.1.1.4 EXE$GL_TODR, 4-4 4.1.1.2 Alpha hardware time-keeping details..., 4-5 4.1.1.2.1 Battery-Backed Watch (BB_WATCH) Chip, 4-5 4.1.1.2.2 EXE$GQ_SYSTIME, 4-6 4.1.1.2.3 EXE$GQ_SAVED_HWCLOCK, 4-6 4.1.1.3 Why does VAX need a SET TIME at least once a year?, 4-7 4.1.2 How does OpenVMS VAX maintain system time? 4-7 vi Contents __________________________________________________________ 4.2 KEEPING THE OPENVMS SYSTEM TIME SYNCHRONIZED? 4-9 __________________________________________________________ 4.3 EXTERNAL TIME-BASE HARDWARE? 4-11 4.3.1 Why do my cluster batch jobs start early? 4-11 4.3.2 Why does my OpenVMS system time drift? 4-12 4.3.3 Resetting the system time into the past? 4-13 4.3.4 How can I drift the OpenVMS system time? 4-13 4.3.5 How can I configure TCP/IP Services NTP as a time provider? 4-14 __________________________________________________________ 4.4 MANAGING TIMEZONES, TIMEKEEPING, UTC, AND DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME? 4-16 4.4.1 Creating, Updating and Managing Timezone Definitions? 4-19 4.4.1.1 Customizing or Updating your TDF (Timezone) Setting?, 4-20 4.4.1.2 US Daylight Time Changes Starting 1-Mar-2007?, 4-22 4.4.2 Timezones and Time-related Logical Names? 4-22 4.4.3 How to troubleshoot TDF problems on OpenVMS? 4-23 __________________________________________________________ 4.5 WHY DOES THE SET TIME COMMAND FAIL? HELP MANAGING DTSS? 4-25 __________________________________________________________ 4.6 SETTING TIME ON ALPHASERVER ES47, ES80, GS1280 CONSOLE? 4-27 __________________________________________________________ 4.7 UTC VS GMT VS VS UT1/UT1/UT2 TDF? WHAT ARE THESE ACRONYMS? 4-29 __________________________________________________________ 4.8 USING W32TIME OR AN SNTP AS A TIME PROVIDER? 4-30 vii Contents ________________________________________________________________ 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 SOURCES OF OPENVMS SECURITY INFORMATION? 5-4 __________________________________________________________ 5.4 HOW DO I MOUNT AN ISO-9660 CD ON OPENVMS? 5-4 __________________________________________________________ 5.5 HOW DO I EXTRACT THE CONTENTS OF A PCSI KIT? 5-6 __________________________________________________________ 5.6 EMERGENCY (CONVERSATIONAL) SYSTEM STARTUP? 5-7 5.6.1 I've forgotten the SYSTEM password - what can I do? 5-11 5.6.2 My product licenses have expired - what can I do? 5-11 __________________________________________________________ 5.7 HOW DO I CHANGE THE NODE NAME OF AN OPENVMS SYSTEM? 5-12 __________________________________________________________ 5.8 WHY DOESN'T OPENVMS SEE THE NEW MEMORY I JUST ADDED? 5-14 __________________________________________________________ 5.9 HOW DO I CHANGE THE TEXT IN A USER'S UIC IDENTIFIER? 5-15 __________________________________________________________ 5.10 WHAT ARE THE OPENVMS VERSION UPGRADE PATHS? 5-16 5.10.1 OpenVMS Alpha Upgrade (or Update) Paths 5-16 5.10.2 OpenVMS I64 Upgrade Paths 5-19 5.10.3 OpenVMS VAX Release Upgrade Paths 5-20 5.10.4 OpenVMS Cluster Rolling Upgrade Paths 5-21 5.10.5 OpenVMS VAX Manual Organization 5-21 5.10.6 OpenVMS Product Version and Support Information 5-22 5.10.7 OpenVMS Alpha and I64 Upgrade Terminology 5-23 viii Contents __________________________________________________________ 5.11 WHY DO I HAVE A NEGATIVE NUMBER IN THE PAGEFILE RESERVABLE PAGES? 5-24 __________________________________________________________ 5.12 DO I HAVE TO UPDATE LAYERED PRODUCTS WHEN UPDATING OPENVMS? 5-26 __________________________________________________________ 5.13 HOW DO I CHANGE THE VOLUME LABEL OF A DISK? 5-26 __________________________________________________________ 5.14 HOW CAN I SET UP A SHARED DIRECTORY? 5-27 __________________________________________________________ 5.15 WHY DO I GET EXTRA BLANK PAGES ON MY HP PRINTER? 5-28 __________________________________________________________ 5.16 DRIVERS AND CONFIGURATION OF NEW GRAPHICS CONTROLLERS? 5-29 5.16.1 The ELSA GLoria Synergy 5-29 5.16.2 PowerStorm 300, PowerStorm 350 5-30 5.16.3 PowerStorm 3D30, PowerStorm 4D20 5-31 5.16.4 Radeon 7500 5-31 __________________________________________________________ 5.17 HOW CAN I ACQUIRE OPENVMS PATCHES, FIXES, AND ECOS? 5-31 __________________________________________________________ 5.18 HOW DO I MOVE THE QUEUE MANAGER DATABASE? 5-32 __________________________________________________________ 5.19 HOW DO I DELETE AN UNDELETABLE/UNSTOPPABLE (RWAST) PROCESS? 5-33 __________________________________________________________ 5.20 HOW DO I RESET THE ERROR COUNT(S)? 