VAX Virtualization Utilities

  >Empty Disk Images  >Preformatted VAXELN Images  >Network Control Center

  >Files-11 browser  >Mkimage  >MKDISK  >MTD tape utility  >SCSI check

  >VAX File Transfer Utility  >Hardlock Driver  >New! IDLE utility

  >New! Performance measurement utility  >New! HOSTprint utility

  >New! License content view utility

Utilities are available on our CHARON-VAX Public FTP site
ftp://chvx-public:charon@ftp.sri-gva.ch

Empty Disk Images

Name and disk size File
RX 23 (1.4 MB; zipped file: 80KB) rx23_vdisk.zip
RD54 (152.7 MB; zipped file: 156KB)rd54_vdisk.zip
RZ26 (1001.5 MB; zipped file: 997KB)rz26_vdisk.zip
RZ29 (4 GB; zipped file: 4.1MB)rz29_vdisk.zip
RZ59 (8.5 GB, self extracting executable: 4.4MB)rz59_Vdisk.exe

Preformatted VAXELN Images

Emulated model and image settings File
CHARON-VAX/XM (Plus) for Windows 
MicroVAX3100 Model 96; network is enabledeln-mv3198-net.zip
MV3600, VAXserver3600, MV3900, VAXserver3900, MVII; network is enabledeln-mv3600-net.zip
MV3600, VAXserver3600, MV3900, VAXserver3900, MVII; network is disabledeln-mv3600-nonet.zip
VAX4000 Model 106; must be connected as MSCP disk, network is enabledeln-vax4106_qbus_-eza-net.zip
CHARON-VAX/XL (Plus) and /XK Plus for Windows 
MicroVAX3100 Model 98; network is enabledeln-mv3198-net.zip
VAX4000 Model 108; must be connected as MSCP disk, network is enabledeln-vax4106_qbus_-eza-net.zip
CHARON-VAX/Industrial (Plus) for Windows 
MV3600, VAXserver3600, MVII; network is enabledeln-mv3600-net.zip
MV3600, VAXserver3600, MVII; network is disabled eln-mv3600-nonet.zip
CHARON-VAX/66X0 Plus for Windows 
Not available  
CHARON-VAX/AXP Plus for OpenVMS/Alpha 
MicroVAX3100 Model 96; network is enabled
The disk image can be extracted under OpenVMS with correct file attributes. If for some reasons the attributes are lost, they can be restored with the following command:
$ set file <filename> /attr=(RMF:FIX,LRL:512,RAT:NONE)
eln-mv3198-net.zip
CHARON-VAX/66X0 Plus for Windows 
Not available  

Files 11 browser

The Files 11 browser utility is an add-on to the Windows explorer, which allows to browse VMS-formatted (Files-11 ODS Level 2) CHARON disk image files.
Read the CHARON-VAX Utilities and Interconnects manual for instructions on how to use.

Files 11 browser    Download Files_11_Browser.zip (127KB)

MKIMAGE

The Mkimage utility allows to create disk images from a physical device like a distribution CD or a disk on a VAX system.
Please read the ReadMe.txt file before installing.

MKIMAGE    Download MKimage.zip (94KB)

MKDISK version 1.6

The Mkdisk utility creates empty disk images of a given standard disk drive type or of custom disk custom images.
This utility is included in recent releases of CHARON-VAX/XX for Windows and CHARON-VAX/66x0 for Windows.

Mkdisk version 1.6 (November 2006)  Download mkdisk.zip (38KB)

MTD tape utility

The MTD utility allows to exchange data between CHARON-VAX tape container file and magnetic tapes.
Read the CHARON-VAX Utilities and Interconnects manual for instructions on how to use.

MTD    Download mtd.zip (284KB)

Network Control Center

The Network Control Center allows to configure the network adapter and troubleshoot network problems.

Network Control Center    DownloadNetDiag.zip (310KB)

SCSI check

The SCSI check utility is designed to locate the correct CHARON names for physical disks, tapes, CD-ROM drives, floppies and other SCSI devices found on the system.
Warning: The SCSI check utility does not detect devices connected via USB / Infra Red port / Wi-Fi / etc.
Read the CHARON-VAX Utilities and Interconnects manual for instructions on how to use.

SCSI check    Download SCSIcheck.zip (77KB)

VAX Files-11 File Transfer Utility

The program allows an end-user to transfer binary files to and from a VMS-formatted (Files-11 ODS Level 2) volume locally mounted on the host computer or disk container file compatible with CHARON-VAX.

VAX File Transfer Utility (please read the release notes for details) Download vaxft.zip

Hardlock driver

The latest version of the Hardlock driver can be found on this site (http://www.aladdin.com/support/hardlock/downloads.aspx). To ensure you take the latest version, please select "hldinst.zip"

IDLE utility

IDLE reduces the host CPU usage significantly whenever a VAX/VMS system running on CHARON-VAX/Xx (Plus) or CHARON-VAXstation is idle. One may include a call to the IDLE in the system start-up file to ensure its automatic start.

The earliest supported VMS version is 5.4. Does not apply to CHARON-VAX/66x0 products. It is not recommended to employ IDLE in real-time process control environments.