5-34 __________________________________________________________ 5.21 HOW DO I FIND OUT IF THE TAPE DRIVE SUPPORTS COMPRESSION? 5-37 __________________________________________________________ 5.22 CAN I COPY SYSUAF TO ANOTHER VERSION? TO VAX? TO ALPHA? 5-37 ix Contents __________________________________________________________ 5.23 HOW DO I DELETE (TIMEOUT) IDLE PROCESSES? 5-39 __________________________________________________________ 5.24 DO I NEED A PAK FOR THE DECEVENT (HP ANALYZE) TOOL? 5-40 __________________________________________________________ 5.25 INITIALIZE ACCVIO AND ANSI TAPE LABEL SUPPORT? 5-40 __________________________________________________________ 5.26 HOW DO I RECOVER FROM INSVIRMEM ERRORS? 5-41 __________________________________________________________ 5.27 HOW CAN I PREVENT A SERIAL TERMINAL LINE FROM INITIATING A LOGIN? 5-41 __________________________________________________________ 5.28 HOW DOES PCSI USE THE IMAGE BUILD_IDENT FIELD? 5-42 __________________________________________________________ 5.29 HOW CAN I TELL WHAT SOFTWARE (AND VERSION) IS INSTALLED? 5-44 __________________________________________________________ 5.30 WHAT FILE CHECKSUM TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE FOR OPENVMS? 5-45 __________________________________________________________ 5.31 WHAT (AND WHERE) IS THE OPENVMS MANAGEMENT STATION? 5-46 __________________________________________________________ 5.32 HOW TO DETERMINE CURRENT DISK FRAGMENTATION LEVEL? 5-46 __________________________________________________________ 5.33 SYSBOOT-I-FILENOTLOC, UNABLE TO LOCATE SYS$CPU_ROUTINES? 5-46 __________________________________________________________ 5.34 HOW CAN I CUSTOMIZE THE DCPS DEVICE CONTROL FOR A NEW PRINTER? 5-47 x Contents __________________________________________________________ 5.35 WHY DO $GETDEV MOUNTCNT AND SHOW DEVICE MOUNT COUNTS DIFFER? 5-48 __________________________________________________________ 5.36 WHAT SOFTWARE IS NEEDED FOR POSTSCRIPT PRINTERS? 5-49 __________________________________________________________ 5.37 HOW DO I REMOVE A PCSI-INSTALLED PATCH (ECO) KIT? 5-49 __________________________________________________________ 5.38 SYSINIT-E, ERROR MOUNTING SYSTEM DEVICE, STATUS=0072832C 5-50 __________________________________________________________ 5.39 RESOLVING LICENSE PAK PROBLEMS? 5-50 __________________________________________________________ 5.40 CHANGING THE OPENVMS VERSION NUMBER? 5-52 __________________________________________________________ 5.41 HOW TO PREVENT USERS FROM CHOOSING OBVIOUS PASSWORDS? 5-52 __________________________________________________________ 5.42 PLEASE HELP ME WITH THE OPENVMS BACKUP UTILITY? 5-54 5.42.1 Why isn't BACKUP/SINCE=BACKUP working? 5-54 5.42.1.1 Why has OpenVMS gone through the agony of this change?, 5-55 5.42.1.2 Can you get the old BACKUP behaviour back?, 5-55 5.42.2 What can I do to improve BACKUP performance? 5-55 5.42.3 Why is BACKUP not working as expected? 5-57 5.42.4 How do I fix a corrupt BACKUP saveset? 5-59 5.42.5 How do I write a BACKUP saveset to a remote tape? 5-60 5.42.6 How to perform a DoD security disk erasure? 5-61 5.42.7 How to enable telnet virtual terminals? 5-62 5.42.7.1 Volume Shadowing MiniCopy vs MiniMerge?, 5-63 5.42.7.1.1 Mini-Copy?, 5-64 5.42.7.1.2 Mini-Merge?, 5-64 xi Contents __________________________________________________________ 5.43 PLEASE EXPLAIN DELETE/ERASE AND FILE LOCKS? 5-65 __________________________________________________________ 5.44 MANAGING FILE VERSIONS? 5-65 __________________________________________________________ 5.45 HOST-BASED VOLUME SHADOWING AND RAID? 5-67 ________________________________________________________________ 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 __________________________________________________________ 7.3 HOW DO I PLAY SOUND FILES ON AN ALPHASTATION? DECSOUND DOESN'T WORK. 7-3 __________________________________________________________ 7.4 HOW DO I READ IBM EBCDIC TAPES ON OPENVMS? 7-3 __________________________________________________________ 7.5 HOW CAN I PATCH AN OPENVMS ALPHA IMAGE? 7-4 xii Contents ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 8 DCL DETAILS 8-1 __________________________________________________________ 8.1 DCL SYMBOLS AND OPENVMS LOGICAL NAMES? 8-1 __________________________________________________________ 8.2 HOW DO I RUN A PROGRAM WITH ARGUMENTS? 8-3 __________________________________________________________ 8.3 HOW CAN I CLEAR THE SCREEN IN DCL? 8-5 __________________________________________________________ 8.4 USING REPLY/LOG FROM DCL? DISABLING CONSOLE OPCOMS? 8-5 __________________________________________________________ 8.5 HOW DO I GENERATE A RANDOM NUMBER IN DCL? 8-6 __________________________________________________________ 8.6 WHAT DOES THE MCR COMMAND DO? 8-7 __________________________________________________________ 8.7 HOW DO I CHANGE THE OPENVMS SYSTEM PROMPT? 8-7 __________________________________________________________ 8.8 CAN I DO DECNET TASK-TO-TASK COMMUNICATION WITH DCL? 8-8 __________________________________________________________ 8.9 HOW CAN I GET THE WIDTH SETTING OF A TERMINAL? 8-9 __________________________________________________________ 8.10 WHY DOESN'T DCL SYMBOL SUBSTITUTION WORK? 8-9 __________________________________________________________ 8.11 HOW CAN I SUBSTITUTE SYMBOLS IN A PIPE? 8-10 __________________________________________________________ 8.12 USE OF RUN/DETACH, LOGINOUT, AND LOGICAL NAMES? 8-10 __________________________________________________________ 8.13 HOW TO USE ESCAPE AND CONTROL CHARACTERS IN DCL? 8-11 xiii Contents ________________________________________________________________ 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? 9-7 __________________________________________________________ 9.7 HOW DO I WRITE CD-RECORDABLE OR DVD MEDIA ON OPENVMS? 9-7 9.7.1 CD and DVD notation, terminology? 9-11 9.7.2 Use of RRD42 and other older (embossed-media) CD drives? 9-13 9.7.3 Creating Bootable OpenVMS I64 CD or DVD Media? SYS$SETBOOT? 9-13 __________________________________________________________ 9.8 WHAT I/O TRANSFER SIZE LIMITS EXIST IN OPENVMS? 9-14 __________________________________________________________ 9.9 CAN I USE ODBC TO CONNECT TO OPENVMS DATABASE FILES? 9-15 __________________________________________________________ 9.10 IF MY DISKS ARE SHOWN AS VIOC COMPATIBLE, AM I USING XFC? 9-15 xiv Contents __________________________________________________________ 9.11 RMS SEQUENTIAL FILES AND PLATFORM PORTABILITY? 9-16 ________________________________________________________________ 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? 10-5 __________________________________________________________ 10.5 HOW DO I LINK AGAINST SYS$SYSTEM:SYS.STB ON AN ALPHA SYSTEM? 10-5 __________________________________________________________ 10.6 HOW DO I DO A SET DEFAULT FROM INSIDE A PROGRAM? 10-5 __________________________________________________________ 10.7 HOW DO I TURN MY FORTRAN COMMON INTO A SHAREABLE IMAGE ON ALPHA? 10-5 __________________________________________________________ 10.8 HOW DO I CONVERT BETWEEN IEEE AND VAX FLOATING DATA? 10-6 __________________________________________________________ 10.9 HOW DO I GET THE ARGUMENT COUNT IN A FORTRAN ROUTINE? 10-7 __________________________________________________________ 10.10 HOW DO I GET A UNIQUE SYSTEM ID FOR LICENSING PURPOSES? 10-7 xv Contents __________________________________________________________ 10.11 WHAT IS AN EXECUTABLE, SHAREABLE, SYSTEM OR UWSS IMAGE? 10-8 __________________________________________________________ 10.12 HOW DO I DO A FILE COPY FROM A PROGRAM? 10-9 __________________________________________________________ 10.13 WHAT IS A DESCRIPTOR? 10-10 __________________________________________________________ 10.14 HOW DO I CREATE A PROCESS UNDER ANOTHER USERNAME? 10-12 __________________________________________________________ 10.15 WHY DO LIB$SPAWN, LIB$SET_SYMBOL FAIL IN DETACHED PROCESSES? 10-13 __________________________________________________________ 10.16 WHERE CAN I OBTAIN BLISS, AND THE LIBRARIES AND SUPPORTING FILES? 10-14 __________________________________________________________ 10.17 HOW CAN I OPEN A FILE FOR SHARED ACCESS? 10-15 __________________________________________________________ 10.18 HOW CAN I HAVE COMMON SOURCES FOR MESSAGES, CONSTANTS? 10-16 __________________________________________________________ 10.19 HOW DO I ACTIVATE THE OPENVMS DEBUGGER FROM AN APPLICATION? 10-16 __________________________________________________________ 10.20 DEALING WITH ENDIAN-NESS? 10-17 __________________________________________________________ 10.21 HOW TO RESOLVE LINK-I-DATMISCH ERRORS? 10-17 __________________________________________________________ 10.22 HP C AND OTHER OPENVMS C PROGRAMMING CONSIDERATIONS? 10-18 10.22.1 Other common C issues 10-21 10.22.2 Other common C++ issues 10-23 __________________________________________________________ 10.23 STATUS OF PROGRAMMING TOOLS ON OPENVMS VAX? 10-25 xvi Contents __________________________________________________________ 10.24 CHOOSING A VERSION NUMBER FOR APPLICATION CODE? 10-26 __________________________________________________________ 10.25 SELECTING A PROCESS DUMP DIRECTORY? 