IDLE is delivered on a VAX disk image. To use it:

  • download idle_vms_pkg.zip and unpack idle_vms_pkg.vdisk to the folder where CHARON-VAX disk images are stored;
  • shutdown CHARON-VAX and update its configuration to connect the downloaded disk image;
  • start CHARON-VAX and VMS, login with the system account and mount the downloaded disk image (assuming it is configured as DKA100):
    $ mount DKA100/over=id
  • browse the mounted disk root directory to select the version of IDLE that suits your VMS version:
    $ dir DKA100:[000000]
  • Run the appropriate version:
    $ run IDLE.EXE
  • Refer to CHARON-VAX manual for instructions of how to include IDLE to your system startup scripts.

Performance measurement utility

To run the performance measurement utility please download perf_test.vdisk disk image and configure it as an additional disk connected to your CHARON-VAX system. Mount the disk and $run pt_vax.exe from the root of the disk.

You can also download the utility directly from VMS on VAX or CHARON-VAX using the following links: pt_vax.exe (VAX/VMS executable) or pt_vax.zip (VAX/VMS zip archive).

HOSTprint utility

HOSTprint is a Windows application that receives data from a CHARON virtual serial lime via a TCP/IP socket and sends the data received on a printer configured on the host Windows system. Download and unpack HOSTprint in the folder where CHAORN executables are located.

HOSTprint version 1.4    Download HOSTprint.zip (207 KB)

License content view utility

HL_view.exe is a Windows utility that allows you to view the content of CHARON-VAX hardlock license key. It does not require installation. Download hl_view.zip, unzip it to any folder, and run it on a system with Hardlock drivers installed and License dongle plugged in.

CHARON-VAX/Demonstration for Windows

This kit contains a pre-configured subset of CHARON-VAX for Windows. It is configured to emulate a MicroVAX 3900 with the following features:

  • A console terminal;
  • One MSCP disk controller supporting a system disk, a user disk, Cdrom0, diskette A, and an Ethernet adapter;
  • Does not provide tape or serial line support;
  • The test license is valid until July 1st, 2008; runtime limited to 3 hours;
  • Includes a bootable VAX/ELN system disk image (account: CHARON-VAX, no password) with tools to test performance;
  • The demo package includes a VAX/ELN image to demonstrate that the product is a fully functional replacement of the VAX hardware. Note that this license-free VAX/ELN image is not the same as a full VMS system; it is essentially a runtime subset of VMS customized for this demo purpose. Of course, one can install on CHARON-VAX/Demo a full VMS system that can be obtained from a VMS distribution kit or from the VMS hobbyist site of HP.

Host requirements

A PC or laptop running Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition or Windows XP Professional with Microsoft .NET 3.0 (it is included in the demo package, and will be installed automatically if not present on the system), with one CPU of at least 1 GHz, 256 MB memory and 500 MB of free disk space. To assure reliable Ethernet and disk IO under heavy load a dual CPU system is required.

Download DOWNLOAD CHARON-VAX/Demo (153 MB, rar archive)

For the installation please unpack the archive in a temporary folder and run InstalShell.exe.

Note that CHARON-VAX products contain other faster VAX CPUs, support for more memory, tapes, serial lines, Ethernet, and others. For an overview of CHARON-VAX products, please click here.

CHARON-VAX/Freeware

Disclaimer: The freeware of CHARON-VAX software is provided "as is" for information purposes only. They provide only very basics of the emulation, and the performance is limited to 1 VUP (while the commercial products deliver up to 500 VUPs). If you are interested in evaluating CHARON-VAX products for professional applications, please contact Software Resources International or one of our Resellers.

  > CHARON-VAX/Freeware for OpenVMS/Itanium

CHARON-VAX/Freeware for OpenVMS/Itanium

Freeware for OpenVMS/Itanium

This freeware will run on OpenVMS/Itanium version 8.2-1 or later. It is configured to emulate a MicroVAX 3100 Model 98 with the following features:

  • A console terminal
  • One SCSI disk controller supporting a system disk, a user disk, SCSI CDrom0, diskette A, and an Ethernet adapter
  • Does not provide tape or serial line support

Host requirements

  • A CPU of 1 GHz minimum (a dual CPU is recommended)
  • A minimum of 1 GB RAM
  • Minimum OpenVMS version 8.2-1

This software is supplied "as-is" and is not supported.

Download DOWNLOAD CHARON-VAX/Freeware for OpenVMS/Itanium (2.2 MB, zipped file for OpenVMS on Itanium! - please unpack directly on VMS)

Please read the Installation Notes and the Release Notes before installing...

Download Installation Notes    Download Release Notes

Fixed disks image files (VAXSYS.VDISK and USER.VDISK) are not supplied with the installation procedure.

Note that the empty disks must be populated. You may boot CHARON-VAX Freeware from a VMS distribution CD and build a VMS system from scratch or if you have a compatible VAX available mount the empty disk images on the host system VMS and use standard VMS utilities to copy any systems and data to these empty images on the CHARON-VAX host system. Once your "VAXSYS.VDISK" and "USER.VDISK" are populated you may start the CHARON Freeware software and boot the operating system.