10-27 __________________________________________________________ 10.26 ACCESS TO ITANIUM ASSEMBLER? 10-28 __________________________________________________________ 10.27 KERNEL-MODE CODING RESTRICTIONS? 10-28 __________________________________________________________ 10.28 DECODING AN ACCESS VIOLATION (ACCVIO) ERROR? 10-29 __________________________________________________________ 10.29 GENERATING AN AUTODIN-II CRC32? 10-31 __________________________________________________________ 10.30 ENABLING BUILT-IN TRACING? 10-31 ________________________________________________________________ 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 IS DECWINDOWS MOTIF NOT STARTING? 11-4 __________________________________________________________ 11.6 HOW DO I SET THE TITLE ON A DECTERM WINDOW? 11-6 xvii Contents __________________________________________________________ 11.7 HOW DO I CUSTOMIZE DECWINDOWS, INCLUDING THE LOGIN SCREEN? 11-7 11.7.1 How do I customize DECwindows keymapping? 11-10 11.7.2 Why does the DELETE key delete forward instead of backward? 11-10 __________________________________________________________ 11.8 WHY DOESN'T XTAPPADDINPUT() WORK ON OPENVMS? 11-12 __________________________________________________________ 11.9 WHY DO THE KEYBOARD ARROW KEYS MOVE THE DECWINDOWS CURSOR? 11-13 __________________________________________________________ 11.10 WHY DOES HALF MY DECWINDOWS DISPLAY BLANK? 11-13 __________________________________________________________ 11.11 %DECW-W-NODEVICE, NO GRAPHICS DEVICE FOUND ON THIS SYSTEM? 11-14 __________________________________________________________ 11.12 HOW CAN I RESET THE WARNING BELL VOLUME? 11-16 __________________________________________________________ 11.13 HOW CAN I ALTER THE DECWINDOWS CDE BACKDROP? 11-17 __________________________________________________________ 11.14 HOW CAN I ENABLE THE DECWINDOWS TCP/IP TRANSPORT 11-17 __________________________________________________________ 11.15 CAN I USE DECWINDOWS 1.2-* ON OPENVMS V7.3-2 OR LATER? 11-17 __________________________________________________________ 11.16 HOW TO ADD FONTS INTO DECWINDOWS? 11-18 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 12 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 12-1 __________________________________________________________ 12.1 WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON ESCAPE AND CONTROL SEQUENCES? 12-1 xviii Contents __________________________________________________________ 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 CORRECTLY USING LICENSE PAKS AND LMF? 12-4 ________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 13 FINDING AND USING SOFTWARE 13-1 __________________________________________________________ 13.1 WHERE CAN I FIND FREEWARE/SHAREWARE/SOFTWARE FOR OPENVMS? 13-1 __________________________________________________________ 13.2 WHERE CAN I FIND UNIX TOOLS FOR OPENVMS? 13-15 13.2.1 C system and library routines 13-15 13.2.2 X Windows utilities and routines 13-16 13.2.3 TCP/IP Tools and Utilities for OpenVMS? 13-16 13.2.4 The vi text editor 13-17 13.2.5 The Emacs Text Editor 13-17 13.2.6 GNV: Various GNU tools 13-17 13.2.6.1 GCC compiler, 13-18 __________________________________________________________ 13.3 WHAT IS THE STATUS OF PL/I ON OPENVMS? 13-19 __________________________________________________________ 13.4 WHERE CAN I GET THE MOZILLA WEB BROWSER? 13-19 __________________________________________________________ 13.5 WHERE CAN I GET JAVA FOR OPENVMS? 13-20 __________________________________________________________ 13.6 OBTAINING USER INPUT IN DCL CGI SCRIPT? 13-21 __________________________________________________________ 13.7 HOW CAN A BATCH JOB GET ITS OWN BATCH ENTRY NUMBER? 13-22 __________________________________________________________ 13.8 HOW DO I CONVERT TO NEW CMS OR DTM LIBRARIES? 13-22 xix Contents __________________________________________________________ 13.9 WHERE CAN I GET PERL FOR OPENVMS? 13-23 __________________________________________________________ 13.10 OBTAINING THE DECMIGRATE (AEST OR VEST, AND TIE) TRANSLATOR? 13-25 __________________________________________________________ 13.11 WHERE CAN I GET ZIP, UNZIP, SELF-EXTRACTING ZIP, ETC? 13-26 __________________________________________________________ 13.12 ARE VAX HARDWARE EMULATORS AVAILABLE? 13-27 ________________________________________________________________ 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? 14-3 __________________________________________________________ 14.3 CONSOLE COMMANDS, SERIAL LINES, AND CONTROLS? 14-3 14.3.1 What commands are available in the Alpha SRM console? 14-4 14.3.2 What does SRM mean? What is PALcode? 14-4 14.3.3 Alpha COM ports and VAX console serial line information? 14-5 14.3.3.1 Which terminal device name is assigned to the COM ports?, 14-5 14.3.3.2 Which serial port is the console on the MicroVAX 3100?, 14-5 14.3.3.3 How can I set up an alternate console on a VAXstation?, 14-6 14.3.3.4 Please explain the back panel of the MicroVAX II, 14-6 14.3.4 What are Alpha console environment variables? 14-8 xx Contents 14.3.5 What are the boot control flag values? 14-9 14.3.5.1 What are the I64 IPB boot flag values?, 14-9 14.3.5.2 What are the Alpha APB boot flag values?, 14-10 14.3.5.3 What are the VAX VMB boot flag values?, 14-12 14.3.6 How do I boot an AlphaStation without monitor or keyboard? 14-15 14.3.7 Downloading and using SRM console Firmware? 14-16 14.3.7.1 Where can I get updated console firmware for Alpha systems?, 14-16 14.3.7.2 How do I reload SRM firmware on a half-flash Alpha system?, 14-17 14.3.7.3 How do I switch between AlphaBIOS/ARC and SRM consoles?, 14-18 14.3.8 Console Management Options 14-21 14.3.9 Why do my EFI Boot Aliases Fail? 14-22 14.3.10 Can OpenVMS access the EFI console Boot Aliases? 14-22 14.3.11 Downloading and using EFI Console Firmware? 14-22 __________________________________________________________ 14.4 WHAT PLATFORMS WILL OPENVMS OPERATE ON? 14-24 14.4.1 on the Alpha Multia? 14-26 14.4.2 on AlphaPC 164LX? AlphaPC 164SX? 14-28 14.4.2.1 on the NoName AXPpci33 system?, 14-28 14.4.3 on the Alpha XL series? 14-29 14.4.4 OpenVMS on the Personal Workstation -a and -au series? 14-29 14.4.4.1 OpenVMS on the Whitebox Windows-Only series Alpha?, 14-31 14.4.4.2 OpenVMS and Personal Workstation ATA (IDE) bootstrap?, 14-32 14.4.5 On the Intel Itanium IA-64 platform? 14-32 14.4.5.1 Where can I get Intel Itanium information?, 14-33 __________________________________________________________ 14.5 WHAT IS THE LEAST EXPENSIVE SYSTEM THAT WILL RUN OPENVMS? 14-34 xxi Contents __________________________________________________________ 14.6 WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ON ALPHA SYSTEMS? 14-35 __________________________________________________________ 14.7 DESCRIBE ALPHA INSTRUCTION EMULATION AND INSTRUCTION SUBSETS? 14-36 __________________________________________________________ 14.8 SO HOW DO I OPEN UP THE DEC 3000 CHASSIS? 14-38 __________________________________________________________ 14.9 WHAT IS BYTE SWIZZLING? 14-38 __________________________________________________________ 14.10 WHAT IS THE LAYOUT OF THE VAX FLOATING POINT FORMAT? 14-40 __________________________________________________________ 14.11 WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFO ABOUT VAX SYSTEMS? 14-41 __________________________________________________________ 14.12 WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON NETBSD FOR VAX SYSTEMS? 14-41 __________________________________________________________ 14.13 WHAT SYSTEM DISK SIZE LIMIT ON THE MICROVAX AND VAXSTATION 3100? 14-41 __________________________________________________________ 14.14 WHAT ARE THE VAX PROCESSOR (CPU) CODES? 14-43 __________________________________________________________ 14.15 WHERE CAN I GET SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE SUPPORT INFORMATION? 14-44 __________________________________________________________ 14.16 WHERE CAN I GET HARDWARE SELF-MAINTENANCE SUPPORT ASSISTANCE? 14-45 __________________________________________________________ 14.17 WHY DOES MY SYSTEM HALT WHEN I POWER-CYCLE THE CONSOLE TERMINAL? 14-45 __________________________________________________________ 14.18 CAN I REUSE OLD KEYBOARDS, MICE AND MONITORS WITH A PC? 14-46 xxii Contents __________________________________________________________ 14.19 WHICH VIDEO MONITOR WORKS WITH WHICH GRAPHICS CONTROLLER? 14-48 __________________________________________________________ 14.20 WHERE CAN I GET INFORMATION ON STORAGE HARDWARE? 14-49 __________________________________________________________ 14.21 WHY DOES MY LK401 KEYBOARD UNEXPECTEDLY AUTOREPEAT? 14-50 __________________________________________________________ 14.22 PROBLEM - MY LK411 SENDS THE WRONG KEYCODES OR SOME KEYS ARE DEAD 14-51 __________________________________________________________ 14.23 WHICH DE500 VARIANT WORKS WITH WHICH OPENVMS VERSION? 14-51 __________________________________________________________ 14.24 HOW DO I SET THE SPEED AND DUPLEX ON OPENVMS I64? 14-53 __________________________________________________________ 14.25 THIRD-PARTY OR UNSUPPORTED DISK/TAPE/CONTROLLERS/SCSI/WIDGETS? 14-53 14.25.1 Lists of third-party widgets on OpenVMS? 14-56 14.25.2 Are the 2X-KZPCA-AA and SN-KZPCA-AA LVD Ultra2 SCSI? 14-57 14.25.3 Resolving DRVERR fatal device error? 14-57 __________________________________________________________ 14.26 LOOKING FOR CONNECTOR WIRING PIN-OUTS? 14-57 __________________________________________________________ 14.27 WHAT CONNECTORS AND WIRING ADAPTERS ARE AVAILABLE? 14-60 __________________________________________________________ 14.28 WHAT IS FLOW CONTROL AND HOW DOES IT WORK? 14-63 __________________________________________________________ 14.29 CD AND DVD DEVICE REQUIREMENTS? 14-64 xxiii Contents ________________________________________________________________ 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 __________________________________________________________ 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 15.3.4 How to flush the DECnet-Plus session cache? 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? 15-11 xxiv Contents __________________________________________________________ 15.6 OPENVMS, CLUSTERS, VOLUME SHADOWING? 15-11 15.6.1 OpenVMS Cluster Communications Protocol Details? 15-12 15.6.1.1 OpenVMS Cluster (SCS) over DECnet? Over IP?, 15-12 15.6.1.2 Configuring Cluster SCS for path load balancing?, 15-13 15.6.1.2.1 Cluster Terminology?, 15-13 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 15.6.2.1.1 Why no shadowing for a Quorum Disk?, 15-19 15.6.2.2 Explain disk (or tape) allocation class settings?, 15-19 15.6.2.2.1 How to configure allocation classes and Multi-Path SCSI?, 15-20 15.6.3 Tell me about SET HOST/DUP and SET HOST/HSC 15-21 15.6.4 How do I rename a DSSI disk (or tape?) 15-23 15.6.5 Where can I get Fibre Channel Storage (SAN) information? 15-24 15.6.6 Which files must be shared in an OpenVMS Cluster? 15-24 15.6.7 How can I split up an OpenVMS Cluster? 15-25 15.6.8 Details on Volume Shadowing? 15-27 15.6.8.1 Does volume shadowing require a non-zero allocation classes?, 15-27 ________________________________________________________________ INDEX xxv Contents ________________________________________________________________ TABLES 1-1 Core Websites 1-1 1-2 INFO-VAX Mail Server Commands 1-6 2-1 OpenVMS Alpha Media Kits 2-6 2-2 OpenVMS I64 Order Numbers 2-7 2-3 OpenVMS I64 Media Suffix 2-7 2-4 OpenVMS Source Listings Kits 2-7 2-5 OpenVMS Alpha Version Rule-Of-Thumb 2-18 3-1 OpenVMS Websites 3-2 3-2 OpenVMS Tutorial and Documentation Websites 3-6 3-3 DP Books 3-8 3-4 OpenVMS Mailing Lists 3-10 5-1 PCSI Generation Number 5-43 11-1 X Windows Display Commands 11-1 14-1 I64 Conversational Bootstrap Flags 14-10 14-2 Alpha Conversational Bootstrap Flags 14-11 14-3 VAX Conversational Bootstrap Flags 14-12 14-4 DE500 Speed and Duplex Settings 14-52 14-5 DEC MMJ Pin-out 14-57 14-6 PC DB9 Pin-out 14-59 14-7 MicroVAX DB9 Pin-out 14-59 14-8 DECconnect MMJ Connectors and Adapters 14-61 15-1 Cluster Common Shared Files 15-24 xxvi ________________________________________________________________ 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 FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) No Support Questions, Please Please do not send technical questions to the FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) . The FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) is not in a position to answer general questions, nor to provide general product support. Rather, please post your questions to the appropriate newsgroup, or please contact your preferred hardware and/or software support organization(s) directly. Your 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 (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) for potential inclusion. Do note that the FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) 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 (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) . If you have or can find the current, correct or updated URL, of course, that greatly assists the FAQ Editor iii OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) in maintaining the most current set of links. Thank you! Post to Newsgroups With Care! Please consider reading Section 1.3 before posting to the comp.os.vms or 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 comp.os.vms or other newsgroup-this though individual citations and specific quotations are generally not included in this FAQ. (The FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) wishes to thank to all of those folks who post answers to the newsgroups, and that have contributed to the contents of and to the general improvements 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. Jim Agnew, Paul Anderson, Jason Armistead, Zoltan Arpadffy, John AtoZ, Bailey, (The) Beav, Jeremy Begg, Colin Blake, Fabrice Blanquart, 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 iv OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 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, Mark Hopkins, Horn, Jaf, Leif Jansson, Kevin Jenkins, Don R. Jones, 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, Denis Maillard, 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, Ian Ring, Aaron Sakovich, Warren Sander, Mark Schafer, Brian Schenkenberger, Atlant Schmidt, Wayne Sewell, Steven Shamlian, Sue Skonetski, Scott Snadow, Sue Sommer, 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 (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) 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 news://comp.answers o news://news.answers o http://www.faqs.org/ o http://www.google.com/ v OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) o http://www.kjsl.com/vmsfaq o http://eisner.decus.org/vms/faq.htm o http://www.hoffmanlabs.org Other internet FAQs are generally available in these locations: o news://comp.answers o news://news.answers o ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/ o http://www.faqs.org/ o http://www.google.com/ __________________________________________________________ FAQ File Formats and Production Information This FAQ is available in ASCII text, Postscript, Bookreader, and HTML, and potentially in other file formats. Certain formats, such as the Adobe 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 (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) 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. vi OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) __________________________________________________________ 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 Corrections and suggestions are welcome. Should you believe you can provide better stewardship of this FAQ, or should you have strong feelings over the content, structure, organization or implementation of the FAQ, do realize you may be offered the editorship. The editor maintains this document as a free service to the OpenVMS community. 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). If your system should crash or your data should become corrupted or the answer(s) found here should be found erroneous, that is solely your risk and your responsibility. Though the editor of this FAQ is an employee of Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), this posting and the information contained within this FAQ are is not an official statement of HP, nor a commitment by HP. All information, comments or opinions included, cited or otherwise referenced here may or may not reflect the stated opinions of HP, of the 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 (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) vii OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 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. The master copy of this FAQ is posted at o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/faq Translations of this FAQ into various languages may be available, please contact the maintainer(s) of any translated document for assistance or feedback involving the particular translated edition of this FAQ. viii _______________________________________________________ 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, including roadmaps and release schedules http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/ OpenVMS and Core Layered Product Documentation http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/doc/ Core OpenVMS Support Search Engine URLs, the ITRC support and discussion forums, and the ITRC FTP-accessable Patch Area http://askq.compaq.com/ (Natural Language Search Assistant) http://www.itrc.hp.com/ ftp://ftp.itrc.hp.com/openvms_patches/ The OpenVMS Freeware http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/ The OpenVMS Hobbyist License Program http://www.openvmshobbyist.org/ http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/license_software_ __________programs/index.html___________________________________ 1-1 Introduction __________________________________________________________ 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/. _____________________________ 1.2.1.1 Using the Natural Language Search Assistant (AskQ)? Keith Cayemberg has performed some some experimentation on the HP Natural Language Search Assistant, and reports the following formula for easing the effort of locating OpenVMS Support content within NLSA. http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+VMS&source=1000 You can replace the "Example+VMS" with the keywords you wish to search for. Important for selecting the OpenVMS content content is the "&source=1000" at the end. Here is an extract from Keith Cayemberg's Programming Examples links: ACMS Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+ACMS&source=1000 ADA Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+ADA&source=1000 APL Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+APL&source=1000 ALL-IN-1 Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+ALL%20IN%201&source=1000 1-2 Introduction BASIC Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+BASIC&source=1000 BLISS Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+BLISS&source=1000 C++ Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+C%2B%2B&source=1000 CMS Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+CMS&source=1000 COBOL Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+COBOL&source=1000 Datatrieve Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Datatrieve&source=1000 DCL Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+DCL&source=1000 DECforms Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+DECforms&source=1000 FMS Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+FMS&source=1000 Fortran Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Fortran&source=1000 GKS Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+GKS&source=1000 Lexical Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Lexical&source=1000 LISP Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+LISP&source=1000 LSE Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+LSE&source=1000 MACRO Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+MACRO&source=1000 Motif Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Motif&source=1000 OPS5 Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+OPS5&source=1000 1-3 Introduction Pascal Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Pascal&source=1000 PHIGS Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+PHIGS&source=1000 SORT Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+SORT&source=1000 TDMS Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+TDMS&source=1000 TPU Examples - Ask VMS http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+TPU&source=1000 _____________________________ 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) and Ken Farmer's OpenVMS.Org forums: o telnet://eisner.decus.org/ o http://www.openvms.org/ 1-4 Introduction _____________________________ 1.2.3 What newsgroup archives are available? Extensive archives of INFO-VAX mailings and comp.os.vms postings are archived and available at SRI International: ftp://crvax.sri.com/info-vax/ Google also has extensive newsgroup archives available at o 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 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. 1-5 Introduction The syntax for subscribing and unsubscribing, as well as setting various parameters on your subscription, is: ________________________________________________________________ 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 Select periodic omnibus mail messages from the mail server, rather than multiple individual messages for each posting. SET INFO-VAX NODIGEST Separate mail delivery of each message posted SET INFO-VAX NOMAIL Establish an email address for posting, though not for receiving, mail. SET INFO-VAX MAIL Establish an email address for both posting and for receiving mail from the ____________________________________mailing_list._______________ The mail server is not case-sensitive; case is irrelevant. Settings and policies can be retrieved from the mail server, typically using HELP. The INFO-VAX moderator can be contacted directly at the email address Mark.Berryman[at]Mvb.Saic.Com. 1-6 ---------------------------- #include <rtfaq.h> ----------------------------- For additional, please see the OpenVMS FAQ -- www.hp.com/go/openvms/faq --------------------------- pure personal opinion --------------------------- Hoff (Stephen) Hoffman OpenVMS Engineering hoff[at]hp.com User Contributions: |
Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: